The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1920. ATTACKS ON EDUCATION

New Zealand Tablet, 4 November 1920, Page 25

The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1920. ATTACKS ON EDUCATION

®Jw HE Dunedin Star is never dimmer than «H.E Dunedin traditional and’ dimmer than when with traditional and wearying stolI ®JL idity it drones away the same old sophistries in defence of the same Void antiChristian theory that everybody ought to be made receive with thankfulness the ■ * gpr ' pernicious and scandalous system of godless' schools which, the , Star defends so, characteristically. The Star is on a" good wicket in one respect: every placeman in the Massey Government is with it ; every Minister ...out to get what he can out of the job, (as one of them frankly admitted his ideal to be !) is with it; fop the Government is in power hot by right,.'divine but by. the machinations of the P.P. Ass. , and a ■ quid pro quo - must be paid on demand to the bigots i Avho ' gave ms our present poli- ! tical circus. On the other hand, in opposition to the Star, we will find every Christian who realises that material prosperity is not the end , of man, and every non-Christian whom common sense * has taught that there can not be even material . prosperity in a State without. moral rectitude; and that morality means-no-thing unless built" upon a religious foundation.’ The French are .certainly immeasurably beyond the British people in intelligence and candor. . The French introduced the system pf. godless schools and they were the.

first to admit that all the: anarchy and all the unmorality,' and immorality of i France had their roots in the / destruction of Christian. principles, wrought by schools like burs. ’ ! ‘ s * ; ' •: ~ ’ '* i » ' . Here now is a lovely sample of Star logic and common sense: “ ‘ No Government grants of any kind,' directly or indirectly,’ to private and denominational schools must be the policy followed ih connection with the administration of our national system ot education. The State provides for the physical, mental, and moral training of our young people. No parent is compelled to accept this provision for the education of his children. If he prefer to send them to private and denominational schools he may do so, but he must not expect the State to pay for the carrying out of his fad. As well might he ask for the payment by the State of the salary of a special constable to protect his property because of some personal objection to the officer provided by the State.” Now it is simply a falsehood to say that the State provides for the moral training of the children. It is begging the question at issue ; for all true Christians will agree that the State is actually placing a stumbling block in the way of right moral training. Note, too, that the conscientious convictions of sincere Christians are described by the Star as “a fad”! That one touch gives us the point of view of the Star in a nutshell. Sound religious principles a fad ! A recognition of the supreme importance of training on Christian lines instead of on the lines which French experts declare have ruined France a fad ! There, in a word, is the measure of the Star’s mentality and the key to its whole attitude on this question. The Star says that no parent is compelled to send his children to State schools. That, again, is a half truth at most. Where there is no other school parents are practically compelled to do so. The measure advocated by the Star now is an effort to ensure further compulsion. And besides, are not parents compelled to pay for the upkeep of sectarian institutions called State schools, provided for one class in the community, namely those to whom religious education does not mean what it should mean. It is hardly worth while wasting time on the Star’s silly illustration about a special constable. It is perfectly clear that if people were convinced that the police would not do their duty they would insist on the State supplying men who would. The only value of the example is that it is an example of the poor arguments with which the enemies of Christianity are trying to bolster up their support of a crying injustice against a large section of the taxpayers of the Dominion. * Arguments from examples are two-edged tools. Not long ago, after the Star had been airing its traditional views on the education question, a correspondent wrote to that paper and asked the following question (Mr. Hanan was at the time talking about providing lunch for the school chidlren) : “If. pork was provided for all, and if Jewish children refused to eat it for conscientious motives, would the Star advocate that they be left hungry?” For some reason or other, when the letter appeared in the columns of the Star, that argumentum ad hominem was left out. For what reason we wonder. Has the Star a tenderness for the feelings of Jews which it has not for the feelings of Christians? As we said, examples may be twoedged swords. In view of the strong opinions expressed by magistrates from the bench on the evil of an education which teaches indifference towards religion ; in view of the profound inquiry by French experts and the resultant frank admission that secular schools are hot beds of anarchy and irreligion, the man must either be hostile to Christianity or blind to facts who sets himself against the growing, movement in favor of schools that do not train up atheists and infidels. Moreover, no Government Has any right to penalise efficient schools, and neither right nor justice, but characteristic subserviency to the bigoted bosses

is the driving force behind; the fresh "attacks made upon all who stand for the real . welfare of the Do*, minion, but particularly upon Catholics.