p. 19 | An Appeal to Parents by W. E. H.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Aug 27, 1914

An Appeal to Parents

By W. E. H.

YOU have been reading the press accounts of the conflict of arms in Europe. You have noted how millions of men are marshaling for war. Already they are marching into the jaws of death, undaunted by the cannon's awful roar in their very faces. You know that each of these men is somebody's son. You picture mother and wife peering out through the lattice, like the mother of Sisera of old, and crying with anxious heart, “Is it well with my son, with my husband?” You read perhaps of the Belgian mother who was willing her son should die if only he first killed three Germans. You recall the Spartan mother who, on the eve of battle, gave her son a shield, saying, “Return with it, or upon it.”

“Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” You who read this appeal belong to the “we.” It is not an untimely thing for me to ask, How far are you willing to go that your son and your daughter may obtain an incorruptible crown? How earnestly do you desire them to have a part in helping others to win such a crown? What bearing on these questions has the attendance of your children at one of our schools?

As nearly as we can learn, about half our own children of school age are yet in the secular schools. In which half are yours? Why does Germany appear the best prepared of nations in the present European conflict?—Because of the vigorous and universal training of her young men in times of peace. Suppose she had trained only half of them herself, and left the other half to be trained in France? (The French school at St. Cyr has an international reputation.) O, you say, but France instills into her cadets a spirit of enmity toward Germany. Exactly; you have the point. Germany has tactics of her own, and a spirit of her own with which she wishes to imbue her young men. She will not let out their training to strangers to the imperiling of the aim of the Vaterland.

Why Halt Ye Between Two Opinions?

If Seventh-day Adventists have any specific work of their own to do in the world, they also have working policies of their own, and a distinct spirit of their own—the spirit of the last warning message—which must be inculcated in those who are preparing to bear responsibility. More than that, they need all their young men and women enlisted and in training to meet the demands of this cause. And they need all the educational resources that all the people can muster, in order to accomplish this preparation.

If you have been content heretofore to allow your son or daughter to attend a school whose aims and spirit are alien to the Seventh-day Adventist cause, are you willing, in the light of world events today, to continue this practice? We do not know how much time there is left in which to educate our children and to sound the last message. We do know that the time is growing very short. We may have to do in times of trouble what we might have done in times of peace. One thing at least seems clear: you cannot afford to halt longer between two opinions in the education of your children. You cannot afford it for your children's sake; you cannot afford it for the work's sake. Many parents have already found this out, and are rejoicing in the results of their decision to identify themselves fully with this advent people.

In the present world crisis, all the peoples of the earth are taking their stand on one side or the other; it is a political and economic necessity. How long shall Seventh-day Adventists halt between two opinions in the school question?

W. E. H.