Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-06-17

l is also OF course. instruction in the
military sciences proper Now though
/ il be conceded that the secular and
military Instruction at our national
academy is of the first quality OF eN-
cellence, il is nevertheless quite con-
ceiyabe that the students there could
/ obtain an education equally As good
/ in almost any of our secular colleges
or universities.
why is it, then. that cur govern
menJ insists on the aspirantS 10 the
military career entering West Point
AT such great expense TO the public
treasury Il is i'm order that they
may acquire and become imbued with
the military spirit. At West Point
the cadets are disciplined to the
habits OF a soldier. punctualitN, oned-
fence. honor. truthfulness, love of
country. even ID the supreme test of
death on the plains of war; they live
amid military surroundings, breathe
a military atmosphere. sec the a2-
ample of military spirit and compoft-
meut in their superiors. and have be-
hind them in the century tradi-
tons of that grand academy the
glorious achievements for flag and
country OF our UmiNaled army.
Catholic schools Expensive
Now the theory is The same in the
case of the Catholic schools. The edu
cation in the secular branches could
be received equally as well, perhaps,
in purely secular schools, but our
youth would not then be adequately
trained in Catholic morality and in
the Catholic spirit The church in
sists on their education in Catholic
schools. at the great expense that
these schools entail IN order that
s4
tues OF the Christian life.
In the Catholic schools they live in
religious surroundings. breathe Il re-
hgious atmosphere. see the example Of
religious rectitude in their superiors
practise the religious devotionS and
have behind them the traditions Of
nineteen centuries Of the Christian
lives OF their ancestors in the faith.
But there is yet another reason
why the Sunday school Will not
suffice for the Christian rearing of
our children. The public schools and
the colleges and the universities pro
fess to be, and no doubt desire to be,
neutral with regard to religion. But
in matter Of fact, faith and science
touch on so many points that neu-
trality in education is an huposslbili-
".
eff mathematics be excepted. there
is not a branch of secular learning
which does not come in contact with
Christian teaching. Metaphysics
treats OF the origin and destiny of
the world and of men. History en-
braces in its domain the Old Tesla
ment narratives Of the fail and the
promise OF the Messiah, the New
Testament story of Christ and of the
founding Of the church and the sub
seQuent career of that church in its
dealing with the world through nine
teen hundred years. The science Of
ethics deals with the existence and
obligation of the moral law, the
origin of right and wrong, the au
shortly Of government, the right of
ownership, the matrimonial contract
and tine relations of employers and
employed. The biological science dis
cUsses the origin Of life and the
natural sciences. the stability of the
physical laws.
Now on all these subjects Of the
existence OF a personal God, of the
origin of the world, of the divinity of
Christ. of the divine mission of the
church. of the nature of truth and Of
the nature and obligation of the moral
law. the science Of the day is in direct
opposition to the teachings of Chris
tianity. This is not the place to
prove how utterly arbitrary and IN
warranted are the postulates of
science. It is sufficient that they are
anti Christian to establish the reason
the greatest of all reasons-whY the
church disapproves of the secular ed
ucation of our times. II it is urged
that these subjects belong to the
college and university, and are not
comprehended in the curriculum of
the grammar schools and high school,
the answer IS that the anti-Christian
axioms OF science are at least i'm
pllcitly present in the text books of
the minor schools, and that they
p-ermeate the atmosphere of these
schools and are the spirit of their
teaching"