a treatise on parents and children(父母与子女专题研究)-第31章
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uneducated by art。 All the wholesome conditions which art imposes on
appetite are waived： instead of cultivated men and women restrained by
a thousand delicacies； repelled by ugliness； chilled by vulgarity； horrified
by coarseness； deeply and sweetly moved by the graces that art has
revealed to them and nursed in them； we get indiscrimmate rapacity in
pursuit of pleasure and a parade of the grossest stimulations in catering for
it。 We have a continual clamor for goodness； beauty； virtue； and sanctity；
with such an appalling inability to recognize it or love it when it arrives
that it is more dangerous to be a great prophet or poet than to promote
twenty companies for swindling simple folk out of their savings。 Do not
for a moment suppose that uncultivated people are merely indifferent to
high and noble qualities。 They hate them malignantly。 At best； such
qualities are like rare and beautiful birds： when they appear the whole
country takes down its guns； but the birds receive the statuary tribute of
having their corpses stuffed。
And it really all comes from the habit of preventing children from
being troublesome。 You are so careful of your boy's morals； knowing
how troublesome they may be； that you keep him away from the Venus of
Milo only to find him in the arms of the scullery maid or someone much
worse。 You decide that the Hermes of Praxiteles and Wagner's Tristan
are not suited for young girls； and your daughter marries somebody
appallingly unlike either Hermes or Tristan solely to escape from your
parental protection。 You have not stifled a single passion nor averted a
single danger： you have depraved the passions by starving them； and
broken down all the defences which so effectively protect children brought
up in freedom。 You have men who imagine themselves to be ministers of
religion openly declaring that when they pass through the streets they have
to keep out in the wheeled traffic to avoid the temptations of the pavement。
You have them organizing hunts of the women who tempt thempoor
creatures whom no artist would touch without a shudderand wildly
clamoring for more clothes to disguise and conceal the body； and for the
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
abolition of pictures； statues； theatres； and pretty colors。 And incredible
as it seems； these unhappy lunatics are left at large； unrebuked； even
admired and revered； whilst artists have to struggle for toleration。 To
them an undraped human body is the most monstrous； the most blighting；
the most obscene； the most unbearable spectacle in the universe。 To an
artist it is； at its best； the most admirable spectacle in nature； and； at its
average； an object of indifference。 If every rag of clothing miraculously
dropped from the inhabitants of London at noon tomorrow （say as a
preliminary to the Great Judgment）； the artistic people would not turn a
hair； but the artless people would go mad and call on the mountains to
hide them。 I submit that this indicates a thoroughly healthy state on the
part of the artists； and a thoroughly morbid one on the part of the artless。
And the healthy state is attainable in a cold country like ours only by
familiarity with the undraped figure acquired through pictures； statues； and
theatrical representations in which an illusion of natural clotheslessness is
produced and made poetic。
In short； we all grow up stupid and mad to just the extent to which we
have not been artistically educated； and the fact that this taint of stupidity
and madness has to be tolerated because it is general； and is even boasted
of as characteristically English； makes the situation all the worse。 It is
becoming exceedingly grave at present； because the last ray of art is being
cut off from our schools by the discontinuance of religious education。
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The Impossibility of Secular
Education
Now children must be taught some sort of religion。 Secular
education is an impossibility。 Secular education comes to this： that the
only reason for ceasing to do evil and learning to do well is that if you do
not you will be caned。 This is worse than being taught in a church school
that if you become a dissenter you will go to hell； for hell is presented as
the instrument of something eternal； divine； and inevitable： you cannot
evade it the moment the schoolmaster's back is turned。 What confuses
this issue and leads even highly intelligent religious persons to advocate
secular education as a means of rescuing children from the strife of rival
proselytizers is the failure to distinguish between the child's personal
subjective need for a religion and its right to an impartially communicated
historical objective knowledge of all the creeds and Churches。 Just as a
child； no matter what its race and color may be； should know that there are
black men and brown men and yellow men； and； no matter what its
political convictions may be； that there are Monarchists and Republicans
and Positivists； Socialists and Unsocialists； so it should know that there
are Christians and Mahometans and Buddhists and Shintoists and so forth；
and that they are on the average just as honest and well…behaved as its own
father。 For example； it should not be told that Allah is a false god set up
by the Turks and Arabs； who will all be damned for taking that liberty； but
it should be told that many English people think so； and that many Turks
and Arabs think the converse about English people。 It should be taught
that Allah is simply the name by which God is known to Turks and Arabs；
who are just as eligible for salvation as any Christian。 Further； that the
practical reason why a Turkish child should pray in a mosque and an
English child in a church is that as worship is organized in Turkey in
mosques in the name of Mahomet and in England in churches in the name
of Christ； a Turkish child joining the Church of England or an English
child following Mahomet will find that it has no place for its worship and
no organization of its religion within its reach。 Any other teaching of the
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history and present facts of religion is false teaching； and is politically
extremely dangerous in an empire in which a huge majority of the fellow
subjects of the governing island do not profess the religion of that island。
But this objectivity； though intellectually honest； tells the child only
what other people believe。 What it should itself believe is quite another
matter。 The sort of Rationalism which says to a child 〃You must suspend
your judgment until you are old enough to choos
