Evening star., 1935-03-18
MEXICO RESISTS
FIGHT ON RELIGION
Conflict Makes Country
Turn Anew to Church,
Observer Says.

Mexico is not terrorized by its re-
ligious conflict. and stories to tnat
effect are 95 per cent inaccurate, says
S. L. A. Marshall, traveller and au-
thority on the Southern republic, writ
ing in a series of articles copyrighted
by the North American Newspaper
Alliance, Inc.
Under the mounting pressure Of
government opposition, however, Mexi-
CO is consciously becoming one of the
most intensely religious nations on
earth, the writer states.
This present manifestation of what
amounts to an organized national
opinion is unique in the prolonged
struggle between church and state and
is the consequence of an evolutionary
shift in the character of government" "
he writes.
"Paralleling the course of Ameri-
can Government, Mexico has moved
steadily, IN recent years, toward in
tensified centralism. The revolutions
old guard, in whose thinking there
was a high degree of personal lnde-
pendence, has been superseded by a
phalanx of bright young men OF the
Gales vintage, all of whom work hand
in hand with Mexico City. Today the
voice of President CardenaS Is the
voice of God to every state governor
save one"
Only 375 churches are operating
in the entire republic.
Retains Faith.
But whatever the state does to de-
strov religion, the Mexican sticks
stolidlv to the faith of his fathers.
Eor every altar that has been raZed
in a cathedral, another has been raised
in workshop. In every bay OF one
factory visited in Mexico was the
image of a saint. They defy the
police to moleSt their images. Mexico
is the greatest violator OF It's cnTcn
law, because the constitution says
there must be at least one cleric 10
every $4,000 population.
The thunder over Mexico was re-
leased more than year ago Wnen
Secretary Bassols issued the pIunC
statement that sex education would
be made compulsory in all Mexican
schools.
In some districts 80 per cent OF the
parents announced that chlldren
would be taken from the schools. BaS-
soils dropped the sex education IN
favor of social education" but the
fat was in the fire. He was forced
to resign, and the whole matter lay
dormant until Cardenas started cam
paigning for the presidency.
Under his leadership, egged on by
his secretary of agriculture, Tomas
Garrido Canabal, the constitution was
changed to make socialistlc educatlon
compulsory. 1t was stipulated that
all private schools must follow the
dictates of the State-Sudden death TO
the parochial schools. Confusion fol-
lowed. Pedagogues made their own
interpretations of what the new order
meant and began dishing out what
ever text matter fitted their fancy.
The writer says he found 33 diff
ferent interpretations of the law in as
many schools in nine states. The new
text books, which are being rolled OFF
the Mexican press by the thousands,
are strictly atheistic. the theme of
those for the lower grades being:
There is no being superior to man.
God exists only in the human mind"
President Cardenas is the language of
proletarian revolution. Official ora
tory bristles with the verbiage Of un-
rest. Bookstore windows bulge with
MarXist literature. The hammer and
the sickle adorn public buildings and
political posters.
Diego Rivera in his latest work in
the National Palace vents his spleen
against capitalism in a new squirt of
venom"
In describing labor conditions in
Mexico. Marshall says:
"UnioniSm giveth and unioniSm
taketh away. Industry no longer is
in authority over its men. The unions
do the hiring. Only the union can
fire him.
The outright surrender to labor
not only explains the multiplicity of
strikes under the new dualisrp, but is
one Of the precariouS aspects of the
political maneuvering by which the
CardenaS government and the official
political party contrive to appear vio-
lently red, while acting palely pink"
Mexico looks upon the religious con-
f1ict as historical 1t will not admit
that it is new. The administration in
sists that the teaching of socialism is
not anti-religious = it is essentially
pro-Mexican and pro-Social justice.
Denies Anti Church Feeling.
Quoting Emilio Portes Gil, former
President of Mexico and now secretary
of foreign affairs, the writer says Mex
leo is definitely not anti-religious, and
that its socialistic education is not
tending to turn the mind of the child
against religion.
1.-The fight that Catholicism main
tains with the Mexican government
today is due solely to the rebellious at
titude Of the Catholic clergy" Portes
Gil is quoted as saying.
The MexicanS argue that they have
the right to impart such information
as they see fit to their own children.
Mexico has religions of all denomina-
tions and, according to Portes Gill;
they are all welcome.
Portes Gil explains the Socialistic
education system as designed to prop
agate the rational" or scientific view
OF life and natural phenomena. and to
develop in the child a consciousness
Of the social equality of all Mexicans.
Under the constitution" he is
quoted as saying, religion is a sub
ject to be taught by the parent in the
home, and to receive institutional sup
port only from the church. There is
no interference with religion so long
as its protagonists do not preach dis
obedience to the political institutions
Of Mexico"
"Incessant labor disputes, growing
cuixotic redicaliSm in official quarters