623
October 1924
T H E
K I N O ’ S
B U S I N E S S
and it would be but for lack of a comprehensive grasp of all moral training in its relation to the Divine system of mor als. This nation has been built upon the moral principles of the Bible. It can be preserved only by a faithful adher ence to those principles. And the direct means of its pre servation is Bible morals in the public schools. The “ Secular” Program Fails to Meet the Purpose of State Education One of the baffling problems now engaging the thought of educators, statesmen and religious leaders, is the steady decline of the moral support of law among the masses. The cry is for a law-abiding spirit among the people; not simply a perfunctory acquiescense to avoid its penalties, but an obedience for conscience sake. What- is needed is a con formity to law which requires that the law be understood, and the reasons underlying it be approved. This statement brings us to face the fact that the chief reason for very- many of our laws is a religious reason. For instance, those laws regarding perjury and blasphemy, Sabbath desecration, the undisturbed right of public wor ship, parental authority, in family government, open licen tiousness and such like. All these offences are violations of laws whose principles are rooted in the moral teachings cf the Bible, and from whence they are derived. They compose a large body of our laws; and they absolutely demand for their hearty support an understanding of their, source in the Divine counsels, and,a moral training therein. Again, the moral character of a nation must determine the scope of its school training. America must necessarily train her youth after, her own ideals and institutions. The broad elemental and unsectarian principles of religion are to he found in the whole fabric of our government. They appear in the chartas of government in our first colonies, in the original constitution of the United States, in the Declaration of Independence, and in the Articles of Confed eration. Such acknowledgements are also found in many of the State constitutions. These precedents have opened the way for many of the established usages, such as prayers in our legislative bodies, the National Thanksgiving Day, and the calling of the nation to prayer in times of war and pestilence. These religious principles, priceless though they be, will ultimately be lost to us if they shall not be further developed and perpetuated through our system of school training. □the Religious Quality of the Official Oath An essential property in the corner stone of our demo cratic government is TRUTH,— truth as a virtue, and as a moral quality in the individual. This fundamental moral principle is demanded of every one who may be summoned to a public service of trust to his country. Its expression is in the solemnly pronounced oath before an officer of the government. The very stability of our institutions rvsts upon the integrity of those who make oath. And what is an oath but a religious act, an appeal to God as witness to the solemn vow or affirmation, and as Judge to visit in judgment him who speaks a lie for the truth? It is the Divine Book that invests this action with moral dignity and sacred value both to the state and to the individual. In the use of the oath the state links itself with the Divine Throne; and it should be so taught and understood. In the school room the embryo citizen should learn from God’s Word, the original source, that truth is moral and sacred; that God requires truth in word, in vow, in promise, and that the official oath is a recognition of the God of truth and judgment, who is the final Judge. He should learn also that the oath rises to its highest value only when
entire child population is by means of our system of state education, yet it is proposed that the state abandon its well approved system, and practically eliminate moral teaching because moral truth finds origin in the Bible. This position is taken, not that there áre other adequate sources, or that the Book has become obsolete and deficient in moral teaching, but because of a possible use' of the Bible to propa gate sectarian religion as well as moráis. Of course the state in thus providing for its welfaré and its ideals and institutions, will ignore petty religious favoritism, and in its sovereign right will use the Bible distinctly for the incul cation of its moral counsels. Why should it do more than this?' And why less? “Moral-less” Education .Tried Out, and Found Wanting It is to be forever insisted upon that the first:essential quality for citizenship in a government1of the people is moral character. But that can neither he implanted nor developed under any system of Godless education that has yet been devised. The moral nature becomes anaemic upon the diet of the stale bread of conventional morals, anonym ous moral maxims and the ever changing moral customs of the times,r—the best that “ secular” education offers. But moral stalwarts, of the character of those who founded and built up this nation, are developed only by sound moral teaching from the Divine source. The policy of this “ secular” education has been tried o.ut for a score of years in many of the larger cities? and in some of the States under the domination of the Roman Papacy, with only disappointing results, reflected in the frightful increase of vice and Crime among youth. “ Secular” educa tion in the public schools appears today without a demon strated success. Judged by its evil fruit, and by its bar renness of good fruit, it is time to abandon the policy, and reform the public school by a return to the Divine Teacher of morals— the Divine Book. Superficial Moral Teaching has also Failed to Meet the Nation’s Need The “ secular” theory of education, whilst rejecting the direct use of the Bible for enforcing moral truth, yet under takes to inculcate Bible morals by rules and regulations, by the use of current moral maxims and by moralizing upon the startling evils and crimes of the day. The. teacher may solemnly suggest to the pupil that it is disgraceful to lie or steal or cheat, but admonitions of this nature never rise above the law of the school room. They are not given as Bible authority, therefore have a less urge than a Bible moral mandate. A thousand years of such vapid, authorless moralizing would not effect a moral reformation. Such teaching may temporarily influence conduct, but never reach the sources of moral life for developing character. The Godless theory of education has already had a fair trial for demonstrating its merit over the former policy in the use of the Bible in the school room. The morals of this generation of youth have reached a stage in the downgrade that has no parallel in the history of public education. Authentic statistics from the Bureau of Government Sani tation on the immoral vices and the consequent venereal diseases found in many of the public schools, staggers cred ulity. And yet this horrible degradation is re-enforced by well accredited data showing that 65 per cent of the crimes of this day are committed by boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 21. The school boy bandit, unheard of in former times, is the product of this modern education which dispenses with the dear old Book that restrains immoral tendencies, and con strains to right living. The policy of “ secular” education, tried and found wanting, deserves to be rejected forever;
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