# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S1070
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

872 PARISH EDUCATION -

would be paid by the churches, not by the schools, Children. y
parents do not want them to receive religious instruction .
be excused in every case. Ly
We concede that even this plan does not give religion
central place it should have in the child’s education. But ix
very nature of the case, the solution must remain partial.
child will at least receive religious instruction as a part of his
cation in the public school, and he will be kept from gro
with the idea that religion is non-essential or unimportant. ;
Classes might be held on the church premises where ;¢
venient. As a general rule, they should be held in the
buildings to prevent loss of valuable time. Objections will i
be raised against the use of public school buildings for relig
instruction classes. We can meet these objections by urging ;
payers’ rights. Do our public buildings belong to an: imperg
institution called the State, or do they belong to persons
taxpayers who sustain the State? By what lawful right can
be restrained from using the buildings which their tax
- helped to build? If the use of public buildings by the chure
not unconstitutional during the first century of this natio
istence, how can such use be declared unconstitutional
present time?

would seem to go counter to the position taken by the Supt
Court. We know also that many thoughtful Americans, amongth
lawyers well-versed in jurisprudence, have pointed out the dg
of the recent decision of the Supreme Court. American C r
should not meekly submit to decisions that are favorable to a
but unfavorable to the majority of American parents.. Ch
should arise and co-operate in an effort to have this decis
versed or modified. They cannot accept the argument

teaching of religion in connection with the daily public 8
program has a factional tendency and accentuates racial and :9f
differences. They are interested in securing for parents the,
which should be theirs by the will of God and in accordance:
the religious freedom which the First Amendment guarantees;y4

ST):
oy:

Christian Elementary Schools

The International Council of Religious Education an
American Council on Education agree with The Lutheran (
— Missouri Synod, and with others who have a similar phil
of education, that religion must be an integral part of schog
' These groups differ, however, in how thiswshould be accomplig
According to the Lutheran philosophy of education, it is ped sig "
cally unsound and inadmissible to exclude religious instruction