In the correspondence columns of late, letters have been appearing on the old controversial subject of religious education and much has been made of the point that because of lack of it the world finds itself in a singular irreligious state—at least as far as the so-called Christian countries are concerned. There was a time in Britain when every secular school had at least a short portion of the morning devoted to biblical instruction, and possibly the singing of a hymn and the saying of a prayer. It was not wholly successful, for a large number of reasons, the chief of which was that the Bible was interpreted to the children in the terms of the individual teacher's beliefs. Lack of a homogeneous doctrine undoubtedly led to a very great deal of confusion, especially in the minds of the young and the decision to discontinue religious instruction in those schools was, in the circumstances," probably a wise one. It was very properly thought that the various churches could best look after the: religious education of their children, and there is much to be said for that contention. It was left to the Sunday schools to do what Hat been attempted in the weekday schools, and there are doubtless many readers who will recall their late Victorian and early Edwardian youth the terror of which was Sunday.
Mattins in the morning, Sunday school in the afternoon, and possibly evensong thrown in as a)makeweight. Collects to be learned by heart, passages of the Scriptures to be treated in the same way, until the child became as a tinkling cymbal capable of repeating much of which he understood little. It is a wonder that many survived their youth to be Christians of conviction, and there is an uncomfortable possibility that many who now profess to be observing Christians are so indeed only by force of habit. It is doubtful whether the changes which have since been made have improved matters much. Indeed the belief is that they have not, for the anxiety concerning the absence of religion in so many lives, is apparently just as acute as ever it was. Possibly a great deal of that is due to the fact that many a child soon came to the realization that Sunday School meant a quiet afternoon for the parents after their Sunday dinner. Whether or not the parental attitude did much to offset the effect of the teaching at Sunday School may be a moot question, but it is quite clear that many of the lessons then taught were not carried into after life. Possibly again the quality of the teachers had a great deal to do with it. For the most part they were devout people whose only qualification was their devotion, and in this connection it needs to be remembered that the teaching of religion requires just as much skill and erudition as the teaching of any other subject. It requires something even more and that is a burning conviction on the part of the instructor of the truth of what he or she is imparting.
Can that be possible in lay schools? Experience of the past suggests that it cannot. It is not possible to secure teachers whose instruction is likely to commend itself to the varied religious ideas of the children's parents. That would not, of course apply to church schools, but in state schools attended by children of parents of all sorts of religious beliefs it is clearly impossible to devise a teaching which could be acceptable all round. The churches are doing what they can' but the facilities at their disposal are not great. They could be assisted greatly by religious activity in the home, but here the passage of generations has produced people who have no religious convictions of their own and are utterly unfitted to endeavour to inculcate them in their children. Of the value of religious education there can be no question, but the impression is gained that the questions posed by the various correspondents are more difficult to answer than they are to ask. Whether the churches themselves will have to devise a new method of approaching this vital matter of religious education is a problem which is attracting the serious attention of many. Yet the solution is not easy. That is not to say that it is impossible, but it would seem that a suggestion has still to be made of some system whereby doctrine may be instilled into the young in a manner which will make its assimilation easy and pleasurable. Once that has been done the Problem of religious education may solve elf, Interesting Omission An interesting omission from Chancellor Hitler's speech in the Munich beer hall was any reference to what the Nazi air force is going to do to Britain. It will be remembered that in Hitler's last effusion, he emphasized what the German planes were about to do to the unfortunate British people; for every ton of bombs dropped on Germany he was going to drop ten tons in return. Yet his latest threats contain no hint of any such thing. Apparently circumstances have caused a change of plan. He now realises that the bombing tactics he has employed up to the present have been futile and wasteful, and, therefore, emphasizes the importance of the U-boat blockade. To his credit, it must be admitted that the British People are much more concerned over this blockade threat than they ever were over the bombing. But, while Hitler claimed that he had not wasted his time during the winter months, the British might just as rightly claim that they, too, had not thrown away the op-Portunity to study fresh means of thwarting attempts at blockade. Herr Hitler may have all sorts of things up his sleeve so far as the U-boat campaign is concerned, but it should never be forgotten that the British also have things up their sleeves to combat him. There was a report the other day that Britain had @evised a new technique to counter the submarine menace. The confidence expressed by British spokesmen goes a long way to support the belief that this claim is true. The British navy has never once admitted that the submarine menace is something they cannot cope with, and the most recent statements are more than usually confident that supplies can be aho, in spite of the worst the Nazis can
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.