Coopersville High School - Zenith Yearbook (Coopersville, MI)

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Illllllllllllllle h S.lllllllllllllllllRODEOllllllinillllll 1931 lllllllllllllllll CLASS ORATION “Influence of the Sunday School in Building Christian Character” Prize Winning Oration, Local and Ottawa County Sunday School Oratorical Contest. Written and Delivered by JOE ESTHER GEORGE WASHINGTON once said that religion and intelligence were indespensible, that we needed both religious and mental education for proper managing of our government and well suc- ceeded citizenship. Washington’s ideal has been partly realized. To- day we have the public school which we are all compelled to attend; millions attend our high schools and many thousands our colleges and universities. Our government is doing its duty in building up its citizens intellectually. Rut if any democracy such as ours is to stand, there must be two great school systems working side by side. The public school is invaluable because people who are to do collective thinking to con- trol a great democratic govcrnmenr must have a body of common knowledge, and common ideas, ideals and standards. The public school is the great agency through which these common ideals and standards are fostered. But the primary and direct purpose of the public school is to develop the inti 1 lect. Yet we know that no educa- tion is complete which ignores the religious element. This religious element cannot be furnished by the public school system. To intro- duce religion into the public schools would make it impossible for them to preserve the unity of society so necessary to our democracy, for we certainly do not want the same form and religious teaching, and one fundamental principle of our government is a free church within a free state. Thus we see that another great school system is necessary. That need is fulfilled bv the Sunday School. The public school builds up the mind while the Sunday School builds up the character. The pub- lic school sharpens the wits; the Sunday School teaches us to use these sharpened wits for truly good ends. The public school imparts infor- mation; the Sunday School teaches us ideals founded in Christ. In short, the public school gives us the technical knowledge found in the arts and sciences, while the Sunday School furnishes us the dynamic to use this knowledge for the uplifting of fellow man and for the glory of God. Either one, religious or intellectual education, without the other, is dangerous and unsound. Religious development without intellectual development leads to fanaticism. Intellectual development without proper religious back- ground leads to all sorts of moral breakdowns, Many college gradu- ates are found in our penitentiaries because their moral development has been neglected. Leob and Leopold would not now be serving life sentences in Joliet prison had they been taught to use their education for the uplifting of their fellow man. Albert B. Fall is serving a term for defrauding the government —a highly educated man. Friends, time would not permit me to give all the examples of men and women Page Twenty-nine

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llllllllllllllllle.H.S.IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlRODEOlllllllllllllllll 1931 lllllllllllllllll who are highly educated but who are in our prisons because their re- ligious development has been neglected. Thus we see what a vital necessity the Sunday School is. Wood- row Wilson, the great war time president said, “ 1 lie world will never be sale for democracy until Godliness and intelligence are made the common possessions of the whole human race. 1 his statement by Wilson clearly shows that the character of a nation depends upon the character of its citizens. Just as the efficiency of an automobile de- pends upon the efficiency of each of its parts, so the character of a great government depends upon the individual character ol each of its citizens. We call ourselves members of a Christian nation, yet there are within our country fifty million men, women and children who care nothing for religion. Our great government realizes that a democracy cannot long endure whose citizens are mentally untrained. Hut at the same time there are in our counti v twenty-seven million children and youth who belong to no religious institution of any kind. 1 hey are growing up in spiritual illiteracy. Is our great country destined to be filled with intellectual giants and moral infants? Is our great gov- ernment destined to fall as did the government of Rome, because its moral structure has crumbled? At one time Oueen Victoria of England entertained the noblemen from all parts of Europe. During the course of her entertainment she asked each man to give a speech on the reason for his country’s place in the world. Bismark, of Prussia, rose and told at great length why his country was great, headers of the other nations followed, Fin- allv Oueen Victoria rose and said, with her hand on the Bible, “Adher- ence to this Book is the reason for my country’s greatness.’’ 1 he question that most clearly rises before us w ith this example is, “How long can a nation endure when more than half of its citizens are grow - ing up m spiritual illiteracy?’’ There is something wrong with our great church system. If you were to point to the weakest spot in the protestant church today, you would put your finger on that army of twenty-seven million children who are not receiving any religious training. The Sunday School is doing a great and lasting work for somew hat less than half of our children. By means of their attendance their spiritual life is being properly developed. The ideals of the Sunday School teach obedience to the law' of God and man, true humbleness, and love for God and for our neighbor. It is there that we learn such gems as: “Be not de- ceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.’’ “Remember thy creator in the days of thy youth” and “A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is a heaviness to his mother.” Other ideals taught by the Sunday School are: “Love thv neighbor as thyself, and “Whatsoever thou would that men should do unto you, do you also unto them.” When we take into consideration that with every Sunday School meeting such lessons as these are taught, we may well conclude that the Sunday School is today the greatest institution for the building of Christian character that can be found anywhere out- side of the home. But permit me to prove my statement. |uvenile Judge Faucdt, of Brooklyn, informs us that in 18 years on the bench he Page Thirty