WHITBY FREE PRESS. WV.T)NESDAY, AUGUST 19.1987, PAGE 7 PAGE SEVEN RELIGION AND EDUCATION No subjeet consistently enflames public passions as much as the relationship of education and religion. More politicians have floun- dered on these shoals than anywhere else. In the last provincial éléction, the full funding of separate sehools was the big issue that everybody talked about except the politicians. In the current provincial election you can expect numerous religious groups to raise the issue of funding for their sehools as well. Rellgious questions practically by definition polarize people and the diversity of religions ensures that some group or another will passionately oppose any initiative in our educational system which smacks even remotely of religious content., The minds of the future generation are the ultimate battleground. The result is a vacuum. Teachers avoid subjects witb religions connotations in order to avoid controversy. Those students whose parents are not regular cburch-goers (the vast majority) have very ittie exposure to the dominant element in our cultural history. Our scbools give more attention to Hitler than tbey do to Christ, more attention to European bistory than to the development of religious ideas 1in- the ancient Near-East. 0ur young people are aware that there is sometbing missing; they are aware that their parents and teachers are sloughing off the difficult moral questions as quickly as they avoid the subject of sex. Instead of promoting tolerance and pluralism, 0w' educational system bas become wimpisb and atheistic. Instead of teaching religions, moral and.ethical values in a positive confident manner, it bas tried to be ail things to ail people and failed miserably. Mainstream religions have failed to keep pace with modern society. Unable to convincingly preach heilfire and brimstone to a scientifically sophisticated community, tbey have steadily lost ground. Adults of my generation who were brought up w ith religion and have benefitted from tbe moral values it taugbt have dropped out. 0ur alienation bas led in to directions - those who have em- braced the fundamentalist doctrine (the Bible is THE TRUTH and to bell with science) and those who are simply uncomfortable with a bland sort of agnosticism. Althougb fundamentalism is the only growth religion around, the latter agnostic group forms the silent majority. 1 0ur cbildren sense 0w' discomfort with religious questions and are themselves uncomfortable. The moral vacuum they have inherited leaves them open to all kinds of charismatic sects such as the Moonies, the Scientologists, the TV evangelists and any number of otbers willing to seil tbem the Kingdom of God. The future of our society depends on filling that moral vacuum. But bow? The Anglican Church proposes that the public school system elevate the interdenominational teaching of religious values to the same specialty statns as math, English, French, etc. Certainly as a subject it is jnst as important but coming up with a curriculum wbicb different religions can agree on is the great stumbling block. The system is already under constant attack from a host of special interest groups. in recent years we have had the "6creationistsa" trying to revive pre-Darwin science; we have had Jewish groups opposed to the teaching of Shakespeare's The Mer- chant of Venice; we have had fundamentalist groups poring over book lists in 0w' sehool libraries, weeding out the ones they consider unsuitable for their children's impressionable minds. 0ur educationists rarely give in completely to tbese pressure groups but each onslaught leads to memos and reviÈions which tend to water down the moral value of their teaching. The dissatisfaction of numerons religions parents with the public education system has led to the formation of more and more private religions schools. Education is not cbeap and a measure of their concern for the right educational environmnent is their wlllingness to pay tuition fees that are invariably several thousan- ds of dollars a year per student. The problem with religions schools is that tolerance of other cultures and beliefs is frequently not on the curriculum. These scbools are based on religions segrégation. Historically, segregation leads to mistrust ... mistrust leads to batred ... hatred leads to violence. Not necessarily next year or even ten or a bun- dred years fromn now but the blacks in the U.S. south, the Jews in the European gbettos and the Indians on many of 0w' own reser- vations provide examples of wbat cultural or rehigious segregation can lead to. On the other band, the strength of religions sehools is that a firm set of moral values is integrated throughout the subjects taught - religion is not just another subject, it is a way of life. Although they may be less understanding of the divergent beliefs of others, tbey are better equîpped to bandle the moral crises of their own lives. Certainly our publie system needs to put more stress on religion but it can only do it if it ignores the minority concerns. It needs to take an bonest and fortbrigbt approach to tbe difficult questions and those that aren't satisfied can (and wil) take their cbildren elswhre (es Te Mrcan o Vje t- an anti-Seiticpla A j~ Iuee a U wf dvIIIIw A CONTEST FOR SUMMER.STROLLERS AND SUNDAY DRIVERS Sponisored by Whitby's LACAC* Io encourage an awareness of our local, architectural herit.ace Each week though the summer, the Whitby Free Press will publish a picture of an architectural letail of a building somewhere in Whitby. A draw will be made from aIl the correct entries ,eceived by next Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. for a copy of "'Small Churches of Canada." The correct answer along with a picture and description of the building in question will be published in the next issue along with a new mystery detail. Ail entries will be entered into a grand prîze draw on Sept. 26, 1987 LAST WEEK'S WINNER SUZANNE OGILVIE-KING 614 Clarence Drive 401 REYNOLDS ST. This unmistakable Whitby landmark was the imposing mansion of Sheriff Nelson G. Reynolds. Named Trafalgar Castie, it is one of the few Elizabethan style casties in Ontario and was e begun in 1859 under the direction of architeet Joseph Sheard. As a private home the castie saw e many illustrious visitors, including Sir John A. MacDonald. In 1874, it became a private girls school known as Ontario Ladies College, but in recent years.... resumed its.original name as Trafalgar Castle Sehool. The College is Whitby's only Provincial Historical site. LOCATION Namne Address Phone No. *LOCAL ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVANCY ADVISORY COMMITTEE "1 1