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Show PROTESTANTS IN LINE. r Vf. ' Thoughtful Protestants Realize That Reli-gion Reli-gion Should Be Taught to Children--Re- j: ligious Influence the Only One That Can T. Combat Evil Religion the Only Found j: ation of Morality Catholic Idea of ; Christian Education Widely Shared by : Non-Catholics. ' j (Catholic Standard ami Times.) I It is not astonishing that, in the face of tli fact that criminals in this country have increased from one in every 3,442 in 1S50 to one in every 715 in 1S90. more thoughtful Protestants lmvo begun to realize that our much-vaunted public school system does not meet the requirements of education, when it eliminates from its curriculum the first principle of wisdom, religion. From their earliest years children should be taught that tho practice of virtue, honesty and truthfulness i.s a dutv imnosed bv tho law of God on their fn vill and that this law has a right to command and the power to enforce that command. Every fair-minded fair-minded Christian must acknowledge that when we eliminate religion from the education of the child we remove the one great underlying principle of all wisdom, "the fear of the Lord," the only thing that can control, engender responsibility and force, responsibility to do its duty. Bribery, fraud, defalcation, de-falcation, divorce, moral irresponsibility, absence f ?qf any thought of a Divine Judge, disrespect for f&ority these are the crimes of the so called ' l" 'i T? a"d they are undermining tbfl 3ue;i. uiMRua'.gill society. What is the causf of n$ lnterndUt. c... ------ ""iv influence that can successfully and pcnv.v - - -gently combat the evil. It is Hying in the face o - ! Providence to trust to the sheet anchor of a morality mo-rality that does not recognize God. Religion is the only foundation of morality; and religious education ed-ucation is absolutely necessary. It is gratifying to Catholics to see that their ideals of a Christian education are widely shared by non-Catholics, as the following authorities furnished fur-nished by a writer in the Catholic Standard and Times of Philadelphia prove: The Lutheran Almanac for 1004 informs that the Lutheran church supports 5.244 parochial schools, in which are being educated 2:34,175 pupils pu-pils in North America. The Episcopal Church Almanac for 1901 informs in-forms us that the Episcopal church has 10,855 pupils pu-pils and 436 teachers in its parochial schools. The Rev. Hamilton Schuyler (Protestant) of Bennington, Vt.. said, in a baccalaureate sermon in that city on a recent occasion: "Education, which is really valuable to the individual and society so-ciety must consist in the training of the whole man. The intellect is only a part the will, th conscience, the emotions, in a word, all that wo designate as the moral and spiritual must also receive re-ceive appropriate training and discipline if education edu-cation is to do its full and perfect work, if it is t. be a blessing and not a curse. "When learning had been almost obliterated during the Middle or so-called so-called Dark Ages, it was the church which alone preserved literary traditions." Dr. Rainsford (Episcopal) said on Feb. 21. 1899, in New York City: "Not only should the head and the hand be taught, but the soul as well. We fail to recognize this in our schools, yet it i.' the cornerstone of our liberty. 'You have got to give religious teaching in the schools. The church as she is today cannot give it in our Sunday-schools." Sunday-schools." Bishop Johnson (Episcopal) of Western Texas, on June 10, 1891, said: "This inability of the pub-.; lie schools of our land to teach any system of mor-, als is going to lead, within a few years, to a strug-, gle. the like of which this country has never seen, and it will, be with a generation that believes nothing noth-ing at all." , i ' The Episcopal convention declared: "Surely every Christian will rejoice to turn out well- ; equipped young men and women, but Christiana as well." ' . 1 Dr. Wallace Radcliffe (Presbyterian) said at: Washington. D. C, Oct. 7. 1900: "It is something-that something-that your children go to school; it is more that they go to a school of your own religious belief. ; Therefore, we summon you to bring up your chil- ; dren in your own faith. Let us establish schools I and teach our religious convictions. Rev. Dr. E. T. Wolf, a professor at Gettysburg ; j Theological Seminary, said before the Evangelical I Alliance, Dec. 4. 1901: "Every faculty except the I highest and noblest is exercised and invigorated I (in our public schools), but the crowning faculty that which is designed to animate all others is f contemptuously ignored; and unless its education can be secured, our young men and women will be graduated from our schools as moral imbeciles. This country is facing a grave social problem." Rev. Henry C. Minton (Presbyterian), moderator mod-erator of the General Assembly, said at Philadelphia. Philadel-phia. May 19. 1901: "The faith of our sons and daughters is involved, and the kingdom of God in this country is involved. Our school system is not an organized skepticism, but a God-forgotten sec- ularism." , ', . Rev. Dr. David II. Greer (Episcopal) said before be-fore the general Episcopal convention at Washing- , ton, D. C, Oct. 22, 1898: "The Episcopal church Continued on Fage 4- ' PROTESTANTS IN LINE. j Continued from Page 1. is not satisfied with the present system of public schools, because religion is not taught in them. Tlu '.-e schools should not onlv have such religion taught (in our public schools), so that our children chil-dren will not grow up wholly irreligious, and thus become a menace to the well-being of society." Rev. Mr. Greer said, in the Xew York Sun. Sept. :J0, lyOo: "We are bringing up all over tlii-broad tlii-broad land a lusty set of young pagans, who sooner or later, they or their children, will make havoc of our institutions. Lynchers, lawbreakers and labor agitators generally are human guideposts with arms, hands and fingers extended and voices, ut their loudest, pointing us to the ruin which await society if we persevere in the road which we are , now taking." The Religious Educational association, which met at Philadelphia on March 20. 1904, and was in session three days, devoted all its labors in endeavoring en-deavoring to devise means whereby religion mighr be taught in our public schools, and their concluding conclud-ing resolution was to spend $20,000 in 1!)04 for the agitation and diffusion of information as to the necessity of the religious training of the child. The president of Princeton said: "A father may well feel that his son's refined demeanor would be a poor offset to his loss of religious faith." ! President Hyde of Bowdoin college said be- ! fore the Massachusetts Teachers' association of Boston. November. 1S9G: "The public school must do more than it has been doing if it is to be a real educator of youth and an effective supporter of tin-state. tin-state. It puts the pen of knowledge in the child's hand, but it fails to open the treasures of wisdom to his heart and mind." The great Gladstone said: "Every system of education which leaves out religious instruction is a dangerous system." |