THE SECULARISTS AND EDUCATION

New Zealand Tablet, 23 March 1911, Page 520

THE SECULARISTS AND EDUCATION

(From the “N.Z. Tablet”, June 14, 1873) Politicians must know very little about education, if we may judge them by their perpetual attempts at legislation on the subject. Every session of our Parliament, and almost every session of the several Provincial Councils behold new Education Bills. Men are at sea and seem utterly bewildered. One would fancy from what is said and done, that up to the present time there had been no schools, no learning, no education in the world. If a man from the moon, unacquainted with our mundane concerns, were to come amongst us and pay exclusive attention to the education agitation, he must irresistibly come to the conclusion that all ages, and the nations ‘of former days, had _ utterly neglected the education of the people. The teaching and experience of other times and places are ignored; and go where we may, we encounter turmoil, confusion, and uncertainty. Education Bills, education amendment Bills, secular education Bills, anti-denomina-tional Bills such is the burden of Gazettes, Governors’ messages, Ministers’ speeches. One would imagine that the world had arisen from the slumber of ages, during which there were neither schools nor colleges, nor schoolmasters.

And why is all this hubbub, childishness, and turmoil Simply because a most intolerant and tyrannical sect, called _ secularists, has lately arisen, and succeeded tor a time in throwing Christendom into confusion This sect is, indeed, numerically small, but by its audacity and an adroit manipulation of the prejudices of all the adversaries of the Catholic Church, it makes up for its inherent weakness. According to the new light, religion should hold no place in man’s education in public schoolsand it is quite a proper thing to compel Christians to pay taxes for the purpose of making their children infidels. The secularist sect does not believe in Christianity, and therefore_ no one must teach it in schools We aie not speaking of individuals; for there are many men very much better than their principles, but of the sect as such; and its principles logically amount to this. . . then we are told these schools are not denominational. How can this be ? Are they not secular at least in name, and are not secularists a denomination?