The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-02-18
Mr.. HOOKS OPINION


in the Star some comments on Mr..
Bryan's proposed fight against teach
in ganything in school contrary to the
Bible.
As little as one may think, this
very idea deserves attention. Survey
the country, if you please, from school
trustee to the superintendent of the
state board of education, who should
almost be the "Pallas" on the throne
of education, and who do you find? I
have known trustees who could not
read and high officials who made
miserable blunders in the use of Ian
guage before an audience.
Read the Congressional Record that
gives the proceedings of one of the
greatest bodies in the world and see
how the kill time and squander money
by the millions, and it almost makes
thinking man want to fight. And
that same trend of action can be
traced right back to our doors.
Judging from the argument used
by some of our congressman in that
in that $4,000 appropriation for
starving soviet Russia, one need not
be surprised to hear of them holding
US up in the future and taking few
million from US for foreign missions.
| Now then, soviet Russia can spend
nearly a million dollars for ships
from Great Britain.
Look at our last Legislature appro-
in that s2O,O0O,O00 appropriation for
ton of bees and some other things,
and we did not know that bees paid a
cent of taxes in all Florida; and you
need not be surprised what they may
do in the future, for we have no rea-
son to believe that the next body will
be any bigger than the last.
If Mr.. Bryan is going to start a
fight against teaching everything con-
trary to the teachings of the Bible, he
has as we'll adopt the three RS ex-
!clusively, because even geography is
in conflict.
If he is going that far, why not GO
a little further and abolish schools
altogether, and ask God for wisdom
James LIS.
1t would not do to teach physical
geography, because it teaches that
rain comes by the law of evaporation
and condensation, and not by spe.
cial act of God.
Science teaches that the wind blows
by a law of vacuum instead of being
breath from Ellis nostrils."
But for the teachings of science, we
would yet see the earth fiat, and the
sun move because of the story Of
Joshua. The moon would be a great
l natural light to shine by night instead
5 of reflector that only shines a par
< of the time.
But for the geologist, the age o,
this old earth would never have beer
} read in books of stone, and we would
yet hold to the old creation story; ant
astronomy foretells US of the move
ments of the heavenly bodies-th
eclipse of the sun and the passing O.
the comets, or we would yet be in
state of superstition, and perhaps i,
= terror when these natural occurrence
came.
: But for the breaking away from
= early teachings, our fathers woul
never have resisted the divine RICH
of kings because of the teaching
"that the powers that be are ordaine'
y of God"
n On account of the research of tn
e great thinkers of the past, contrar
e to the teachings of the Bible, thi
n country has become the greatest o
: all nations of the globe in the short
!. est length of time, and we no longe
;, fear the stake, the whipping post no
d the ducking stool for being witcl
: or for real investigation.
o The school room is not a place o
: worship, and am opposed to squan
f dering the time on a book on whicl
: hundreds of sects found their faith
: and on which only a part of humanit,
f has ever agreed.
d Let US have a school that mean
f business every day, where the mos
: noble truths may be taught, where tn
: research of knowledge has no limit
:. the aims of which should be to Great
n more great thinkers and better AM
8 more useful citizens. c. A. Hooks.
: Oxford, Fla, Feb. IA.