Newspapers / The State’s Voice (Dunn, … / March 1, 1935, edition 1 / Page 1
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£ ■<' Ab stated previously, the basic conception of the purpose of education determines both the process of educational effort and the character of it* products. Perhaps North Carolina has pever clearly conceived or expressed the end jought in her educational activities. It is at least important that the matter be occasionally re - examined. ~ ’ : - Parents, and children mature enough to con nive s purpose for acquiring an education, may have ends in view that are of no concern to the state. This inquiry concerns only the justifiable purposes of the state’s educational, activities. The one justifiable purpose of the state in its educational program, as I conceive it, is briefly, to discover and develop to io^tfieir limit the po tentialities of good citusenahip in each- child. This necessarily includes the curbing of vicious tendencies, for the vines cannot thrive when the brambles grow rampantly among.diem. The es sentials of good citizenship .are economic and so cial fitness, or efficiency. Whatever processes or expenditures promote those aids, and only those, are justifiable, and even justifiable processes may be limited by the law of decreasing returns.-;T^at is, there is such a thing, even in education, as pajdng too dearly for the whistle. The Characteristics of an Ideal ... The three bask'Characteristics ot the ideal citizen are, in the order pf their kppw^tnce, a . vigorous and whote*oi^ inortJt^, a vigorous and informed mentality, ;;hofjjr. _ ^ ~ ' Unfortunately, there aie frequently. innate ot* stacles to the attainment of the desirable develop ment of one or all of these three entities. -Also,, it is unfortunate that 'the"ill health of any one of them reactsupon the-other two. On the other hand, it is ‘ quite as true,: perhaps, that the vig orous state of health of one reacts. favorably upon the state of health of both the others. But moral vigor is the predominant factor in good citi zenship. Likewise moral sores are the more deadly, destroying not, only the soul, but the mind and body also. Also, it is-evident that the law of decrease Of returns begins to apply earlier in the development of the', body and mind than in that of the spirit, or the character. The state is scarcely concerned in Tthe development of a race of either physical or medtal giants or in reproduc ing the longevity of the patriarchs. On the other hand, there is scarcely too high a price limit upon the attainment of a wholesome and vigorous morality, since the noxious weed of immorality, per se, is the costliest of all evils and through its re-actions utterly destructive of the whole, tissue of economic and social efficiency. It has been recently estimated that crime, indictable effenses, costs this country twelve billions of dollars. Yet that sum in money is probably inconsiderable in comparison with the cost in woes and pains. The Moral Element the Most Important Jt stands to reason, from the foregoing ob servations, that the moral element in education >s by far the most important one. Ail others owe their effectiveness to moral character. Yet it is most difficult to find evidence that the fact is recognized in the state's school program, or by the average teacher. One of the greatest trage dies I have ever known to befall a community was the graduation, at the end of the eleventh year after that community had voted heavy taxes to erect a good school building and to maintain a high school, of a class of 30 of the community s young people scarcely one of whom could be trusted further than you can throw the State Capitol. The school had not created the group liars, cheats, and rogues, but it had not been ahle to overcome the environmental influences of a community whose mayor was generally believed to have burned his store for the insurance and whose grand juror (for the state in which this tragedy occurred elects its grand jurors, one to the township, each two years) was generally re puted to mind swearing to a He no more than he ' would eating a good meal: •' - The unfortunate community had paid dearly % for. the mere, husks of "an education for its chit dren. The conception of what an ~ education* should mean was utterly lacking, or if not lack ' ing was made of no avail, by' the very force of examples that were more effective than the in- - fluence of the teachers at their best. Better ►would it have been that the boys and girls had - grown up in utter ignorance of text books and with sound morals than to -enter community life as moral liabilities. • • : ; And, sad to say, there is only too much evi dence that the citizens of North Carolina who have so heavily .taxedthemselves to educate theirS - (children are- either failing to estimate the true, value of moral education, or are nullifying all the efforts, to .that end by their- own horrid examples ; of .law * violations and aiding and abetting, or covering such, by iheir own over-emphasis of / carousing and- so-called sports, .and by their gen- f .. oral ungodliness and pure cussedness. An exam- .. pie of such, overemphasis of carousals: The par ent-teacher association of some school not a hun dred miles' from, where I sit has offered a prize , .of five dollars, I believe, to the toy or girl who will secure the attendance of die oldest person - present at a scheduled “square-dance that is dif ferent.” The babies and the totterers upon the edge of the grave, ail, all, must give themselves tocarousals.; The liquor or bridge party is deem ed by hosts of parents of school .children* of more ^ v importance than 'prayer meetfqg- t JsuudairT : twhofil.* Xtt greed is turnip aJnist of youHg peopie ^o1 Hv0 f: of brigandry and bleed. , . . * .. . ;~ : ., If the rising generation does *esea|ie moral col-., lapse it will not be the fault of the thousands of influences that are nullifying'those of the schools and of the churches.'For, as Says a recent, writer, "the old spiritual values-^-conteraplation, meditation, the: commandments of self-control; and self-improvement—hre cast aside,” The Roibts of Morality. By so many roots as the marsh grass sends in . the sod— •So will I lay me a hold of the greatness .of God, —sang'the South’s premier poet, Sidney Lanier. And here is a quotation, from a recent review of Freeman’s Life of Lee: ‘‘His greatness, so Douglas Southall Freeman relates in the concluding volumes of ‘R. E. Lee,’; lay in his quiet application^ of religious ideals to conduct in life. He was ‘a gentleman of simple souh .'. . The clear light of conscience and of to- - :cial obligation left no zone of gray in his Heart; . everything was black or white. . . In his clear . creed right wa§ duty and niust be discharged’.” I condede that the state has no special concern with religious views pertaining to a future life. . . Yet it would be exceedingly, difficult for the state to set a higher or more desirable standard of citi- • zenship than that prescriDea ior uie uiuhiw the kingdom of God, and in this life at that. For instance, happy is that state whose citizens meas ure up to. the standard set in the 15th Psalm for • him who would “dwell in thy holy hill,” only one . provision of which 1 here quote: “He that swear- . eth to his own hurt and changeth not.” Or what . more desirable standard for North Carolina citi zenship than that prescribed in the 24th Psalm, for him who would “stand in his holy place, namely, “he that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto van ity, nor sworn deceitfully?” What more desiT able traits of citizenship are sought through the state’s educational program than those listed by Paul as the “fruit of the spirit,” namely, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, • faith, meekness, and5 temperance? Or what list more completely aums up the-fruits of our pres ently “civilization” than Paul’s catalogue of the^ “fruits of. the flesh”: ; Adultery, fomifica •tion, uncleanness, lasciviousness,- idolatry, witch- : craft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, : seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunken-. 'ness, and re veilings? And what more fatal thari these to good citizenship! The Basis* of Civicand Religious ** f-: Righteousness Identical. ' m f»Jo; the state is not concerned with fitting men for heaven, but since the basis of civic .and heavenly righteousness must be conceded to;h$ identical,* and since civic righteousness, which er fectaalizes all other desirable results of die edu cational process, must be deemed- the chief end sought in the state’s' educational program,*rtis evident that religion should he recognized as the chief handmaiden of the state. In brief, anf state that disregards God forsakes. the hope lot civic righteousness. * * _ ;••• - Back to our quotations above. The sweet singer Lanier would anchor his-Bfe to *tthe great-* ness of God," The South’s ideal citizen’* "gmateess lay/-’ahcordmg to hi&mbstThcent tapher, “irrhisrjuietappKcatiOn ofrehgionsideals to conduct in life,” In his clear creed right was duty and must be: discharged, • False Inferences front the Doctrine of ; '' Separation of the Church and State. ■ Recent generations have .fallaciously assumed that the doctrine of the separation of church and state divorces this government from God and re ligion. Under the( sway of that, assumption, .the schools have more and more ignored God. Hap pily, however/the very'document ujjdn which the life Ql our. nation is based recognizes .the sov ereignty and. abnkhty power of God as definitely iji'its'yery -b^inthag aa d<^^;Bodk o|Gene»& 4 scriptures ?Oodhp$. created,” echoes, the Ueelara •tipn of Independence. * TSie constitution does d*1* . voice the state .and church organizations. But it does anything'else than attempt to banish the con ception of the immanence of God. Indeed, God is.enthroned in. the citadel of the nation. And while, our constitution rightly leaves every citizen .free :to worship God in his own way, the very . laws of opr own state penalize; the atheiest .by denying hini the right to tpke an path1 of office or to give evidence as a witness. , , < .* - , God la God. There ;is> one God. Conceptions of 'Him may differ, But all men who pelieve in a Supreme Being necessarily believe in the same God, what ever the. variance in names or conceptions of His relations tornen. Therefore, there can be no vio lation of the freedom of conscience in instilling the idea of .God in his sovereignty and of man’s duty to heed his injunctions, whether of the con science or -of thesacred records. His righteous ness is the basis, of all righteousness, even civi'e righteousness. And there is no* believer, in Gpd in this country whose rights can be violated by teaching God - and His. righteousness. .Yea, .Christians of .all . sects and names, the Jews, and the Moslems, all, all, have the very same God and all accept the Old Testament as a. sacred book. Therefore, there is scarcely a believer .in a Supreme Being in this country whose God is not Jehovah. Therefore, Jehovah may be as law fully as wisely enthroned in the schools of the state. It is the atheist who is unrecognized in our fundamental laws; yet the false assumption referred to above has given to him the power of dominating the schools and excluding God and His righteousness from their precincts!—A pro cedure fatal to civic righteousness and the hap* pi ness and prosperity of the state. The State's Proper Attitude to Religious Activities. There is not an accredited religious sect in America to-day which does- not teach the essen tial moralities. And it is due, I conceive* to the activities of religionists of any and [all sects that civic righteousness survives at all. Yet many subdivisions of government haven't sufficient sense of fself-preservation to encourage those re ligious^ activities which have thus far been the chief bar to absolute demoralization, and there fore to economic ruin. "The state could well af ford to pay for the work being done by the w {Continued on Page Two) *
The State’s Voice (Dunn, N.C.)
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March 1, 1935, edition 1
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