JOSLEM school-teachers
from all over Southern England met for a one-day seminar in London earlier this year. They were strong for the co-existence of religions. and for the teaching of Islam in schools if possible.
The meeting ended with a call to teachers to stay behind and set up a group who would plan a syllabus of Islamic instruction for 0-level, which would then be presented to the education authorities. The group would also give advice and prepare material in this syllabus.
This was for use somehow in county schools, evidently, for there seemed to be no talk of separate Moslem Schools anywhere. One can only applaud a vigorous approach. Thdre is one God, say these Moslems. and our children need to know about Ilirn and turn to Him in prayer.
There must he far more Catholic pupils in county schools than there are Moslems, but we don't seem to have got this far yet. Indeed there are actually a few Christians willing to agree with the more aggressive kind of "humanists" that God should
have no place in, State-supported school activity at all. Perhaps we need a few more Moslems in this country to stiffen our educational backbones.
It is a reminder (as against English muddle-mindedness) that there is such a thing as
"natural . theology", o r whatever they call it nowadays. There is the Most High God, by whatever name men call Him, and He can be known and honoured by Jumio sapiens quite apart from Christianity or any public revelation: theoretically even without any interior prompting or grace, though since God is good these may be counted on.
As far as present historical indications take us. some men had attained to this monotheistic knowledge of God 4,000 years ago, and probably long before. If it was discovery (or perhaps rediscovery) it was the greatest advance ever made in the history of thought.
It is as necessary a part of education as letters or numbers or cooking or music or anything else. With no God to look to, civilisation is without purpose, and education hardly worth while.
Canon F. U. Drinkwater