Page 5 Advertisements Column 6

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19699, 27 July 1927, Page 5

WHAT ARE ITS PROVISIONS? THE BILL PROVIDES for Religious Exercises, occupying 15 minutes, at the commencement of each day (except that on one day per week the patriotic exercises, already prescribed by the regulations, may be substituted). THE RELIGIOUS EXERCISES shall consist of:— (a) The recitation of the Lord's Prayer. (b) The singing or recitation of a Hymn from a School Hymnal. (c) The reading by the teacher or pupils of passages of Scripture from a Bible Manual, " such reading to be without interpretation or comment other than is reasonably necessary for grammatical explanation." (This provision renders Sectarian Teaching Impossible. It is clearly laid down in the Bill that there shall only-be "religious exercises of a simple character, which shall NOT include any instruction in the tenets, dogma, or creed peculiar to any religious society or denomination.") The Hymnal and Bible Manual for (b) and (c) respectively are to be " compiled by the Education Department after consultation with the representatives of the Christian Churches." A FULL CONSCIENCE CLAUSE PROVIDES AMPLE SAFEGUARDS FOR PARENT AND TEACHER. If the parent or guardian notifies to the Headteacher his conscientious objection to the exercises, the pupil is thereby exempt from attending the exercises. If the teacher similarly notifies to the controlling authority his conscientious objection, he is thereby similarly exempt from taking part in the Religious Exercises. " NELSON " AND OTHER SYSTEMS MAY REMAIN. The Bill provides that if in any school it has been the practice to conduct religious exercises in another form, such may be continued by the authorities in lieu of those now proposed. THAT IS THE BILL. It has been found tl at a plain statement of its contents is the best answer to the opponents of the Bill. IT IS NOT A " LEAP IN THE DARK." Sir J. Parr, when Minister of Education, stated in the House of Representatives: " For years 25,000 children in the High and Technical Schools have participated in these religious exercises, and not a single complaint has been received from either teachers or parents." THE TESTIMONY OF THREE GREAT MEN. Macaulay. Macaulay refers to the English Bible as " a Book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power." i Matthew Arnold. " As well imagine a man," writes Matthew Arnold, " with a sense for sculpture not cultivating it by the help of the remainu of Greek art, and a man with a sense for poetry not cultivating it by the help of Homer and Shakespeare, as a man with a sense for conduct not cultivating it by the help of the Bible." Thomas Carlyle. Thomas Carlyle speaks of the Bible, as " the one Book wherein, for thousands of years, the spirit of man has found light and nourishment and a response to whatever was deepest in his heart." And this is " the one book " which is BANNED from our State School System of Education as though it were PERNICIOUS LITERATURE! The time has now come for the people of New Zealand to make it unmistakably clear that this BOYCOTT AGAINST THE BIBLE MUST BE REMOVED. WHAT YOU CAN DO. (1) Join the " People's Organisation" of the Bible in Schools League, thus showing your sympathy, and promising your influence and active service. Join the Branch of the League in your district. (2) If you are the parent of a pupil in a State School, you will soon receive a voting paper. Vote YES.