Schools 1942

Albert E. Bowen, CR, Apr., 1942, p.59

Now the answer to the question put to Peter is of the all-or-none order. The Christianity which built the western civilization was built upon Peter's answer. It was that Christianity which brought democracy into the world because it was the first to bring to man the revelation of human personality, and that is the rock upon which the democracy in which we profess . . . a faith rests and alone can rest. It was that Christianity upon which the declared principles of our civil order rest, and there is no other resting place for them. A belief in democracy without a belief in that Christianity is no better than a code deprived of its creed or a flower cut from its parent stem: it must ultimately wither and die. When it dies freedom dies, even if democratic forms survive. Hitler rules today under the "forms" of the Weimar constitution and Stalin under the "forms" of a constitution as "democratic" sounding as anyone could wish! The same thing could happen here under our own "forms" if we, too, should lose faith in the soul that alone can give them life.

I am not predicting dire catastrophe for our country. But I do say that the warning sounded is no idle one. The arraignment made by Mr. Woodlock is, I am forced reluctantly to admit, justified by the facts. Since sometime before the war started in Europe thoughtful men, there and here, scholars, scientists, publicists, statesmen, religionists, have been calling for a spiritual and religious recovery; they have solemnly warned that our nation cannot endure "except upon a solid religious foundation," but I very much doubt if any of them would give the answer Peter gave to the same question as was addressed to him. Men profess a deep attachment to what they call the ethical quality of Christ's teachings, but they deny Him. The nineteenth century is described as the one in which man substituted belief in himself for belief in God. "Glory to man in the highest" was Swinburne's impious exultation. Now the things of which man thought himself master have turned on him with a terrible vengeance. We have seen the decline of religious faith followed by the rise of tyranny. I believe it is a safe generalization that despotism is always at enmity with the Christian religion. They rest upon inherently and irreconcilably antagonistic conceptions about man, his worth and dignity and destiny and place in the order of things; the one debases him, the other exalts; the one denies God, the other acknowledges His supreme power and bows before His majesty. The teaching of the Christian religion irritates the despot because it is a constant denial of his assumed supremacy and a rebuke to his tyrannies. Hence the despot always seeks to put religion down. The rise of Hitler in Germany heralded assaults upon the church. His Minister of Religion said, "Adolph Hitler is the true Holy Ghost," and the Minister of Culture declared, "We must proclaim a German Christ, not a lamb of God." In Russia the line was the same, "What is worrying us is not that Christianity is dying in Russia, but that it is still surviving," said the Commissioner of Justice. "The natural transition," said another, "is to bring about the death of all religion."

Albert E. Bowen, CR, October 1943, p.82-83

But there are other things that ought to go side by side with these elements of learning that I have been talking about. It is an interesting observation, the cycle through which our thoughts have run and the way the pendulum has swung from one end of the arc to the other, respecting what constitutes a proper education. We have the old scholastics, who dealt in the classics, and who spent their time in philosophical discussion, dealing with the meaning and purpose of life and man's relationship to the universe, rather than with what we have in this day come to regard as the more practical training.

Then we came upon a period when we thought it was more important in our educational system to prepare men to make a living and so education came to be supposed to have as its purpose the training of men in the art of making a living. We gave training in the crafts, in the trades, and now a good many of our educators are looking over the field and are saying: "We have lost something." They suspect that we have laid too much emphasis upon these so-called practical things. And so we are veering around again now to the notion that the classics should be taught, that men should be concerned more with the intangibles; that education is a business of cultivating the heart and soul of man, rather than training him in the mere business of providing food.

Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;

Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms. . . (D. &. C. 88:78, 79.)

As I interpret that scripture, it admonishes us in our educational system, first to make sure that we do the things for which the classicists have so strongly contended, namely to teach men in the art of living, and particularly living the highest philosophy rather than to make education the mere instrumentality for getting their bread and butter. The first business of education is to establish a proper understanding of man's relationship to the universe in which he lives, and to the God who created it. Those are the things which are essentially laid down here, in the first verse that I have read.

Following upon that is given us a latitude wide enough to accommodate the most vaulting ambition. There is nothing from which we are barred. The whole wide world of knowledge is open to us, and we are invited to enter in and make it our own. It is this combination of purpose and attainments which the educational system fostered by the Church is intended to carry out.

We have scores of teachers in our seminaries and our institutes, carrying on the teaching of the eternal values to supplement what is taught in the other schools alongside of which they are placed. And at Brigham Young University at Provo, standing at the head of the system, we hope we may train the men that will be the peers of any men who come out from any institutions of learning in all this broad land.

Anyone who has the intelligence to make a good teacher has enough intelligence, if he wanted to direct it in commercial channels, to become vastly more successful financially. I cannot develop the ideas here, for want of time, that I would like to develop, but I would like to make this plea to you leaders in the wards and stakes of the Church: That you induce the parents of the children to make use of these opportunities that are afforded them in the seminary system and the institute system of the Church and, for those qualified, in its university.

Stephen L Richards, CR, April 1944, p.73

It has long been pointed out that religion as a motivating force has declined. In many decades a smaller and smaller proportion of the people are even exposed to religious influence. Churches and Sunday Schools throughout the nation have gradually but constantly decreased in attendance proportionate to the growth of population. The schools have been so completely divorced not only from religious control but from all religious and spiritual influence that they never even have prayer in any of their exercises except for graduation. Just why they see fit to call for divine favor at graduation and not for any other occasions I have never been quite able to understand.

Humanism, skepticism, and atheism have probably grown with the years, although I do believe that in recent times they have not had the comfort and encouragement from science that they were once supposed to receive. Modernists, cults and societies, seeking to explain the phenomena of life, man and the universe in every way other than the plain and simple way in which the Author of the universe explains it, have sprung up in such numbers and with such varied philosophies as utterly to confuse the youth of the land and all others who do not have the good fortune to have their feet planted on the solid ground of truth.

John A. Widtsoe, CR, October 1944, p.49

Our young men returning from the front, should be encouraged to take up their educational work where they laid it down when the country in its need called for their service; and they should be urged to continue it to the end of their program. Despite the loss of time during the war period, and the apparent financial need, they would make a mistake to rush into active life without proper development and training; without the eye-and-mind-opening vistas that follow the wise discipline of schools. The coming age will require the service of trained minds and bodies more than before. During the late financial depression, few men who had professions, including agriculture and the trades, were unemployed. The untrained group suffered most. We must see to it that our returning boys, even at our own heavy sacrifice, finish their educational ambitions. Thus we shall better protect their futures. Some help may be offered by the federal government. Schools will do their utmost, we may be sure, to intensify and shorten the courses required for men who have matured quickly among the stern realities of warfare.

Education cultivates the innate powers of man, and gives him a vision of eternal truth and the great gains of the centuries. It should also help fit a person to make a living, and to perform better the work likely to be required of him, and from which he earns his bread and butter. In that sense, all education, dealing with men, having earthly needs, should be practical. Probably most of our young men have already decided upon their life-pursuits; all should do so, and make their educational training subserve their life's needs. All their learning, including that which seems at first remote, should fit into the student's life ambition. Wise parents, and all young men, will heed this matter with care; and direct their educational efforts to a definite objective. Wasted educational opportunities are seldom recovered.

David O. McKay, CR, October 1944, p.82

With the spirit of the gospel in men's hearts, nations will accept the truth that integrity is more to be desired than intellectual acumen or the accumulation of wealth. Men will then look upon material advancement not as an end in itself, but as a means to spiritual attainment. They will recognize the significance of "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Statesmen, churchmen, school teachers, civic officers, newspapers--all who in any way mold public opinion must grapple intelligently with spiritual apathy and moral decay.

Howard McDonald, CR, April 1945, p.148

When I was called upon by Brother George F. Richards to be President of the Stake in San Francisco I asked my Father to bless me then, and I believe he did; and if the Presidency of this Church, those in authority, want me to go to the Brigham Young University as the president, if they will send me with their blessings, and if God will go with me, I believe we can carry on that great work as you people would want it carried on. We want to promote in that institution the traditions of the founder of that great institution, Brigham Young. What were his standards? I think if he were laying the foundation and stood here today he would say to me, "We want established in that institution principles wherein the boys and girls, the young men and young women who enter that institution, will have faith in God, that they will be nurtured in the faith that God lives and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the World, and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that the leaders of this Church from the Prophet Joseph to the present, President Heber J. Grant, have been prophets and seers of the living God. As you presidents of stakes and you bishops of wards go back into your stakes and your wards I hope you will carry this message with you, as the young men and young women will be coming to you for advice. Where shall we go for our education? I want you to know what my philosophy of life and education are, that you might know that those boys and girls who come under the jurisdiction of that institution will be well cared for.

I also want to say, so all the world may know, that we want teachers, professors in that institution, who have faith in God, faith in a living God, a personal God, and who have faith in the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that they may carry to the boys and the girls, the young men and women that same faith.

Horace Mann, that great educator, gave a definition of what a teacher should be. He said,

"A young man or a young woman whose education is sound, whose language is well selected, whose pronunciation and tones of voice are correct and attractive, whose manners are gentle and refined, whose topics of conversation are always elevating and constructive, whose dignity of heart maintains acts of civility, courtesy and kindness, who carries with him an unnamed charm into whatever circle he goes,--that should be the teacher of every school."

I would add to that, to all of those qualifications for those who teach in the Brigham Young University, not only should they have those qualifications but they should have the qualification of faith in God, and in the divinity of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Time will not permit to go further, but I feel like William Lyons Phelps when he said, "I cannot explain to another the joy and the happiness I get out of teaching. It is more than a profession, an occupation, a vocation, a struggle; it is a passion, for I love to teach." He said, "I love to teach as a painter loves to paint, as a singer loves to sing, and as a musician loves to play. Every strong man loves to run a race."

Never in all the world has there been a greater time to be a teacher than at the present time, in this twentieth century. With all these problems before us today we have the greatest opportunity to be a teacher, and I want our teachers to be lovers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

John A. Widtsoe, CR, April 1946, p.129-130

Here we must face about. In the home must be taught the most important things of life; faith in God, faith in self, and our proper conduct toward others. There must be a daily outreaching to God. That will engender a trust in him and a desire to love him. By daily family prayer, every member upon his knees, there will be established the habit of communing with the powers of the unseen world, to which atomic energy and all other powers are subservient. To be in touch with the author of all things will do more than all the governments of earth to change the hearts of men from evil to good, and to protect weak humanity. He who thinks of God, and appeals to him daily, has no room for thoughts of destruction.

But one cannot love God without loving the children of God, and trusting them. Let a home make it a practice to speak well of others, and to seek out their virtues. Soon, such a family will discover the virtues, and speak well, of other nations. Inevitably, were this done everywhere, the sun of goodwill would warm the hearts of men; and peace would cover the earth. By such people, and perhaps only by such methods, will the atomic bomb be tamed to useful ends.

The school, likewise, a close ally of the home, must turn its face toward the greater light. It must courageously train our children for the larger life. During the long years of childhood and youth, our children have been taught every kind of knowledge, from atoms to star clusters, from amoebas to monkeys. But their proper conduct among their fellows and before God is mentioned, if at all, casually, in occasional assemblies. Geography and arithmetic have been raised to the warmth and dignity of required disciplines of the mind, but ethics, not to speak of religion, which determine human behavior, and which always act as restraints upon evil, stand, unwelcomed, shivering before the closed schoolroom door. Such a dangerous taboo was not intended when it was agreed that, in our land, sectarian religion should not be taught in public schools. By the present method, our schools are sending out generations of men of little faith, who are unmindful of their eternal obligations.

The home and the school together could soon eliminate fear from the hearts of men, and in the face of any new power man could discover, establish the day of peace on earth.

Albert E. Bowen, CR, April 1946, p.178-179

But bold as this historian is, he shrinks to small size by comparison with the ambition of another who does not hesitate to reach up and pull God himself down from off his throne. This one tells us that "a new world must be born out of the dead world of the past." He wants just one all encompassing world state, set up by social contract, which is to take complete charge of human lives, and in which parents, teachers, and church are to be mere agents to carry out the supreme will of the state, where the "myth of God, of the Bible and of Jesus Christ is to be replaced by the fact of brotherhood by social contract." Did anybody ever hear anybody complain about authoritarianism in religion?

Yet another one of them tells us that: The things of highest value for individual experience and for the ethical standards in America will not be found out so long as intellectual leaders maintain a sensitivity over the supernatural significance of Christian mythology, or a sentimental personal attachment to the character of Jesus. It may as well be frankly recognized by American educators that the days of Christian cultural solidarity in America are over.

Now we know the worst. America is no longer to be a Christian nation.

This is all of a piece with the action of a teacher who, evidently determined to do his part about getting rid of the "myth of God," under the guise of giving what he called a "maturity test," submitted two questions: first, "Do you believe in a supreme being?" second, "Do you rely upon him for aid?" The student answered "yes" to both, and the teacher promptly marked him down as woefully immature. This same teacher, no doubt, would be very explosive if anyone taught religion in the school, but he does not have enough respect for the law, whether written or resting in a code of honor, to refrain from violating the spirit of it himself, by teaching irreligion even to the extent of disbelief in Deity.

He cannot prove that the student was wrong, yet unhesitatingly he marks him so, and so declares. Then some people complain about authoritarianism in religion. That teacher is not very smart either, for, dependent upon his caprice for graduation, the student soon learns what kind of answer the teacher wants, and gives it to him, even though he does not believe a word of it.

Now, lest anybody think that this is intended as a wholesale charge against teachers, I at once file my disclaimer. I know that in the schools are many of the most highly honorable and punctilious, who revere God and practice true religion, but the occasional ones, such as I have instanced, show what forces the church and the home and society have to meet, if they desire to preserve the stabilizing power of religious faith. Parents, at least, should know the task that is cut out for them.

David O. McKay, CR, October 1946, p.116-117

If the reports be true, with reference to the indifference of the country as a whole toward Christian churches, we shall have to place next to the home, not the church, but the public school, as the most influential factor in lessening delinquency.

Present-day conditions emphasize the fact (and I believe it with all my heart) that the most paramount objective of the public school system from kindergarten to the university should be character building and the evolving of true, loyal citizens of the republic. The teaching of the three "R's," of the arts and the sciences, even the delving into research work, should be but a means to the development of true manhood and noble womanhood. Education for loyal citizenship! Ralph Waldo Emerson (sometimes referred to as the wisest American) truly said:

Character is higher than intellect; a great soul will be fit to live as well as to think.

A few years ago inquiry made into the school status of juvenile delinquents in one of our Utah school districts, revealed the fact that eighty-one percent of the offenses were found committed by five percent of school pupils. A committee appointed to deal with this situation made the following report:

1. Since the school offers one of the best resources in the state to prevent and treat delinquency, every effort should be made by both school and court to help the delinquent make a satisfactory school adjustment in order to accomplish this result, cases which come to the court should be immediately referred to the school coordinator or attendance department of the school district in which the juvenile resides in order to determine whether or not the delinquent has a satisfactory school or work record. If he has not the court and schools should not cease their efforts until the delinquent is either in school full time on a satisfactory program, or is employed and under proper supervision.

2. That immediately after the juvenile court has disposed of a case, the school coordinator should be notified of the disposition made.

3. That the industrial school notify the proper school authority when it releases a boy or gift to his or her own home.

A fourth and final safeguard against delinquency of youth is the moral atmosphere of the town or community. This is determined by the ideals and actions of adults, and particularly of civic officers and those who are entrusted to enforce the law. The following from one of our leading columnists (Miss Dorothy Thompson) referring to the "pervasive example of the behavior of adult civilization," is pertinent:

As long as we publicize and condone violence; reward profiteering; intensify civil strife; glorify personalities with the sexual morals of rabbits; teach in our high schools and colleges a cheap relativism which denies personal responsibility and places all our sins upon the "economic system" or "infantile conditioning," so long will we have juvenile criminals. Our children are reflections of ourselves, or of the things in our communal life that we tolerate. England, now, is making special films to be shown in special theaters for teenagers -films which are partly educational and partly pure entertainment, made by first rate artists, and frankly designed to magnify and make attractive virtue.

The writer then quotes Thomas Jefferson who "did not believe that you can get a good society except through good, honest, well-mannered, considerate, law-abiding, clean-living citizens. He thought, in fact, that if education concentrated in the first line on creating these, society and the state would take care of themselves."

Joseph L. Wirthlin, CR, April 1947, p.83

The great responsibility in guiding the thinking of youth rests in the home. That obligation rests squarely upon the shoulders of parents. I sometimes think that we parents are prone to leave the matter of what our boys and girls think too much in the hands of the schools. As Bishop Richards indicated yesterday, doctrine is being taught to our boys and girls that will undermine their faith, and I say that the Lord is going to hold us accountable as parents if we fail to take an inventory of what is being taught to our boys and girls in the institutions of learning in the land. Not only that, we as parents usually are very careful about the kind of associates our sons and daughters shall have. But I want to say to you there are other associates to which we should also give very careful consideration; namely, the books they read, for, after all, books are more than associates because they are so intimate. Let us remember that the books that these young men and young women read will store away in the storehouse of memory the thoughts that will either motivate them to deeds of nobleness or evil.

Matthew Cowley, CR, October 1947, p.81

I have been thrilled by the testimonies which have been borne here. I thank God, my brothers and sisters, for the testimonies of men like Brother Oscar Kirkham and Brother Levi Edgar Young. These men were my teachers when I was struggling for an education in high school and in the university. I thank God that they touched my life with their testimony of the gospel more than they did with the instructions they had to give me as teachers of an educational institution. And as I look into the faces of the great educators who sit before me, who have in their charge thousands of our young people at this time, I am glad to know that they are men who know that in any field of science there has not been discovered, and they know that there will never be discovered, anything that will replace religion as the savior of the human family.

It is regrettable that we have in our institutions of learning, my brothers and sisters, some who would try to destroy the simple faith of our children which they have acquired at the knees of their parents and in the auxiliary organizations of the Church. You know and I know that there is no power under heaven in this day which will bring peace to the human heart and peace to the nations of the earth outside and beyond this simple faith in God our Father and in the efficacy of the gospel of Jesus Christ to regenerate the children of God here upon the earth.

You men who are at the head of these great institutions, some of which do not permit the teaching of religion although they do permit the teaching of everything and anything that will destroy faith in God, you have a great responsibility. It is your responsibility to touch the lives of your many students outside of the classroom as my life has been touched by men such as these I have mentioned.

Levi Edgar Young, CR, April 1948, p.81-82

We believe that the only salvation for mankind will be found in religion, in the true and everlasting gospel. Never in its two thousand years has Christianity had a more urgent call and a nobler opportunity to fulfil its obligations as the comforter and guide of humanity.

I believe that faith and works must be taught and! developed in our children. By works, I mean that there is a meaning to intellectual effort and that it plays an important part in our spiritual stature. Else why should the activity of divine intelligence, the power to think and reason, have been created? Intellectual effort is not condemned in the search for spiritual truth, for our spiritual growth, our religion have their roots in the deepest aspirations of man.

How deeply divine are the words of Joseph Smith when he said:

The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.

Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. (Ibid., 130:18.)

These words inspired the Prophet Joseph to establish in his day schools of learning, and even a university. He advocated the study of the ancient classics, of all the learning of the world. No other American ever advocated as he did, for his wisdom and understanding came from the works of God.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48.)

We may further express this idea by saying that all the intellectual acquisitions, all the facilities which society puts at the disposal of man-schools, universities, libraries, laboratories, all things offered by religion, all the occasions given him to develop his own aptitude, his work, his leisure, all must be considered by him as tools destined to improve his personality, his moral self, and to make him feel the divine purpose of God. If the moral law and true religion dominate the world today, mankind will be on the right road to the winning of peace and happiness for humanity.

Spencer W. Kimball, CR, April 1948, p.108-109

Atheism may be taught our children, but not the word of God, not the Bible, not the Prophets, not the Apostles. Karl Marx is legal in the schools, but not Isaiah, or St. Mark. They suffer from Bible affiliation. (George E. Sokolsky, Atheism by Law.)

Not all scribes and Pharisees lived anciently. There are today wreckers as well as builders among men and in nature. In the Church library there are more than 1,700 books and pamphlets of a defamatory character. The books are dead. They are seldom consulted. They can be purchased from secondhand bookstores at low cost. The authors likewise are dead. They flickered for a moment and went out, dying of their own corruption, after having polluted the minds of a few. They went into the discard while the cause they fought went steadily on. Simon Peter warned us:

Apparently there were in the early church those who taught for doctrines the sophistries of men. There are those today who seem to take pride in disagreeing with the orthodox teachings of the Church and who present their own opinions which are at variance with the revealed truth. Some may be partially innocent in the matter; others are feeding their own egotism; and some seem to be deliberate. Men may think as they please, but they have no right to impose upon others their unorthodox views. Such persons should realize that their own souls are in jeopardy. The Lord said to us through the Prophet Joseph:

The great objective of all our work is to build character and increase faith in the lives of those whom we serve. If one cannot accept and teach the program of the Church in an orthodox way without reservations, he should not teach. It would be the part of honor to resign his position. Not only would he be dishonest and deceitful, but he is also actually under condemnation, for the Savior said that it were better that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he be cast into the sea than that he should lead astray doctrinally or betray the cause or give offense, destroying the faith of one of "these little ones" who believe in him. And remember that this means not only the small children, it includes even adults who believe and trust in God.

David O. McKay, CR, October 1948, p.120

But only a small percentage of children and youth ever come in contact with the church. In New York City alone, fifty thousand children are unaffiliated with any church. A potent factor, therefore, in character development is the public school.

To these democratic institutions come children from all kinds of homes, including the delinquent. All I can say this morning is that every teacher in church and in school should realize that he has the moral as well as the assigned responsibility to impress upon his students the true value of the highest and noblest things in life.

George Albert Smith, CR, April 1949, p.8

When I think of the fine development that is being made in our schools, I am grateful. I refer particularly to the Church schools (and I wouldn't overlook the public schools). There are many teachers in the public schools who have done their best to teach our sons and daughters concerning correct principles. But there are many people identified with the education of the youth of this great land who do not have any faith in God.

We are fortunate to have so many who not only have the education that comes from the universities, not only have the benefits that are derived from science, but in addition to that, also have a testimony that God lives and that we are his children. It hasn't been very long since I saw a letter written by an educated man who concluded his letter with a suggestion that all religion was a myth. All of it! And yet that man has a position teaching the children of the Latter-day Saints.

John A. Widtsoe, CR, April 1949, p.151

The Church has a noble educational history. We all know that. What I want to say is something about education itself. It will not take me long. Education may or may not be a good thing. It depends on what we learn. Education is really the accumulated knowledge of mankind, passed on from generation to generation. Each teacher passes on to his pupils that which the world knows. In that way we all benefit from that knowledge and we preserve that knowledge for those who come after us. This accumulated knowledge of mankind, the knowledge of the world, falls into several distinct parts. Two of the major parts I would like to mention.

All knowledge falls first into a part or division or group that we call factual. Sometimes we call it truth, which amounts to the same thing. Facts of observation, that which we hear with our ears, see with our eyes, that we recognize through the various senses that the Lord has bestowed upon us make up the first and most important part of knowledge. That kind of knowledge is everlasting, unchanging. Under the same conditions a fact will appear the same throughout the countless coming ages.

The other division of human knowledge, speaking of the major divisions only, is made up of the human interpretations, explanations, and inferences of the observed facts, the truths in our possession. These inferences, explanations, and theories, interpretations of truth, may or may not be correct. They usually change as more knowledge is acquired by humanity. If education consists chiefly of learning what men have said or thought about the facts of nature and existence, it may mislead students, may lead them into difficult places, often into places of untruth. It is only when education confines itself primarily as to truth, to facts, as observed, it becomes worth while. That is not saying anything against the interpretations of truth. We have the scriptures as an example. We have the right to interpret them as we see fit, but we have no right to teach them as we see fit. We must teach truth as it is given us, whether it be in the domain of revelation or of science or any other field of human activity.

Therein lies a tremendous danger to our young people and the coming generations. An honest teacher, unless he is ignorant, will place before his students--I speak both of students in the Church schools and in state schools, I draw no distinctions--the truth as discovered by many, or revealed by God, and when interpretations are taught, he will label them as such, and say, "This is an interpretation by man of existing truth." That should be done in our priesthood quorums, in auxiliary organizations and in all schools of learning attended by our young people. This is important, of the greatest importance, in the building of happy lives, in a world of peace. President Smith said something last Sunday that pointed in that direction, and it has clung to my mind until I had to speak of it this afternoon.

We have also the field of speculation, very closely related to the field of interpreting truth. If one wants to see how absolutely confusing and useless and untruthful the field of speculation is, let him go to the philosophers of the ages. Begin with the old philosophers and go down to the philosophers of today. Every one has tried to explain or describe God. Not one has failed to try his hand at it. Every one has set up his own explanation and presented his own kind of God. As you read after them, you find yourself in a state of confusion. Great minds, great thinkers, have tried throughout the ages to solve the same problem and have failed utterly to agree. That is because they have not begun with truth. Therein we are strong. Joseph Smith, on his knees in the grove, saw God and spoke to him. There is no question about the beginnings of this work. God does live, a personal being. We are made in his image. We are carrying out his purposes.

The distinction between a fact and an inference is, or should be, pretty generally understood. I bear you my testimony here this afternoon that in all of our teachings we must discriminate, distinguish between the facts of human knowledge and the interpretation of the facts. Interpretations change from day to day. Once in a great while an interpretation of a great truth becomes a truth itself, but very seldom. Usually there is too much of the humanity of us, mixed in with explained truth. So that we can not well trust our interpretations.

I do not like to have my taxes spent, or my tithing spent, for that matter, in the support of a teacher who does not understand the difference here discussed and who will not be honest enough as he stands before classes to say, "This is a fact, as far as we understand it, and this is but an attempted inference of the fact which may or may not be right." I have no objection to a man who is an atheist, teaching outside of the Church. His faith is his concern, not mine. I would like to convert him to a knowledge of God. But, when he stands before his classes and talks about God and his own atheism, he is going beyond his rights. He is not employed for that purpose. As a citizen. I have rights. It is my money and your money used to support the schools whether in our out of the Church.

J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Conference Report, October 1951, p.57-58

Now the point that I wish particularly to emphasize is this -- you parents cannot shift that responsibility to anyone else. It is yours; you cannot divest yourselves of it.

You cannot give it to the state, and you ought not to give it to the state, for when the state takes over the direction, instruction, and rearing of its youth, then passes out, as the whole history of the world shows, the great principle of free agency, and not only that, but all the sacred principles of chastity and morality, with a host of other virtues which belong to a free society and are inherent in the governing principles of the kingdom of God.

You cannot entrust your children, in the sense of having them take over your responsibility, to our schools. They cannot do your work. They may aid, and, sometimes, they may detract and defeat. I have referred before to pernicious doctrines which are appearing in our schools, not only political doctrines, which I would like you to note, but moral. The doctrine that the sex urge is like the urge for food and drink, is born of Satan, and the man or woman who teaches it, is Satan-inspired. Every effort you can make to prevent the spread of this doctrine, you should make.

You cannot entrust your children to society. That will never do. Society is too tolerant of wrong, too ignorant of matters of right living, too easy to betray and debauch.

Levi Edgar Young, CR, April 1952, p.53

If our schools and colleges teach the things that are really important, the mind is required to do hard work, to attack a difficult problem and think to a correct answer. One of our well known writers has said,

Mark E. Petersen, CR, April 1952, p.104-107

A week ago a young man told me about the trial that came to him in school. Some of the teachings he received from an instructor who had no faith appeared to have weakened the faith of this young man.

I am always sorry when I hear about teachers in our public schools who try to destroy the faith of our young people. It always grieves me to hear of instances like this. I know that the great majority of the schoolteachers, themselves, are wonderful people; they are believers in God. Many of them are devoted students of the scriptures. But unfortunately, occasionally we find a teacher, whether in the field of philosophy or science, who seems to take it upon himself to destroy the faith of our young people.

I appeal to our young folk to realize that true science is not anti-religion, and that there is no unity among the scientists with respect to many things now being taught by some instructors who interpret them to mean that there is no God. Science has never come to a unity of understanding on that point, young people, so do not be disturbed by the godless teachings you may get in the classroom.

I would like you to know that some of the great scientists, many of them, in fact, are devoted believers in God, and some of them have declared that atheism has no place among the true scientists.

I tell you there is nothing outmoded about faith in God, and when you go to school, you do not need to believe everything that is told you by these faithless men, whether in philosophy or science classes. You do not need to accept their evidence alone. And if you are disturbed by their persistence in teaching you these false things, just ask yourself the question: Which is the greater scientist, your instructor or Dr. Robert A. Millikan? Ask yourself, who is the greater scholar, your instructor or Lord Kelvin? Ask yourself, who is the greater authority, your instructor or Dr. Arthur H. Compton, or some of the other scientists who give the lie to the teachings of these men who say there is no God.

I shall never forget when I was in a sociology class I saw the professor, a short, bald-headed, bewhiskered man stand there in front of our class and actually defy us to believe in God. He defied us to believe in a special creation or that man is a child of God.

I have always understood that it was against the law to discuss religion in the schools. But these men apparently claim academic privilege of some kind academic freedom, I think they call it in taking the right to destroy the very faith which the law prohibits us from teaching in the public schools. And when they do it, I think they are in violation of the spirit of the law, just as much as if they were teaching religion. Young people, remember the great men of the world believe in God.

We do not get our faith from science, however, and I hope you will never take the position that we must even seriously regard what science says about religion. Faith comes by revelation. No matter what science might do to promote religious faith, it can never save a man. Salvation comes through revelation and the power of God restored to men in these last days. And that revelation is available. That revelation has come. The power of God and his priesthood are now here among men and salvation comes through them.

When you go to school, you study mathematics or chemistry or some foreign language. You do not just take the teacher's word for what is given there. When you study mathematics, you actually work out the equations and know by working them out that they are true. And when you study chemistry, you learn about the truths of that subject by actually performing the experiments that are given to you, and by performing them you discover the truth of the principles you are taught.

But if you went to school all your life and did not study mathematics you would never know anything about that subject, would you? You might go to school all your life and never learn one thing about chemistry, unless you studied chemistry. And you can be in this Church all your life, and never know what this Church teaches unless you study it.

Will you not take the advice of Brother Kirkham and study your own religion? Open the pages of the Bible; read there of the hand dealings of God to man. Read there of the life of the Savior. Learn of his teachings. He actually was here on the earth, and he taught men the principles about which you have heard today and in the preceding days of this conference.

David O. McKay, CR, April 1953, p.15-16

And so we have the call of men of clear vision and sound judgment, for a rededication of schools and homes to moral and spiritual values.

Our most precious possession is the youth of the land, and to instruct them to walk uprightly and to become worthy citizens in the kingdom of God is our greatest obligation.

Religious freedom and the separation of church and state are clearly set forth in the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and no governmental agency can have any supervision, control, or jurisdiction over religion. Though our public schools may emphasize moral, ethical, and spiritual values as essential elements in the public school program, they cannot favor any particular religion or religious system. The teaching of religion is therefore definitely a responsibility of the home and the Church.

If, upon examination, you were to find that termites are undermining the foundation of your house, you would lose no time to have experts make thorough examination and have the destructive insects exterminated. You would have the weakened materials removed and the foundation strengthened and, if necessary, rebuilt.

But there are destructive termites of homes, as well as of houses, and some of these are backbiting, evil-speaking, faultfinding on the part either of parents or of children. Slander is poison to the soul. "Slanderers are like flies that pass all over a man's good parts to light only on his sores." In the ideal home, there is no slanderous gossip about day schoolteachers, about public officials, or Church officials. I am more grateful now, as years have come and gone, to my father, who with hands lifted said, "Now, no faultfinding about your teacher or anybody else."

David O. McKay, CR, April 1953, p.59

Another phase of this missionary work tonight--Professor James L. Barker for years has urged that we give classes in foreign languages, that our young men may have an opportunity to study at home and get at least the fundamentals before going to a foreign country. Well, it is a good suggestion, but we have not yet been able to make it practical. It seems now that the time has come when we must do something. I have here before me an appeal for the teaching of languages in our high schools. I have a note from one who says that among all our senior high schools, only 15 offer one or more courses in foreign languages. In the Church there are men and women from every country in the world, in which there are missionaries. I should like to encourage our young men and young women, young men particularly, to include in their high school and college courses, some of these languages.

Recently there appeared in a local paper here an excellent editorial on the necessity, on the advisability of teaching languages here in our State, and in the United States. "Modern languages are not as widely or as successfully taught in United States schools as they should be to meet the requirements of the nation's position. The high school student who takes a language often finds he has practically forgotten. it within a year or so. That may be due, in large part, to the fact that there is little opportunity to exercise language skills. The need to learn foreign languages should be accented and the acquisition and use of such languages stimulated. When men can talk together, they can get together."

The responsibility of preaching the Gospel rests upon us. When the people in Macedonia called to Paul, and the spirit told him to go over, he answered that call. They are calling for us in various nations they are calling for more missionaries now in the missions already established, and we must answer that call.

David O. McKay, CR, October 1953, p.7

If that be true, to awaken in the minds of the youth of the land a desire to achieve life's truest values is to render the greatest of all great services to our country.

With this thought in mind, I commend the teachers in our public schools, who under present difficulties, are remaining true to their post of duty. Let us hope that they will continue to do so, and not go off on a tangent vainly seeking redress in unions, which will only aggravate a condition already regrettable. We have confidence in the teachers. They will be loyal to their profession, teaching the young to be loyal and true to our country, to love the best in life, rather than to seek that which leads to selfishness.

Levi Edgar Young, CR, April 1955, p.60-61

I rejoice with you in the great messages we have heard from our First Presidency on the important question of teaching and the proper training of our children. The first thing we should teach our children is respect for all human beings. All are children of God. Man is made in the image of God. Respect for all men leads to a love for law and order. In the home is taught obedience to the loving directions of our Father in heaven, Then comes self-discipline, self-direction. Whether we are teachers of the gospel or professional men, we can and should dedicate ourselves to help our children to develop their potentialities for good, for truth, for love, for beauty, and above all, reverence for God.

Our young people must be educated to think clearly and deeply, and students of schools and universities should be taught that the famous authors and philosophers of the world have produced writings which glorify God and the divinity of man. We are reminded of the words of Carl Schurz, when he said: "Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like a seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them, you will reach your destiny.

We teach the gospel of good works. It is excellent; it is ennobling; but that is not all. Man owes to God and to his fellow men, not only his conduct, but also his thoughts, not only to do much, but also to think aright as to honor, integrity, and honesty.

To understand the true value of the ideals of the American people when they think of their government of the United States, one must recall the character of the people who settled these shores in the seventeenth century. "They brought hither in their little ships, not money, not merchandise, no array of armed force, but they came freighted with religion, learning, law, and the Spirit of God. They stepped forth upon the shore, and a wild and frowning wilderness received them." Strong in their faith in God, they began their combat with danger and hardship. Disease smote them, but they fainted not. At times they had nothing to eat but the roots of the plants they gathered. They first built houses for God and then for themselves. They established schools and developed a strong morality which was always their principal characteristic. They educated their children to a high faith in God. Villages began to smile; churches arose; industries multiplied; colleges were established; and every town had a democratic government for all to take part. The states that were formed grew into a nation with noble, fundamental ideas of government. And so came our own United States, the most democratic government in the history of the world. What a glorious history our early country had, for religious people went not only to New England, but we have also the Quakers and the Methodists and other religious groups settling along the Atlantic Coast.

For this reason and others, we believe that honest inquiry into any field of knowledge should be encouraged. But one should always have for a guiding thought his need for beauty, for goodness, for love, and the communion with the divine. "To me," says Dr. Green of Yale University, "truth, beauty, goodness; and Deity are ultimate objects of our search, as is nature for the scientist. I am profoundly impressed by the witness of sincerely and intelligently religious folk, the saints and prophets of the great religions, that man can encounter Deity, and find in that Deity a source of understanding and comfort."

In a General Epistle of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, issued December 23, 1847, at Winter Quarters and signed by President Brigham Young, we have these words:

The Kingdom of God consists in correct principles; and it mattereth not what a man's religious faith is; whether he be a Presbyterian, or a Methodist, or a Baptist, or a Latter-day Saint or "Mormon," or a Campbellite, or a Catholic, or an Episcopalian, or Mohammedan, or even pagan, or anything else, if he will bow the knee, and with his tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, and will support good and wholesome laws for the regulation of society, we hail him as a brother, and will stand by him while he stands by us in these things; for every man's religious faith is a matter between his own soul and his God alone.

We ask no preeminence; we want no preeminence; but where God has placed us, there we will stand; and that is, to be one with our brethren, and our brethren are those that keep the commandments of God, and do the will of our Father who is in heaven; and by them we will stand, and with them we will dwell in time and in eternity. (Journal History, Dec. 23, 1847.)

How nobly did the Prophet Joseph Smith declare this ideal when he said: