28 FEBRUARY 1941, Page 12

PUBLIC SCHOOL RELIGION

Sla,—I feel that your correspondents who write so glibly, in a recent issue of The Spectator, about the evils of compulsory religion in public schools have completely failed to go to the real root of the matter. In criticising Mr. Lyon's articles, they have been content to base their judgement on superficial appearances : it cannot be denied that at first sight compulsory attendance at chapel services appears to be a major fault of the present public-school system, and only too often one hears the view expressed by boys and masters alike that all chapel services should be voluntary. There is certainly a small number of boys who are greatly prejudiced against religion by daily conscripted devotion, and it is possible, though I think very improbable, that these boys, if they were never compelled to worship, would become, in later life, willing and regular churchgoers. But how many others, who arrive at their public schools with nebulous and uncertain ideas about Christianity, are brought to a far more complete and lasting faith before they leave, solely as a result of these " automatic church parades "? Would these boys, who are by no means few in number, be nearly so likely to gain that lasting faith in Christianity, if all religious devotion were voluntary, and hence— for this is an almost certain corollary—despised and deemed to be "not the thing to do " by public schoolboys? I firmly believe that, were it not for the present system of compulsion, these vague questings after religion would be stifled almost at birth either by the scorn of others or by the lack of solid foundation in the faith of the individuals concerned.

In the great public school of which I have the good fortune to be a member, where " a quarter of an hour every weekday and an hour every Sunday " is the standing rule, I can state with absolute cer- tainty that such religious questions, far from being stifled, very often blossom forth into a deep and permanent faith. Of the soc ben., who attend the daily compulsory service, there are at least coo who regularly attend the various voluntary services, often at considerable inconvenience to themselves. If, on the other hand, all services were voluntary, would one-fifth of the members of a school regularly attend them? I very much doubt it.

Yet I do not consider that the religious system in this or any other public school is by any means perfect: the greatest defect of all is in the matter of confirmation. Out of the fairly large number of boys who are confirmed each year by the local bishop, about one in six is in a fit spiritual state to receive confirmation. Of the others, some " go through the ordeal " because their parents have ordered it, others do so because they expect to " get something out of it," and many do so because it is the conventional thing to do. I do not say that they are not sincere Christians, for many of them are, but they are not sufficiently advanced in the Christian life even to under- stand the priceless nature of the gift which they receive so casually. Admittedly certain improvements have been made in this respect in recent years, but there is still need for a much saner attitude towards the whole question of confirmation, and school chaplains must be prepared to declare candidates spiritually unfit, even at the risk of hurting their feelings and incurring the wrath of their parents.

In other words, religion must in the first instance be forced on schoolboys, for as a class they are not naturally religious, just as, in their younger days, they do not take naturally to cleanliness or obedience: but the religion which they receive must not be distorted by convention ; it must be sincere, straightforward and compre- hensible, so that it may remain real to them throughout their whole