BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15646, 27 June 1914, Page 12

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

TEACHEBS 1 kmiWl BY MR. D. M. YEATS, LATE HEAD TEACHER HUTT DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL. For a Ion; time I had been antagonistic to tho introduction r>; the Bible into oar State Schools, but. after considering the proposals made by the Bible in State Schools League, sad forming my own independent indgmunt oi the overwhelming '.wtiisoay 10 its success in those States of the Oomroonwealth into which it Keq been mtrodoofd. I. marc than a year ago. came to the t-c.n----cisasiiisn ihat the proposal deserv*d say eipport, 1 notice it has b>t»en Mid ihAt the testimonv frv-iii Aoslraiis is worthies*, bsrianse it is given by tcr;ilw;s -»ho say easy 'Jut which they think will please their superiors. With th's rxisiuon 1 «V> not iar«, and it cannot apply to testimonies ci-.ea by others. Rich a* Sir Bany Raw son. Governor of N<."w Sooth Wales, ••»!' .vi.v. I'-.-Public JidrA-stion Aft showed that the statemen who framed it hid consider-1 it very (arefaliy. i'ij.-'v and rfiscriminatfly. for ajthoash they tr;d very ftrf»r.gly Said der«n the ism th>t religions instrurtion in State Schools -.rts to he nor. se<t*i'iau, they hid. at the same time, opened the way for clerKyrnc-ii <. ! every deamoiisatxMi in {<- a tbe children oi ifceir own Church." I hew -aie many other t*-«tr{7>cßiM from pf quit* independent of the Edw-»:wn Dciurtmeniv3 Aosiraij.?, twh a* she ' -n. J T. >lc<rtwen, when Premier <i New S=yt:. ftak-f. -'cd ib-:->-c :p'.n:c; . .-annot t»e thru*' on one side. The oby-IKMi I ■ oar .-Tliabi!* ;.<; overcrowded does not k<:h to tn? a vsl-id of)'. Van: v'.- , tunc when oar sviiibus was rigid, anil teat lie: had iii thoji ■■(" of tbnr our., l.nt hid to follow a fixed routine. Now, es pointed out by Mr. Tioglaea. M the nx-etmsr of the K.Z.K.I. in Auckland las: January, the sTflabas ii merely a saegegtios ..' what work ?hm:ld le done-, nf.t a hard tad fast set <■:' regulations in earh subject. Mr. Hogben's view is borne out by the action of c»0!- inspectors 'or :be last few year?, who hare been io tiie habit of sayinc. "It is the qcalitv of the work wo '.re g-oins to look at. not th? quantity done." Every headmaster makes out his own genera! scheme of wotl. and if :rji]>«-tois are satisfied with it, they examine wrtbin its limits. I iiavc no befits lion, from an experience of 35 years as a headmaster in cur fdiools, in saying that the introduction of Bible reading as part of the literary training of our chiWrw. and the visits of accredited teachers, will no; interfere injuriously with the school syllabus of work. Sonic-thin;; ha» hI-o been said R,bnnt the Conscience Clause for t-- , achcrf. but as they Me not beinj askt-d to tosch r-liffion. why ask for such a clause .it ell? They aie. o-jly asked f> hfiro the Bible kf?ons in the same way tin: they lure any other reading lesson and deduce from them the moral and literary beauties therein to b" found. The- religion* teaching v',Y, V,< givra. under the Loape'c oroposnl, not by State schon] tea<-hers. but by the a credited teachers from the Churches, so that a teach*!' will be able t«> s-y. "1 l.*v.no responsibility ; that lies with th? Churches. My own f'jiiuion i? that if a scripture reading lesson had to b:- taken. \\ would be taken with ail due reveience and respect by almost ei! those e:;;3:- i in tho ediinitioii service. The fact is s-ircly convincine to lis that in illStates in whirl) the sytrteni has been carried on in the Commonwealth of An.tralia not one teacher has been h.eardcf who lefuocd. for conscience to take the required shaic in the work, nor has (inv drT.ittnd for snrh a clause ever been made by the teacher;., and this, notwithstanding that the teachers have tli"'r unions which put their ETWances before the public and Parliament. Whit stronqrr rcfulition of the need of such ft clause can Be brought forward than thiii? Ihe fact that appointment* by committees would be affected by a teacher's reli-rion seems to me very far fetched, My own opinion is that exactly the opposite »/Tect will l>e rroduced, because as every church will have the rij,ht to t-ke its r-wn sharv> in religious teaching, there will be not the same necessity 'as some allege has existed in the past) for appointing teachers belonging to any particular cbirch. I do not for a moment think that a teacher's religion would come iat" ' consideration with a school committee any more than it does now. As a result of my 35 years' experience. I deliberately express the opinion that if there had been some such system as the I>>ap]e proposes included in. our educational system, the benefits thereunder would have been much greater and the rising generation more moral ur.der a non-secular system. The suggestion that a Referendum « not suitable to a religious question, bee-use the religious aspect is regarded as bei 5 held by the majority, is first of aJ! a plain admission that the present edt. itional system is riot approved by the msioritv of the people: but secondly the argument has no force, because there is no attempt under the proposal to force the minority to do anything to which they object. The parents of those children who do net want them to read Bible lessons or to be visited by ministers will not D 6 interfered with in tV),? least. The minority will haw its rights respected, just as at the present time, but with the difference, the majority will have exactly the same rights. There i.-> no compulsion in the matter at all. The. suggestion that the teachers are to be compelled to give religious lessons is met with by the fact that thev are not asked to do anything of the sort. They are asked to give reading lessons taken from the best literature in the English language. I have pone carefully over these reading iessora in the Queensland books, studying them with a view to seeing how 1 would take them with a class. I find no , difficulty in treating them as ordinary leading le-.sons, giving any necessary explanations as to meanings, without any religious comment ti all; and I believe there are very few teachers in the ■whole of Nt v Zealand who would find any" more difficulty that ! myself. Even for its literary value alone "teacher* should weloomo the introduction of the Bible into our National Schools. 1 believe that 30 per cent, of cur teachers are heartslv in accord with the proposals of the Bible in Stat* Schools League.