Teaching Religion in the Schools
A YEAR ago, when Lawrence, Massachusetts, was having her famous strike, 30,000 men, women, and children paraded the streets as a protest against the display of the “No God; no master” banners of the Industrial Workers of the World. This year Lawrence celebrated the anniversary of that parade in a popular meeting in the opera-house. Bird S. Coler, of New York, was the principal speaker. Two important paragraphs of his address are the following: “We are aiding Socialism vastly by taking religion out of our public schools. We are spending millions of money for an educational system which has no religious content. We are turning out of these public schools for which we pay so much money, graduates who believe that science has demolished religion, whose training has been given with the object of preparing for material success. We must reintroduce religion into our educational system if we are to have a righteous nation and to stand up against the red tide. “Let every creed control its own schools, and let the state pay per capita for the education of each child so educated. Let even the agnostics maintain their own educational institutions; let there be no injustice to any class or creed. In this way, instead of turning our great educational funds into a war chest for the Socialist party, we shall inform and inspire the future generation of American citizens so as to cut out the evils at present existing in our political life.” There are a great many people who quite fully recognize that the social difficulties and evils of this time are due to a lack of genuine religion. There are many who think that this defect can be remedied by having religion taught in our various schools. But do these people take into account that the religion of Jesus Christ that saves can not be taught by those who do not have a practical experience themselves in the gospel? It takes more than mere religious knowledge or religious teaching to uplift the soul. There must be actual contact with God by His Spirit and through His word. The sympathetic touch that this contact gives to the life is the only thing that can lay a foundation for teaching religion in such a way that it will uplift. This age has gone science-mad, and just as Mr. Coler says, a generation of men have been educated to “believe that science has demolished religion.” What we need in this time is something much deeper than any mere superficial teaching of religion. We need the powerful message of the prophets and apostles to show this world that it is lost in sin, and that it is rapidly taking the plunge into irretrievable ruin. The message from on high that will arouse the conscience and convert the soul to true standards of Christian life is the message that is needed.