a treatise on parents and children(父母与子女专题研究)-第32章
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matter。 The sort of Rationalism which says to a child 〃You must suspend
your judgment until you are old enough to choose your religion〃 is
Rationalism gone mad。 The child must have a conscience and a code of
honor （which is the essence of religion） even if it be only a provisional one；
to be revised at its confirmation。 For confirmation is meant to signalize a
spiritual coming of age； and may be a repudiation。 Really active souls
have many confirmations and repudiations as their life deepens and their
knowledge widens。 But what is to guide the child before its first
confirmation？ Not mere orders； because orders must have a sanction of
some sort or why should the child obey them？ If； as a Secularist； you
refuse to teach any sanction； you must say 〃You will be punished if you
disobey。〃 〃Yes；〃 says the child to itself； 〃if I am found out； but wait until
your back is turned and I will do as I like； and lie about it。〃 There can be
no objective punishment for successful fraud； and as no espionage can
cover the whole range of a child's conduct； the upshot is that the child
becomes a liar and schemer with an atrophied conscience。 And a good
many of the orders given to it are not obeyed after all。 Thus the
Secularist who is not a fool is forced to appeal to the child's vital impulse
towards perfection； to the divine spark； and no resolution not to call this
impulse an impulse of loyalty to the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost； or
obedience to the Will of God； or any other standard theological term； can
alter the fact that the Secularist has stepped outside Secularism and is
educating the child religiously； even if he insists on repudiating that pious
adverb and substituting the word metaphysically。
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
Natural Selection as a Religion
We must make up our minds to it therefore that whatever measures we
may be forced to take to prevent the recruiting sergeants of the Churches；
free or established； from obtaining an exclusive right of entry to schools；
we shall not be able to exclude religion from them。 The most horrible of
all religions： that which teaches us to regard ourselves as the helpless
prey of a series of senseless accidents called Natural Selection； is allowed
and even welcomed in so…called secular schools because it is； in a sense；
the negation of all religion； but for school purposes a religion is a belief
which affects conduct； and no belief affects conduct more radically and
often so disastrously as the belief that the universe is a product of Natural
Selection。 What is more； the theory of Natural Selection cannot be kept
out of schools； because many of the natural facts that present the most
plausible appearance of design can be accounted for by Natural Selection；
and it would be so absurd to keep a child in delusive ignorance of so
potent a factor in evolution as to keep it in ignorance of radiation or
capillary attraction。 Even if you make a religion of Natural Selection；
and teach the child to regard itself as the irresponsible prey of its
circumstances and appetites （or its heredity as you will perhaps call them）；
you will none the less find that its appetites are stimulated by your
encouragement and daunted by your discouragement； that one of its
appetites is an appetite for perfection； that if you discourage this appetite
and encourage the cruder acquisitive appetites the child will steal and lie
and be a nuisance to you； and that if you encourage its appetite for
perfection and teach it to attach a peculiar sacredness to it and place it
before the other appetites； it will be a much nicer child and you will have a
much easier job； at which point you will； in spite of your pseudoscientific
jargon； find yourself back in the old…fashioned religious teaching as deep
as Dr。 Watts and in fact fathoms deeper。
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
Moral Instruction Leagues
And now the voices of our Moral Instruction Leagues will be lifted；
asking whether there is any reason why the appetite for perfection should
not be cultivated in rationally scientific terms instead of being associated
with the story of Jonah and the great fish and the thousand other tales that
grow up round religions。 Yes： there are many reasons； and one of them
is that children all like the story of Jonah and the whale （they insist on its
being a whale in spite of demonstrations by Bible smashers without any
sense of humor that Jonah would not have fitted into a whale's gulletas if
the story would be credible of a whale with an enlarged throat） and that no
child on earth can stand moral instruction books or catechisms or any
other statement of the case for religion in abstract terms。 The object of a
moral instruction book is not to be rational； scientific； exact； proof against
controversy； nor even credible： its object is to make children good； and if
it makes them sick instead its place is the waste…paper basket。
Take for an illustration the story of Elisha and the bears。 To the
authors of the moral instruction books it is in the last degree reprehensible。
It is obviously not true as a record of fact； and the picture it gives us of the
temper of God （which is what interests an adult reader） is shocking and
blasphemous。 But it is a capital story for a child。 It interests a child
because it is about bears； and it leaves the child with an impression that
children who poke fun at old gentlemen and make rude remarks about bald
heads are not nice children； which is a highly desirable impression； and
just as much as a child is capable of receiving from the story。 When a
story is about God and a child； children take God for granted and criticize
the child。 Adults do the opposite； and are thereby led to talk great
nonsense about the bad effect of Bible stories on infants。
But let no one think that a child or anyone else can learn religion from
a teacher or a book or by any academic process whatever。 It is only by
an unfettered access to the whole body of Fine Art： that is； to the whole
body of inspired revelation； that we can build up that conception of
divinity to which all virtue is an aspiration。 And to hope to find this body
of art purified from all that is obsolete or dangerous or fierce or lusty； or to
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
pick and choose what will be good for any particular child； much less for
all children； is the shallowest of vanities。 Such schoolmasterly selection
is neither possible nor desirable。 Ignorance of evil is not virtue but
imbecility： admiring it is like giving a prize for honesty to a man who
has not stolen your watch because he did not know you had one。 Virtue
chooses good from evil； and without knowledge there can be no cho
