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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
according to the religion and interpretation of the
teacher that is not approved by the public generally.
(From The Macon Telegraph, June 9th.)
Atlanta Schools Have No Bible, but Lots of Jazz.
“No Bible, but lots of ‘bunny hug;’ no Jesus, but
jazz; no Christ, but cards; no God, but gambling
a-plenty,’’ was the charge brought against Atlanta
public schools Monday by Rev. Walter Anthony, pas
tor of St. Mark’s Methodist Church, Atlanta. Mr.
Anthony, a nephew of Rev. Bascom Anthony, of Ma
con, delivered the commencement sermon at Wes
leyan College.
Discussing an editorial in The Atlanta Constitution
on the use of the Bible in the schools, the Atlanta
minister declared that card playing and modern
dancing were being openly promoted in the schools,
and gave instances, against the convictions of 20,000
Methodists, while Bible reading was scrupulously for
bidden because of the attitude of Jews and Roman
Catholics. He did not request that Bible reading
be permitted, but asked that fairness be observed in
dealing with all denominations. His statement, as it
appeared in The Constitution, follows:
“I am not here contending for the teaching of the
Bible in our public schools, but surely it is permis
sible to insist that if the moral and religious con
victions of our Jewish and Roman Catholic friends
as to the reading of the Bible are to be carefully
considered and protected, then in all fairness, the
convictions of the 15,000 to 20,000 Methodists and
many other thousand Protestants, as relates to dancing
and card playing, ought not to be utterly ignored.
(From The Atlanta Constitution, June 3d.)
A Dangerous Step.
While the city executive committee is to be com
mended for again extending the municipal elective
franchise to the women of Atlanta, in dealing with
two other questions of major significance that body
took action for which no praise is to be given.
First, it fixed July 26th as the date for holding
the city primary elections at which to nominate can
didates for city offices to be voted on at the regular
election, which is not to be held until the first Wed
nesday in December.
The second error on the committee’s part is in the
projection of the Bible into politics.
This is probably the first instance oit record in
which the Bible has been injected into a political cam
paign and made an issue in a popular election.
The committee made a grievous mistake when it
submitted the question of the Bible’s place in the
school room to be settled at the ballot box.
Its action in that respect is unfortunate from every
viewpoint.
The public schools of Atlanta are sustained by
taxpayers of every creed and denomination.
To say that our school children shall be forced
to accept the Bible as a part of the public school
curriculum must bring up the question of what Bible
is to be used.
What would the Protestants of New York say if
a Catholic administration should adopt a rule that
the Catholic Bible had to be used in the public
schools?
Or, what would the Gentile citizens of a city with
a Jewish administration say if the Old Testament were
selected for public school use and the New Testament
excluded ?
Yet that is precisely what the executive committee
would have us do here that is, to say, that the
Catholic and Jewish children of Atlanta must listen
to the reading of a version of the Scriptures which is
not theirs, or else they must stay away from the pub
lic schools!
The idea is un-American, intolerant and indefen
sible; and it has in the past been bitterly opposed by
many of the strongest and most liberal-minded Prot
estant ministers and lay leaders of the city.
In submitting this question we believe the execu
tive committee has exceeded its authority; and we
know that it has thrown an apple of discord into civic
affairs at a most inopportune time. After-war con
ditions of unrest are bad enough without introducing
this new element of discord.
Talk about church and state—here’s a first step
toward it that should put the people to thinking!
It is worthy of note that the Association pamphlet,
Catholicism and Politics, which was an expose of the
National Catholic Register fake, has been printed in
booklet form by the American Press of New York in
their semi-monthly publication, The Catholic Mind.
And The Catholic Register of Denver also printed it
verbatim.
A New Pamphlet Out Soon.
Within the next few days the first numbers of
“Catholics and the Pope,” will be in the mails. This
is the long promised pamphlet dealing with the va
rious phases of the papacy, infallibility, impeccability,
and the like. It has been in direct preparation for
about four months, but the editors have been assem
bling the data for it for three years. It is quite the
most pretentious booklet yet issued by the Associa
tion, and its perusal is recommended to all Catholics.
It answers practically every question we have been
asked about the Pope in thirty-eight months. It will
be sent to every member of the Association whose
address we have been enabled to obtain, and to all
others who will write for it. The first edition of
50,000, it is expected, will be exhausted before the
annual meeting.
Copy may be had upon application to the Cath
olic Laymen’s Association, 107 Ninth Street, Augusta,
Georgia.
Three well known laymen have been given, medals
of honor by the Knights of Columbus for efficient
service as secretaries during the war. They are Capt.
E. J. O’Connor, member of the executive committee
of the Association; John F. Mulherin and Jerome
Laroque, the two latter serving overseas. All three
are Augustans.