Trend in the Belief in God among our Scholars and in our Schools

TREND IN THE BELIEF IN GOD AMONG OUR SCHOLARS AND IN OUR SCHOOLS Fr . F elix M. K irsch, O. F. M. Ca p. Some twenty years ago Chesterton uttered the prophetic statement which we see fulfilled today: The agelong struggle of the Church against heresy in the technical sense of the word is over. She has won through. Christ has always fulfilled His promise. The gates of hell shall not prevail against that Church, founded on the rock of Peter. But another great struggle is approaching. I may not live to see it. Hell’s next attack will be on that doctrine on which all religion and all morality are based — the existence of a personal, infinite, and eternal God. That attack will be accompanied by a mighty effort to sweep away the standards of Christian purity. We have evidence on all sides of the attack made directly on God and on purity as well. We must concede that hell has gained great victories so much so that a modern writer declares: "The most important event of our times is the death of God.” This writer believes that hell has triumphed by taking the belief in God out of the hearts of men. Whereas in a former age only the fool said in his heart there is no God, atheism is now taught widely in our schools. For the past forty years our most prominent educational leaders have been formulating and propagating such doctrines as must inevitably under­ mine American institutions and prepare the advent in the United States of atheistic totalitarianism. The why is not far to seek. America was founded on faith in God. The American founding fathers were men who possessed a great faith in God and in His inspired Word. In 1893 the United States Supreme Court de­ clared: "This is a Christian nation.” When Daniel Webster pleaded a famous case before our highest tribunal, the Supreme Court went on record as affirming that "Christianity is the common law of the land.” Our whole system of jurisprudence is based on the Ten Commandments. We observe the first day of the week as a day of rest and prayer. A day of thanksgiving to God each year is a national festival. Even our coins tell us: "In God we trust.” Alexis de Tocqueville interpreted the spirit of America aright when he wrote after his visit to the United States in 1831: I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. In the fertile fields and boundless forests, and it was not there. In her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good; and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. We all recognize that American democracy is essentially based on the idea of inalienable personal rights stemming from God the Creator. How­ ever, for the past forty years our more prominent educators have labored to deny the fact of God’s existence and of a consequent antecedent and tran­ scendent righteousness which individuals and social groups must observe. 397 398 FRANCISCAN STUDIES The naturalism preached and practised by these educators is atheism in evening dress. Under the influence of idealistic and materialistic monism, these teachers passed to such a conception of a reality that they denied the possibility of any abiding element in heaven or in the universe or in man. Dewey regards culture and social efficiency as synonymous, and affirms that "there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth.” He also insists that growth can only be attained by an education which develops "the flexible attitude which seeks to outgrow existing social conditions.” Hence there should remain no traditional ought or ought not: "Not even the aim of democracy in education and in society is permitted to lay an obligation or claim on human life.” Kilpatrick, the popularizer of Dewey’s doctrines, also sets the student...