RELIGIOUS EXERCISES IN STATE SCHOOLS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 29, 3 August 1925, Page 4

RELIGIOUS EXERCISES IN STATE SCHOOLS

TO TUB EPIIOR. Sir,—My attention has been called to the petition of Professor Mackenzie and others on this subject, presented to Parliament, and Professor Mackenzie's letter to you, which appeared in your issue of 27th July, and I am induced . to ask the favour of a little space for a few remarks ther,eon. Sections (3) to (7) of the petition call for no answer, but this : Surely, if mistakes have been made in the past by our leadfers and wise men, the mere fact that they made them is no reason for continuing tlieai. Section (1), however, gays': "That the success of the system of primary eduaction in New Zealand, and the harmony with which it has -worked, would have been impossible if a fruitful cause of trouble in other lands had not been avoided by the exclusion of religious teaching from the curriculum. 1' Some.of your readers may, seeing that this paragraph emanates from so learned .ah authority, be led to believe tiutt the statements made, as ' well as thvse implied therein are undoubted ascertained facts. There are those' yet .iiive who were young, and there are some whose education was finished wh.n tiie secular, system wag introduced into our State schools, and they. know that tha actual, facts do not justify the statements and implications of that paragraph. • • . . .. . Section (2) says : "For about twenty years prior to 1914 the secular character of the system was the subject of persistent attacks, which culminated in the Religious Institution in Schools Bill, introduced that year, and referred with numerous petitions to the Education Committee." . ' For many more than twenty years prior to 1914, almost from the passing of the Act, which deprived them of a valued privilege, a large number of tho people of New Zealand, comprising the ■majority, of the peace-loving, .and'.lawabiding portion, have felt that a grievous wrong was done them mid their children by the enactment of the provision excluding "God's Word" from tho State schools. Many of them regretted deeply that they had allowed themselves to become so unwatchful as to permit that provision to pass into law without a much more vigorous opposition than they had been able to, or did present, and they by many means tried many times to havo tho enactment repeakd. These means may not have been always wise, and at any rate they have failed up till now. Are their efforts to regain their lost privilege properly designated "attacks?" If so, what shall we call, the actions which culminated, in depriving them of that privilege? They were not' "attacks." Were they then a surprise? Section (8) states: ". . . That a Religious Exercises in Schools Bill is now before Parliament, which seems to vio^ late that principle—the secular principle—and to threaten the State school system with, the introduction of religious distinction and strife." - These are strong words, indeed. Now let us see what it i» that the petitioners really believe threatens the Stale school system with these dire disasters. Section (9) tell us they are : "(a) The recitation of the Lord's Prayer; (b) the singing or recitation of a hymn; and (c) the reading by the teacher or pupils of a Bible lesson." : If we didn't know one of the petitioners, and that he is in real earnest about this matter, we might almost suppose the words were written in a jocular vein. And the grave solicitude about the "cause of true religion," the "serious risks" to which the teachers would be exposed, and the "grave injustice" which would be inflicted upon denominations, etc., is quite pathetic. If, again, we didn't know one of the petitioners, we might be inclined to ask : Is all this solicitude real, or is it assumed ? Of course, I wouldn't put such a question, knowing the undoubted learning and sincerity of that one, but those who don't know might. This letter iB already long enough. With youi permission, I may deal with Professoi Mackenzie's letter a Kttle later.—l am JNO. A. D. ADAMS. Dunedin, 30th July.