USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The Religious Education Association : proceedings of the first annual convention, Chicago, February 10-12, 1903 > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
Less recognized, but most potent, I must believe, is the influence of school music. Music, I know, is called
136
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
a " fad," with which epithet men habitually denounce what they do not understand. But, quite aside from its emotional and æsthetic value, school music may be a most potent moral and religious force. Here is a song I hit upon in a popular school music reader, for third- grade children, that is, children about eight years of age :
Loving Shepherd of thy sheep, Keep me, Lord, in safety keep; Nothing can thy power withstand ; None can pluck me from thy hand.
Loving Shepherd, ever near,
Teach me still thy voice to hear ;
Suffer not my foot to stray From the strait and narrow way.
Another :
As the twilight shadows O'er the mountain creep, Happy little children Lay them down to sleep.
Tiny hands are folded For the evening prayer,
Sweet confiding voices Ask the Father's care.
"Tis the dear petition, Old as English speech, Which adoring mothers To their children teach.
Hear them say: " I pray Thee Lord my soul to keep!" Thus the little children Trusting go to sleep.
Hundreds of such songs as these are sung by hundreds of thousands of children in our public schools every day. With this in mind, let us be wary in joining in the hue and cry against school music as a "fad."
A dozen other agencies might be mentioned, all of which are working powerfully for righteousness through
I37
RELIGION AND MORALITY IN SCHOOLS
our public schools. The last report of the United States commissioner of education has, for the first time I believe, a section devoted to " Educational Pathology," which dis- cusses these topics : institutions for preventing social dis- eases ; saving boys from crime ; the "junior republic"- government of boys, for boys, by boys ; and school gov- ernment. It includes, by the way, the constitution drawn up by the pupils of one of the schools of Chicago for their own government. The observance of special days is also utilized for impressing moral lessons from the lives of great men. Long, indeed, would be the mere catalogue of all the useful expedients resorted to by those in charge of our schools, to further the cause this Con- vention aims to promote. Nowhere may you look for more intelligent, sympathetic, and devoted co-operation in this movement than among the school-teachers of this land.
Nor can we doubt that intelligence is itself a moral force. You are all familiar with the story of the Jukes family, that classic set of vagabonds and criminals. But not so many may have read Dr. Winship's little book Jukes-Edwards, in which he sets side by side the his- tories of the family of Max Jukes and Jonathan Edwards. The mere facts are reverberatingly eloquent. Of the descendants of Max Jukes 1,200 were traced by Mr. Dug- dale, of whom 310 were professional paupers, 400 were wrecked physically in early life by debauchery, 60 were habitual thieves, 1 30 were criminals convicted more or less often of crime, and 7 were murderers. The descendants of Jonathan Edwards were not so easily classified, but there were 60 eminent physicians, more than 100 clergymen, missionaries, and theological professors, and 80 at least reached high political preferment. There were 100 law- yers, 30 judges, and Theodore W. Dwight; and at least I 20 were graduated from Yale College alone. No sacri- fice was ever too great for the members of that family in
138
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
order to get an education. The moral and religious ele- ments were, of course, always strong in the family. But what a contrast between the illiterate Jukeses and the literate Edwardses!
The probability is always strong, and this is a hope- ful fact, that morality and knowledge were not linked together fortuitously in the Ordinance of 1787, but tend naturally to go hand in hand. The people do not want unmoral schools. Political considerations may make it seem impracticable to do much in the public schools for specific religious teaching. But no one objects to the constant teaching through literature and song, and a score of less noticeable agencies, that is going on all the time. The educators of the land are united for moral teaching in the schools. But they cannot have too much help from enlightened public sentiment; they cannot have too much expert assistance, provided that it is ren- dered wisely, sympathetically, intelligently. In many of their efforts in this direction schoolmen have hereto- fore been hampered by a misunderstanding of their aims and motives. This Association may and should bring up the reinforcements that shall win the battle.
JOHN W. CARR, A.M., SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, ANDERSON, INDIANA
I wish to express a faith rather than to submit a plan: a faith in the possibility and practicability of religious instruction being given in the public schools without offense; a faith that moral education, the stone that has been so long rejected, will become the head of the corner. This faith is not based on any plan I have to suggest, but rather on a deep and abiding necessity - a necessity which we all feel and realize.
In a recent address, President Eliot made a sweeping . and fearful arraignment of the public schools because of
139
RELIGION AND MORALITY IN SCHOOLS
the great prevalence of drunkenness, gambling, riot- ing, misgovernment, and almost every other form of vice and crime. However much we resent the arraign- ment, we all feel and know that in some way the public school has not touched and quickened the heart and conscience of the nation as we had hoped it would do. Is it possible that in our progress and prosperity we are forgetting the God of our fathers? Are we wandering away after strange gods-Mammon, Astarte, Bacchus, and other heathen divinities?
In discussing the great anthracite-coal strike, President Roosevelt said in substance: We do not need a new philosophy to solve this problem ; we only need to put in practice the well-known and oft-tried precepts of the Bible, the doctrine of the golden rule. And so our people are realizing more and more that the practice of the Christian virtues is the one thing most needful in the solution, not only of this problem, but of every problem -social, commercial, political, public and pri- vate. Men and women everywhere are looking about, endeavoring to find a better way to develop a higher type of manhood and womanhood, how to disseminate and perpetuate the nobler Christian virtues. And so we are asking the government if it cannot do more. We are asking the home if it cannot do more. We are ask- ing the church if through all its varied agencies it can- not do more to make men morally better, truly religious. Finally, we are asking the public school, the youngest child of democracy, if it too cannot do more, vastly more, to promote the religious and moral education of the people.
I am aware of the fact that many serious difficulties are encountered the moment we attempt to give any form of religious instruction in the public schools. All shades of religious opinion are represented in this coun- try, and no one is or seeks to be dominant. It is not
140
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
only undesirable, but utterly out of the question, to attempt to teach the particular religious tenets of any denomination, or dogmatic theology of any kind. It would be repugnant to tax Protestants in order to teach their children the Roman Catholic catechism, or to tax Catholics to teach their children Protestant dogma. Even an attempt to introduce such religious education into the public schools would prove disastrous. No public money can or should be used for such a purpose. It is, therefore, evident that if any religious instruction at all is given in the public schools, it must be of that broad, universal kind which is practically held in com- mon by all of our people-Jews and Christians, Protes- tants and Catholics, church members and adherents of no religious sect. The question is: Is there such a body of religious truths? If so, can they and should they be taught in the public schools?
I for one believe that there are such religious truths, and that it is possible to teach them, not only without offense, but to the edification of all. Of course, I recognize that this is a disputed question, yet it seems to me that the following are broad and universal enough to be taught without giving reasonable grounds of offense to anyone. I not only believe that these may be taught, but that in many schools they are already taught, and · that a knowledge of them should be the heritage of every child. It is true that the number of religious truths that may safely be taught in the public schools is small compared to the whole body of religious truth, yet they are fundamental. The religious instruction given in the public schools cannot take the place of that which should be given in the home and the church. Neither, in my opinion, can the religious instruction given in the church and the home take the place of that which should be given in the public schools. The one is supplemen- tary to the other-each a part of the whole. What,
RELIGION AND MORALITY IN SCHOOLS 141
then, are these religious truths that should be taught in the public schools?
I. Belief in God. The belief in God as the Creator and Ruler of the universe is held practically by all our people. This belief is fundamental, not only in religion, but in science, politics, philosophy, and life. The God- idea permeates our literature, music, history, science, and law. It is an ennobling thought that this world is not founded on chance, but that there is a supreme Intelli- gence that directs all things, that controls all things. This belief carries with it the doctrine of the fatherhood of God. God is regarded as a loving Father, and as such we render to him adoration and praise.
2. The brotherhood of man. The fatherhood of God presupposes the brotherhood of man. Children cannot be taught this great religious truth too early. This fact once fully comprehended causes each child to feel the kinship of the race. Respect for the rights of others, honesty in dealing with our fellows, rules of politeness -all are based upon recognition of the brotherhood of man. Certainly the school can teach this without offense.
3. The value of life. It is of the utmost importance that children have some conception of the dignity and value of life. If they understand that every act, every thought, every hope, and every aspiration lifts them to a higher planc-near God-or drags them down, then living has a new significance. The thought of immor- tality is calculated to make one more thoughtful, more considerate, than if life is regarded merely as "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing."
4. The moral order of the universe. That there is moral order in the universe is a truth that should be known and recognized by every youth. He should know that good and evil have their recompense of
142
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
reward or punishment ; that every rational being is held responsible for his deeds, and that every act and every thought leave their traces upon soul and body. We may wear a mask, pretend to be what we are not; but in a thousand ways the mask is snatched off, exposing our nakedness and deformity, revealing our real character. We cannot escape from ourselves. The moral law is binding upon us. However secret may be the act, be assured "our sins will find us out," and that " even-handed justice will commend the ingredients of our poisoned chalice to our own lips."
But however much men may differ in reference to religious education in the public schools, there is no dif- ference of opinion in reference to the advisability, yes the necessity, of moral education. No other class is so dangerous to society as the highly educated criminal. If the state omits moral instruction in the public schools, it does so at its peril. While it is possible for a man to be moral without being religious in the theological sense, yet no one can be truly religious without being moral, for morality is an essential part of religion. St. James says : "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." If we paraphrase this definition we have : "Pure religion is the performance of deeds of kindness and of mercy and the living of a high moral life." It is one of the highest duties of the school to train chil- dren in morals. They should be taught their duty to themselves, to their parents, to their playmates, to strangers. They should also be taught their duty to the school, to the home, to the state, and to God. These should be taught by precept and example, and the chil- dren should be trained in the performance of them until they become fixed as habits. While there doubtless is virtue in training children to perform their duties as a
143
RELIGION AND MORALITY IN SCHOOLS
rigid requirement, yet it should be the constant aim of the school to teach children to practice virtue from motives of love. The common things, even the drudgeries of life, are transformed when performed in love.
How may religious and moral instruction be given in the public schools? What facilities do the schools afford for such instruction ? What time is to be devoted to this work? What methods are to be employed ? These are questions of great importance. In the time allotted to me I cannot hope to give a satisfactory answer to a single one of them. In fact, every teacher must, to some extent, answer each question in his own way. But if he be a true teacher, he will endeavor to answer them effectually. I shall venture a few suggestions.
I. By the incidental and minor exercises of the school. Something can be accomplished in the way of moral and religious education by the proper use of the incidental and minor exercises of the school. By inci- dental and minor exercises I mean reading the Bible, prayer, appropriate stories and fables, memory gems, and music. The school day cannot be begun to better advantage than by singing, Bible reading, and prayer. Fortunately, I live in a state which declares by law that "the Bible shall not be excluded from the public schools of the state." This law has been on the statute books of Indiana for nearly half a century, and therefore may be considered as thoroughly established. Bible reading of course is not compulsory, but the Bible is placed in the public schools and its use left to the good judgment and conscience of the teacher. As a result of this, the choicest gems of biblical literature as well as the highest moral and spiritual precepts may be read and taught to the children. Many teachers keep the Bible at hand, and whenever there is an allusion to it, they at once turn to the biblical reference, thus disclosing to the children the matchless treasures of the Sacred Book.
144
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
Music, especially singing, has a fascination and power over children that is truly wonderful. It soothes and sub- dues their passions and awakens every noble emotion. The school day is always brighter and better if it is begun with a stirring song. If the children are tired and nervous or ill-tempered, a song will quiet them as oil upon a troubled sea. "Music," says Luther, "is the art of the prophets, the only art which can calm the agita- tion of the soul." Its moral and religious power has long been recognized by the church, but the school is just beginning to realize its value.
2. By a formal course in morals. A formal course in ethics often proves helpful in giving moral instruction. Such a course has long been in use in the Anderson schools, and time has demonstrated the wisdom of it. I cannot set forth details. Suffice it to say that some simple suggestions are given in reference to the best mode of developing kindness, truthfulness, honesty, and kindred virtues. The aim is to set forth the best method of using the different agencies of the school, such as songs, stories, memory gems, discipline, manner of instruction, etc., so as to give the best moral training. In carrying out such a course, no new subject is intro- duced, but the old ones are used to produce new and definite results-the development of moral character.
3. By co-operation. Teachers have long recognized the importance of co-operating with parents in the train- ing of children. They find this co-operation helpful in every line of school work-study, discipline, moral development. The home and the school working together are more than twice as effective as either work- ing alone. Of recent years much time and attention have been given to this co-operative work. Parents and teachers have exchanged visits and held consul- tations ; mothers' meetings and educational societies have been organized; the Hesperian and other move-
145
RELIGION AND MORALITY IN SCHOOLS
ments have been launched, all of which have had for their chief object the unity of the home and the school. Such has been the success of these efforts that in many communities the most vexatious cases of school discipline have almost entirely disappeared and the moral tone of the whole community has received new vigor. The success of this co-operative movement between the home and the public school, perhaps more than any other one thing, has led to this wider movement which has for its object the federation of the home, the school, the church, and all other agencies and institutions that make forrighteousness. If this organization is consum- mated, and can once become active and effective, another milestone will have been passed in our national history.
4. By the discipline and routine work of the school. The discipline and routine work of a well-regulated school furnish most excellent means for the moral, and to a great extent the religious, training of children. Here children are taught the so-called mechanical vir- tues -promptness, regularity, cheerfulness, industry, and obedience. These things are taught in no perfunc- tory way, but the children are drilled daily in the prac- tice of them -promptness and regularity in school attend- ance, promptness in obeying signals and commands, industry in the preparation of lessons, obedience to the commands and directions of the teacher and to the laws of the school, cheerfulness in all things. Here, too, children are taught the meaning of "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not"-a lesson of the greatest importance to all Ameri- can youth. Here, too, they are taught self-control, self- reliance, and perseverance. Paul's good counsel to the Thessalonians is not only preached but lived in every well-regulated public school. The disorderly are warned and admonished. The faint-hearted are encouraged and comforted. The children are taught to be patient with their lessons, and patient with one another. They are
146
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
taught day in and day out, year in and year out, to "ren- der evil for evil to no man, but always to follow after that which is good, one toward another and toward all." They are taught to "rejoice evermore"-rejoice in their school work, rejoice in their play, rejoice at home, at school, on the streets, wherever they may be; rejoice at Thanksgiving, at Christmas, and other holidays; rejoice, not only themselves, but give gifts, send kind messages, and make others rejoice. In everything they are taught to give thanks-thanks to one another for little kind- nesses shown, thanks to parents and teachers, and in many schools thanks to Almighty God. That they shall "prove all things and hold fast that which is good," is in the very warp and woof of the school. It is taught in mathe- matics, in science, in history, in literature. And finally, that "they shall abstain from every form of evil, and do good to all men as much as lieth in them," is the sum- mation of all school discipline. We are only beginning to realize the possibility of routine work and school disci- pline in the moral, yes the religious, education of children.
5. By the course of study. Many subjects in the course of study may be taught in such a way as to give both moral and religious training. This is true even in the elementary schools. Here the child is taught the ele- mentary truths of mathematics. Here he is introduced to the beauties and wonders of nature in the study of geography, nature-study, and physiology. In the study of these he gets his first conception of the perfection, adaptation, and orderly arrangement of the different parts of his own body and of all nature around him. He should be taught from the very first that these things are not the result of chance, but that they are under law, and that such a law could only be the creation of an intelligent and beneficent Being. To the truly religious teacher this being is none other than God.
In the high school the opportunities for religious
147
RELIGION AND MORALITY IN SCHOOLS
instruction are even greater. The home, nay the church itself, does not have such an excellent chance to teach some of the fundamentals, not only of morality, but of religion. God manifests himself in history. His word, his law, and his love are portrayed in literature. The source of all wealth is his beneficence. He is regnant in phys- ics and chemistry and astronomy. His law and munifi- cence and power are recorded in geology ; states are founded upon his authority and governed by his law. The public school that teaches these subjects, but fails to teach that there is a God, does so at its peril.
6. By the example of the teacher. But what are even these things compared to the example of a noble, Chris- tian teacher-one whose heart is in her work, one who sees in every child the image of God? With such a teacher in the schoolroom, the age of miracles has not yet passed. She anoints blind eyes and lo! they see new beauties in earth and sky; she unstops deaf ears, and they hear wonderful harmonies; she loosens fettered hands, and they perform deeds of mercy and kindness. She touches dumb lips, and they break forth into song. By a magic power she can exorcise evil spirits. She speaks to the spirit of laziness, and he departs. She says to the demon of stubbornness, "Come out of him," and he comes forth. She commands the devil of lying to be gone, and forthwith he goes. In her presence the good in every child blossoms and bears fruit. Industry becomes easy and pleasant; quietness an every-day affair, and kindness the rule of the school. Such a teacher becomes the guide, the inspiration, the ideal of the children -their true guardian angel. She "lures to brighter worlds and leads the way." Some children are not reared in moral and religious homes; some do not have the refining and Christianizing influence of the church ; but it should be the heritage of every child to be taught in the public schools by a noble Christian teacher.
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION THROUGH CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES
REV. WILLIAM G. BALLANTINE, D.D., LL.D., BIBLE INSTRUCTOR IN INTERNATIONAL Y. M. C. A. TRAINING SCHOOL, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
In addition to the Sunday schools, the church has two other great systems of organized religious work among the young. These are the Young Men's Chris- tian Association and the Young People's Societies. Each of these has a unique field. Each has done and is doing a work of vast extent and of inestimable value. Each stands today on the threshold of an incomparably greater intensive and extensive mission. The Young People's Societies have not yet passed through the first stadium of their course. The Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, which two years ago celebrated its fiftieth birthday, has had time to reach a much maturer stage, and is now doing far more that is distinctly educational. So rapid indeed, of late years, has been this educational growth of the Association that few besides those immediately concerned have any adequate notion of its magnitude, or any perception of its tremendous significance.
Here is an agency organized on the soundest business principles, controlled by men of the highest skill in affairs, owning in various cities of the continent 450 magnificent buildings worth $24,000,000, receiving for the equipment and support of its work in a single year $12,000,000, employing 1,800 paid officers, and enrol- ling more than 300,000 members. This organization ministers to the religious needs of men and boys of all classes. Fifty thousand of the railroad men, upon whose sobriety, efficiency, and fidelity our lives depend,
148
149
RELIGION IN YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES
are already enrolled in its railroad branches. In our colleges and universities 40,000 students who are to be the leaders of thought for the next generation are now under its guidance. In the boys' department more than 50,000 boys are being helped past the temptations of youth into Christian manliness. In the army, in the navy, among colored young men, and among the Indians, the Young Men's Christian Association is felt as a mighty force for righteousness.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.