# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1947_S288
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

288 PARISH EDUCATION

Consideration to be Given the Atheist.—-Some misunder-
standing exists with respect to the atheist and the consideration
to be given him by the State. Under the Constitution the atheist
has the right to pursue his irreligion just as Christians and other
theists have the right to pursue their several religious beliefs.
But we must ever bear in mind that atheism can become a menace
to society. When men refuse to be restrained by belief in God
and the Moral Law, the floodgates of vice and crime are thrown
open, and the welfare of all the people is endangered. The State
can give consideration to the atheist only to the extent that the
common welfare is not endangered. The children of the atheist
may be excused from Bible reading and other exercises which in
his opinion are of a religious nature. The principle of religious
liberty is thus preserved for him and other objectors, and that
is all they may justly demand.

Proposed Solutions

Parochial Schools the Only Alternative. — Lutherans stand on
their constitutional right to establish parochial schools, and they
concede the same right to others regardless of creed. Our system
of parochial schools may be taken as our most vigorous protest
against the unnatural divorce of religion from education, which
is a necessary characteristic of the public school’s educational pro-
gram. The principle of separation of Church and State, when ap-
plied in the field of education, creates a crucial problem for the
Church by reason of this divorce of religion from education. Under
the circumstances the Church must make ample provision for the
religious nurture of its children and youth. The only adequate
solution of the problem is the denominational school, commonly
called the parochial school. Conditions have become so critical
that Reformed Protestants have established scores of Christian
schools in recent years and are actively engaged in founding more
schools. In view of the sinister influences which are playing upon
our children and young people in this pagan age, Synod should
more earnestly than ever urge all congregations to investigate the
possibilities for organizing a school, and wherever feasible, to
establish such schools without delay. We must provide thorough
religious instructions for our precious children and youth at all
costs,

Moral Instruction Courses. — Moral instruction is in harmony
with human nature only when it is oriented toward God and based
on the Moral Law. Since men universally recognize the existence

of God and the standard of the Moral Law, we cannot deny to’

the State the right to plan a moral instruction program of this
type. For its own self-preservation the State must achieve civil

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