RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6074, 11 January 1898, Page 3

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.

1 m A PRESBYTERIAN REPORT. This morning the Christchurch Preshytery nnanimously adopted the following report, presented by the Rev Gordon Webster, on behalf of the Education Committee. The report is to be forwarded to the General Assembly *. — "The committee regret that they cannot report much progress in the movement since last Assembly, for the introduction of the scripture lesson into the State schools. The new Parliament has made no sign, and unhappily the apathy and indifference of many of the friends of the movement referred to in last report, etill continued. Naturally, our politicians are not much influenced by mere annual resolutions in church courts, while the people of our churches remain silent on the question to a large extent at election time 3. At' present the subject of religious education in our schools seems to be regarded very much as a ' bagged badger,' to be let out for a run once a year in connection with the meetings of the supreme courts of churches ; and while this state of things continues, no material advance is to be looked for. What a change for the better would be wrought were the people of our churches to take up and bring pressure to bear on political candidates by- making this a test question at election times may be seen in the remarkable progress made recently in the sister colony of Victoria in this matter. A few years ago the apathy in Victoria was such that secularist politicians felt safe in putting the very worst construction upon the secularism of their Education Act, and without' iet or hindrance they proceeded to , expunge from the lesson books in the schools all scriptural extracts and religious allusions, and even the names of God and Christ. But * when .things are at their worst they sometimes mend.' Very soon the disastrous results of a secularism so drastic as to exclude the very idea of religion from the education of youth created a revulsion in the public mind. A National Scripture Education League was substituted for the 'tagged badger' policy of the churches, and at the recent general election the awakening interest created by the energetic action of the League resulted in the return of a clear majority of members of the new Parliament pledged to support scripture instruction in some form, including a large minority of thirty-five members definitely pledged to the Irish national scripture lessons. So real and great was the change in the public sentiment that without waiting for parliamentary action, the politicians of their own accord hastened to withdraw the secularist lesson books from the schools, and. to substitute readers with scripture extracts and religious references and allusions, with a view to satisfying to some extent the new demand for religious education in an undenominational form in the public schools ; and it is now proposed — and apparently the proposal will be carried by a large majority — to t declare that the word 'secular' should be defined as being not 'non-religious,' but'unsectariau,' so that formal legal sanction may be given to the teaching of simple, undenominational truths of the Christian religion in the public schools of Victoria. The committee feel that with such an example of progress to encourage us in New Zealand we ought to thank God and take courage, and commence once more afresh. What we need in order to stir up the friends of our movement in the churches to energetic action is evidently some agency similar to the National Scripture Education League of Victoria. There is no reason to suppose that the friends of. religious instruction in public schools are numerically weaker here than in Victoria, or that our politicians would prove to be loss responsive to the pressure of the people than their Victorian brethren. But we are like Browning's old world, 'for want of strife — sound asleep.' What we, above all things, need is an awakening among the [ people. * Continue to rouse us ; who's ! alive ? Our men scarce seem earnest now.' One of the .most. significant things in connection with the re-introduction of portions of Scripture into the lesson books in Victoria has been the determined opposition of the Roman Catholics. Happily they have not been successful, but the fact that they have not hesitated to make it an essential part of their policy to help the lowest and worst type of secularism in the national schools seems to show that the policy of conciliating them in working along with them in this matter is utterly impracticable. But there is unity enough among us without the Roman Catholics to carry the cause of religious education in the schools to a successful issue, if we only do what the National Scripture League of Victoria has done among the people of the churches. The committee would, therefore, earnestly recommend the Assembly to take such steps, in conjunction with other churches and friends of the cause, as shall lead to the formation of an organisation similar to the Victorian National Scripture Education League, as being the most likely way of overcoming the present difficulty and turning the sentiment that undoubtedly exists among our people generally into _an effective f orce— in a political sense— with a view to the triumph of the cause."