THE BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 333, 5 September 1879, Page 13

THE BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

With few exceptions, all the Otago and Southland candidates for Parliamentary honours are in favour of the compulsory reading of the authorised version of the Bible in the public Bchools. The great majority have pledged themselves, if returned to Parliament, to support such a measure ; and of" the remainder, whilst a good many see no great objection in such a proceeding, only very few indeed advocate pure secularism. It may be said with truth, therefore, that Otago and Southland are in favour of the compulsory reading of the Scriptures by public school teachers. This proposition of the southern provinces deserves serious •xamination. What does it really mean ? In order to make an answer to this question clear, it will be useful, even to those who are acquainted with all the circumstances of the case, to place these in a clear and orderly manner before their minds. Our knowledge, to be useful at any particular moment, often requires to be revised, put in order, and placed before the mind, as it were, in a focus. What, then, are these circumstances ? The present public school system is maintained by taxes paid by all classes and denominations of the community, without exception.

The present school system pretends to give equal advantages to all classes of the community. The present school system declares it will not interfere with the religion uf any member of the community, and will not enquire into the religion of its teachers or pupils. The present school system undertakes to teach secular subjects only, and to abstain from insulting or calumniating the religion of any member of the community.

The present school system proclaims that in distributing its favours it recognises no test but that of scholastic fitness.

These are its claims and pretences. Now let us inquire as to its performances and the amendments proposed by its advocates and admirers.

The present school system is administere I by a Minister of Education, secretaries, inspectors, Boards of Education and school committees. The Minister of Education is a Protestant, the chief secretary is a Protestant and an ex-Grand Master of Freemasons, the head inspector is a Baptist minister not an ex-Baptist minister, but one who preaches though not in charge of any particular congregation. The inspectors are Protestants, the Boards of Education are Protestant, the school committees are Protestant.

The present system of education employs only Protestant teachers, uses only Protestant books, and inculcates most untrue and anti-Catholic statements in reference to the Catholic Church.

The present school system bestows its numerous and rich scholarships on Protestants, only, for it compels those who gain them to frequent its schools, or resign them, thus excluding Catholics from having any share in their advantages. The present school system is about to be amended, so say its most enthusiastic admirers and supporters, by the introduction into schools of the Bible, which must be read by teachers to the pupils whose parents wish it to be read, and may be read to such other pupils as fanatical teachers can coerce or cajole into hearing it read, as was the case under the old Otago ordinance. The present school system proclaimed it would respect the religious feelings and principles of all, and here is an example of how it does this. For example : It teaches its children at the expense of Catholics, " That Leo X. had sent monks to sell indulgences ; " that "indulgences were invented by Urban 11. in the days of the Crusades ; " that, "the monks generally led dissolute lives and that many of the monasteries were dens of iniquity ." The present school system, then, although paid for by Catholics in common with their fellow-citizens, vilifies, insults and calumniates the religion of Catholics, and efficaciously excludes Catholics from all participation in its management its emoluments, and its other advantages. The present school system, th^n, although largely supported by Catholic money, is essentially Protestant, anti-Catholic, tyrannical, and unjust. The present school system cannot say it does not deserve to be characterised by these epithets, because it happens to employ three or four Catholics in some unimportant capacity, and opens its halls to all comers. An exception proves the' rule, exceptin jirmnt regulam. The ridiculously small number of Catholics having anything to do with it, and the comparative unimportance of their employment only help to make its intense bigotry and injustice more conspicuous. And as to its halls being open to all comers, it must^be borne in mind that these halls are only open on condition'of submission to its regulations, and of abandonment of principle on the part of all conscientiously opposed to it. We should not complain of these things, only we have to pay our share towards the maintenance of them. The present system of education, then, is one-sidea, hypocritical, intensely Protestant, offensively anti-Catholic, pretentious, unjust, and we may add ineliicient, considering the vast sums it costs, and well calculated to lower the intellectual status of the country and demoralize its inhabitants. The present system of education taxes the poor man to give free education to the children of well-to-do people who whilst educating their children at t.'ip public expense, increase their bank deposits, and give mon.'y to their freely educated children to put by in the school bankh.

The present school system, in addition to what it has been designated above is algo a ludicrous system.