Arizona republican., 1917-01-29


 It has been predicted that within half
 century Manhattan Island will be
 dominated by an oriental religion
 Should that day ever come, think you
 Christians will be willing to have read in the public schools the sacred books of Brahmaniism? To study the Christarss bible, or the BuddhistS
 bible, or the Mohammedans bible, or
 any other of the half a score of bibles. purely as literature, is permissible in
 the public schools; but that is not
 what is contended for, but rather the reading of the Christian bible daily
 in the public schools for its religious
 value. This I insist, may not be done ] ir a nation where separation of church
 and state prevails.
 But Insist with equal fervency that
 morality must be taught in the public schools. Only so can we be true to
 the fundamental principles upon which | this nation rests, and rear class Of l citizens who shah be able to build well | upon the foundation that has been lald~ | The nations of antiquity were our
 equals in intellect. The vastness and
 sublmity of the architecture or Egypt | have never been equaled. In art an
 cient Greece stands unrivalled- In law l and government Rome was the mas
 ter of the world These nations went down into the deepest hell or ruln'
 after having risen to the seventh
 heaven of renOwn, not because they lacked trained minds, but because they possessed tainted morals. When old
 age shall have been attained by this
 nation. we shall follow the effete CIV
 ilizations of the past unless we shall
 have developed good men and women,
 fitted by the highest morality for thelr
 places in human society.
 If I am criticised al ths point on the
 ground that the highest morality can
 not be taught without teaching reli-
 zion, I answer, first, that if you are
 right. such morality must be taught in
 the home and church rather than in
 the public schools; and second, that
 you are not right. From the opinion } of any man who insists that morality cannot he taught without teaching re , ligion I apeal to any good textbook
 on ethics, where it will be seen that ) there are fundations for ethics other than religion. At the present time, teachers institutes and school reports } complain of the almost universal prev } alence of lying, stealing, profanity and 7 impurity among the scholars. It IS not necessary to suppose even the eX- ? istence of a righteous God, much less ) q God who will punish for such sins.
 in order to teach children that these 1 things are wrong and unwise. Expec- tation of individual reward in the next 2 world is not the highest motive to 5 moral conduct; a higher motive IS the joy of self sacrifice, in order that the I race, the only human thing that out l lives the individual, may De ehrlcheu D by our deeds.
 { Children must be taught that society is an organism. vital body, in which s each one of them is member Self n interest. as well as the well being or y the whole body, will prompt them to y a clean life and perfect harmony with . the organism No normal boy would 0 cut off a finger, or a hand, or a leg ; Pain a crippled condition for life, and ; the thought that he would to some e extent be forever prohibited from siv- q ing back to parents and society what
 he owes them, will prevent such mu- tiliation.
 Q For years we attacked the liquor = traffic with the tears and prayers ol Q religion; today we are fighting 1t on t the ground that it interferes with eff n ficiency. A bigoted religiOnist may s contend that we have lowered our | standard: a man blessed with reason K rests content in the assurance that we $ are killing the liquor traffic. Men who
 couId not be frightened into quitting n their drink with the threat of ever T lasting punishment have quit by the 't millions because they came to see that ' drink was robbing them of the pest 't things in life and making it impossl- Is ble for them to do their part Tn the worlds work.
 So in the case before us, the beauty
 and usefulness of clean, unselllsf '- life. They must be led to love the right because it is right. and will equlI ie them for their life work. They must IT be led to hate wrong because it is II wrong. and will cripple them in thell ', life work. They must be led to see ,u that right is right, not because God has said so. but because there IS a
 moral principle in the universe. me
 conscience of every normal child ap- 3 proves some things as right ana dis- ,u apDroyes other things as wrong Iha' ls conscience must be trained, made sen T. sitive and strong. Such training is oi u far greater importance than the train '- ing of the intellect; but such training
 can be given without an appeal to re- /. Egion, distinctively so called.
 Do not misunderstood me. Religion L. believe must live in the souls oi
 our future ClliHtllS eto eAiS T. passion and power that can come lntt m our lives, if our nation is to be Satt le and strong, for unrighteousness IS o n. the heart and religion purlfles th' IS heart as nothing else can do; put re ,h licion. I insist, must be taught not II in the public schools, but in the home ,h and church. If as parents we d' ld our duty in the home, and as Chrlst " ians we do our duty in the church ,e there will be no need Of religious # teaching in the school But II we In neglect our duty as parents ana as m Christians, we dare not we must not ;s demand that the public schools as % sume the responsibility. The presen n clamor in this and in other state " that they shall assume such responsl ie hility is due to tkoughtlessness, oi III the one hand and to a sinful shirkin! IL of our rightly placed responsibility Ill on the other. Feeling ourselves to ID m failures as parents in the nome an' Id recognizing our evident failure a in churches to do what God has com be missioned Us to do, We are raislnl
 our voices in a frentic appeal to tn st public school teachers to do Wha k: we as parents and as Christians nav Tn failed to do. Let US quit our coWarul. he shirking of responsibility, and our el ,t feminate throwing of our work ont' no weaker shoulders, and go to work a - our job Let us not delude ourseiVe 'o into thinking that the hasty readln. re of the bible in the public schools VII l,- chang, the character of our childrel II in the least. or so unwise as to en