New Britain herald., 1929-10-28
GODLESS SCHOOLS SEEN AS MENACE
Dean Wei6Ie Sees Danger in
 Absence Of Religion

Absence Ol Religion
 Elimination of religion from the public schools is ''fraught with dan ger" in the words of Dean Luther A. Weigle Of Yale Divinity school in an address Saturday afternoon at the All-Ncw England conference of Congregational churches. But hope fully reported q revival of interest in the teaching function Of the Christian church.
 Dean Weiglc said;
 we are witnessing in these pres ent days great revival of interest in the teaching function of the Christian church. A very much needed revival One of the reasons is that we have walked to the dan ger of a policy of sccularism in edu- cation. That policy is growing the whole world over. We have com mittec the education of our children almost wholly to q system of free taX-supported public schools and we have at the same time almost wholly stripped those schools of re- ligious elements. It was not a pur- posed movement in American life. No one set out with the deliberate intent to take religion out of Alneri- can public education. It has been an incidental thing, q sort of by product of working out the principle of religious freedom, IL was not intidelS or atheists who took religion out of the American public schools of religion. It is because every group has been moro cen cerncd to sec 10 it that public schools should not contain anything that crampcd their particular de- nOminational tone. The movement has been almost wholly negative When any individual or group has objected. the element of objection has forthwith been taken away and nothing else put in it's place.
 Calls situation Dangerous
 That is a dangerous situation. Ii is dangerous to leave such an inter. est as religion represents empty anc blighted in our educational pro. vision for our children.
 "Bertrand Russell said, If is z crime to immersc defenscless chil. dren in their fathers faith Hook. ing made reply-I am inclined tt think that there is a greater danger than immcrSing defcnsrlcss childrcl in their fathers faith, and that i. the danger that in our political, guided education. particularly il | democracy, that we shall leave tn, 1 best places blank, just because it i l on the best things that men disagree most. Withdraw natural defense l against wrongful propaganda-cVcl 1 the child's mind reacts against it l But q child has no defense againS starvation, and spiritual starvation is the danger of our present policy
 'I feel that this present situation is fraught with danger in that i ! actually conveys d powerful mega tive suggestion to our children. , think it conveys to them the suagcs tion that religion is unimportant relatively worthless, the sort c thing that you take if you like i' l think that danger is greater toda | than ever before, just because ou i public schools are greater today thHl ! ever before. Our public schools pro vide for every other human intSrcs except religion, and that fact con Vcy9 to our children a powerful negative suggestion. There is onl one conclusion that the children ca, draw, and they are drawing it.
 This present situation in thi country is one that We drifted int because we believed in religion freedom, and I believe in religion freedom l believe in the principl of separation of church and statt But we must stop to take counsel c to just what the principle of SrpaTa ton of church and slate may right mean and what it may not mca I with respect 10 education, Whcroi church and state are both SO Nitall interested. The separation of churc and state is q separation of contrC but 1t does not preclude coopcratiO in action.
 T have a right in the namc of r, ligious freedom to be able to sen my children to the schools of tn state without it's being suggested { them passivcly. or said to them in $ many words, that the faith of thej father is a thing of no account, an I don't know a group that ought { face this situation with more cor science than the Congregation; group of which we are q part.
 "Thc growing need of the worl today is real evangelism throug
 hpttnr Christian n eGur1tiOn v