Whose Fault Is It? by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 7, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 27.

Whose Fault Is It?

By Editor

Whose Fault Is It?—A correspondent writes us in this strain:—

Religion, good morals, and even good judgment, are set at naught by our nation too much, and the love of money has brought us sin and shame. Our children learn science, but never learn how to live and how to be happy. The first thing is to love God with all the heart; the second is like it, love thy neighbor. On these two hang all the law and the prophets. But legalized saloons and drunkenness, crime and murder, exist all over our nation—disease, short living, and unhappy lives. A pure character is what distinguishes a man from a brute.

Now all the above is true; probably no man would deny it; but our complainer seems to think that the government is responsible for not teaching our children the way to live and the way to be happy. But this is just what the government cannot do, what a government has never been able to do, and what a government has no business to do. The moral and religious training rests with parents and such religious teachers as the parent is disposed to choose. The home and the church are where the character must be formed, not in the public schools. The schools may teach science in its various branches and studies; it is not, and in the very nature of the case cannot be, fitted to teach more. While doing this it may inculcate civility of manners toward all, and repress incivility. The root of right living and happiness lies in loving God, and this we can intelligently do only by faith in Christ Jesus. This is the duty of the parent, to love God, to have God's word in his heart, and to faithfully at all times teach his children. See Deut. 6:5-9; 30:19; Eph. 6:4. If parents would not shun their God-given responsibilities, there would be less demand for religious education in public schools. We verily believe that the government has no business to legalize saloons; that it is in duty bound to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors, for the protection of the mothers, children, taxpayers, community, and as a measure of economy to the government. It would be political economy to pension the saloon keepers, distillers, and brewers, and abolish the whole traffic. But let the church labor for individual souls. If she had more faith in Christ and less in politics, she would accomplish more.