Religion and the Boy

Religion and the Boy By Thomas A. Beal, Dean of the School of Business, University of Utah WHAT is religion? Webster defines religion as "a system of faith and worship; the feeling or expression of human love or fear of some super-human power. As distinguished from theology, religion is subjective, designating the feelings and acts of men which relate to God. As distinguished from morality, religion denotes the influences and motives to human duty which are found in the character and the will of God, while morality de- scribes the duties to man, which true religion always influences. Specifically, religion means conformity in faith and life to the teach- ings of the Bible respecting the conduct of life and duties toward God and man." "Religion," says Coffin, "is a kind of life after the pattern of the life of Jesus of Nazareth; while theology is the attempt to ex- plain this fact; it is a theory of religion." Talmage also takes this point of view. He says, "Theology may be compared to theory, while religion may be compared to practice." The religious person has a sublime faith in the spiritual con- trol of the Universe; he believes in divine intelligence and guidance, and is willing to be governed by them. Too, a religious person is usually interested in the welfare of society — in its problems and development, as well as in his own. In short, a truly religious person has faith in mankind, and is respectful and tolerant of the opinions of others, whether they agree with his or not. That is, he is kind and consistent and honest, and he believes in "doing good to all men," and in living a righteous life. Many think that religion belongs to the church and its work — that it is all right for the Sabbath but nowhere else. This is an error. Religion requires that man should make the most of him- self and his opportunities — that he should be industrious, upright, and faithful — in brief, use his talents which God gave him. Re- ligion is necessary for success in the broadest sense of that term. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." This kind of religion boys will understand and grasp. Religion should be able to stand the practical test: "We be- lieve in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in

RfeLIGION AND THE BOY 379 doing good to all men; indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul — we believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." In this brief Article of Faith, the Latter-day Saints proclaim the practical character of their religion- — "a religion that embraces not alone definite conceptions of spiritual matters and belief as to conditions in the Hereafter, but also of present, every-day duties, in which love for fellow-men and devotion to God are the guiding principles." Among many there is a common opinion that the material things which we can see are real, while the ideal and spiritual things which we cannot see are unreal and therefore uncertain. To regard things which you can see and handle as more reliable than ideal or spiritual things is a great mistake. The body is no more real than the spirit; in fact, the spirit is the more real. The real man can walk and talk, but take away his spirit — the part we cannot see — and he is not a real man. So it is the spirit that makes the body real to us. "The things that are seen are temporal. The things that are not seen are eternal." Many are making a mistake in under-valuing immaterial things. Religion is undervalued be- cause it is considered visionary and unreal. This is also a mistake. We must learn sooner or later that the ideal and spiritual make the real. Our religion gives us a confidence in the Hereafter. The im- mortality of the soul is regarded just as certain and real as mortality. Such a belief gives confidence and strength. We believe in a prac- tical religion as well as in a spiritual religion. Brigham Young said: "Our religion is not mere theory; it is a practical religion to bring present enjoyment to the heart. We cannot talk about spirit- ual things without connecting them with the temporal things; neither can we talk about temporal things without connecting them with spiritual things. They are inseparably connected. Our religion must be with us always — from one Monday morning to the next, the year round, — or it will not answer its purpose." Such a religion is easily conceived and, if presented in the right way, can be made to appeal even to the understanding of the youth. The reason why we have so much crime among the youth of the land at the present time is because of a lack of religious train- ing. Judge Mclntyre of New York says: "Of the reasons for the restlessness and the criminal tendencies of youth, the lack of re- ligious training so far out-distances all others that it stands alone." Judge Waite of Minneapolis says: "The first and fundamental

380 IMPROVEMENT ERA cause is the breakdown of religious training in the home. Char- acter can have no firm and lasting basis other than religious faith; and religious faith comes rarely into any life save through early religious training." Judge Kavanaugh of Chicago says: "The greatest and most vital lesson of all is to make the children know and feel the reign of God and their nearness to Him." Some people are inclined to think that boys have no natural desire for religion; others take the opposite view. If the boy is brought into contact with the right kind of religion and in the right way, usually he has no objections to it, but on the other hand he finds it interesting, desires more of it, and tries to conduct his life accordingly therewith. There is an old saying, "As the twig is bent, the tree is inclined." If we place the proper emphasis on religion and teach it to the boy in his early years, he will seldom depart therefrom. It is said: "There is but one way to save humanity and that is through childhood." If this statement be true, then it behooves parents as well as churches to see that children are properly trained during childhood so that their lives may be inclined in the proper path thereafter. The trouble with humanity at the present time is that because of the arduous duties of daily tasks, the training of childhood is pretty much left to the atmosphere and circumstances outside of the home. Our schools, of course, as well as our churches, are doing much in the way of training our young people, the former especially in those things which are necessary to good citizenship, and the latter towards making the children have greater reverence for Deity, but the parents are derelict in giving the proper religious training to their children. President Coolidge once made the statement that he could "think of no investment which was likely to pay larger returns for the social, economic, and spiritual welfare of our coun- try than the proper training of boys." It is not only important, therefore, that boys should be trained properly, socially and eco- nomically, but spiritually as well. If we look up the court records of many of the juvenile delinquents, we will find that few of them bad any religious training, and especially in the home. What the American home needs today, therefore, is more religion, in order that it may instill the same into the minds of the youth. President Coolidge is also reported to have said on one occasion: "There is no substitute for morality, character, and religious conviction," and yet we are told that only three out of every ten children in the United States are touched by any religious program. That is un- fortunate, not to say deplorable. In the minds of many, the time will come when there will be a reaction in the opposite direction;

RELIGION AND THE BOY 381 that is, when people will come to see more and more the importance of religious training in the development of the moral character of the young people. But whether the young people take to religion depends largely on how it is presented. To get over something which is practical is not very difficult, but to convince young people that a religious ed- ucation is necessary, that is, a knowledge of the things which make for good character and for salvation in the eternal world, both of which are abstract ideas, it is more difficult, and therefore the task is much greater. Perhaps many of us talk religion enough to the boys but we do not talk it in the right way. In other words, example is better than precept. Both are necessary, but if one wishes to convince his son, for example, that the religion which he is teaching him is right, he must live up to that principle, both by what he says and by what he does. You cannot fool children. They quickly detect insincerity; they seem to be blessed with an instinct that enables them to recognize the genuine. If parents are not sincere in their teachings, the youth will soon discover it. To establish faith in the youth, therefore, it is necessary that we practice that which we preach, not only on Sunday, but every day in the week; in short, we must be that which we wish the youth to be. From observations it would appear that it is not difficult to establish faith in the hearts of the youth if we go about it sincerely and in the right manner. Youth naturally has faith. The boy, himself, is a great believer. Children have great faith in their parents and in a superior being, and all that is necessary, therefore, is to teach them in the proper way and live in conformity to one's teachings to establish and retain that simple faith with which child- hood seems to be blessed. Just as one should have a fixed aim in life, so should one have a settled faith. "A yearning for better things is a constant spur to accomplishment." It is only when we perceive the difference be- tween our real selves and what we should like to be that we become restless and eager to move forward. The person with a fixed aim is not content unless he is struggling towards the thing of his heart's desire, whether that is economic or spiritual. A settled faith in a wholesome religion is a valuable thing and a wonderful influence in shaping one's life. "Deep conviction in the existence and prov- idence of God gives confidence and stability to one. It is like an anchor to the soul. The man of faith is not easily baffled; he struggles on, confident that truth will prevail, and that honest, per- sistent effort will ultimately win. A belief in God and Eternity inspires hope in one's life and this hope finds expression in one's work. A religious person is seldom gloomy and pessimistic. His

382 IMPROVEMENT ERA faith keeps him from the ruts of despair. As long as he can retain his faith he will keep on trying until his last bit of strength is gone, confident that he will finally be aided by a superior power." This is the idea that we should inculcate into the minds of the youth. Every youth should be encouraged to keep the fire of determination burning in his soul, because it gives faith. The youth who aspires to be somebody in the world is the one who has con- fidence in himself and in life's possibilities. Just as these things make for success in life, so do they make for success in character, and faith and knowledge. The boy who has faith and a belief in God has an intelligent insight into life — he sees more in it, he gets more out of it, he gives more to it, and, all in all, he makes a better man. Little argument is needed to make out a case in behalf of a plan for the vocational guidance of youth, and yet, on the whole, we have elicited little effort in such a problem. Religious guidance is just as necessary as vocational guidance; yet here, too, little effort has been put forth in a constructive way to deal with this problem. More stress, therefore, should be given to the religious training of the boy; i. e., as to what kind of a program to carry out, what it should contain, how to make it function to the best interests of the boy. If religion helps to give confidence and faith, which many think it does, then we should endeavor to give such religion to the young people as will encourage these essential elements in their nature. But to do this we must also have information about the young people themselves; that is, about their physical condition, their am- bitions, the opportunities and circumstances of their lives, so that we may know how to approach them and what to give them. To gather such information and make it available for use so that it may contrive to the best interests of the boy requires time and effort; and to give satisfactory guidance in religion as well as else- where, it will require properly trained persons and an army of devoted workers. One important duty of the advisor of youth, both morally and religiously, is to bring home to all who can be brought to see it the enormous value of a religion; that is, how it qualifies one in the way of development, mentally and spiritually, how it helps boys and girls to find themselves, and to prepare them- selves for a better understanding of life. At no time in the history of the world have the boys of the people been turned out to earn their living on so large a scale or into so complex a social order as at the present time. Never has there been so great a need as now for intelligent cooperation between the parents and the boys. We are, indeed, living in a restless period, impatient with crudeness, but we are too occupied to pause over the

RELIGION AND THE BOY 383 stumblings and gropings of bewildered youth. Somehow, some- way, we must give more attention to this critical period of adoles- cent life. Society has been slow to cooperate with its future workers in the choice of their careers. So, too, has it been slow in the giving of religious training which the youth should receive for his own guidance and welfare. According to the words of Brigham Young, the purpose of the Mutual Improvement Associations is to instill into the hearts of the young people a testimony of the gospel, to give them an opportunity to study, not only religious things, but secular things as well. Our Mutual organizations attempt to do this. We have outlines and programs and manuals by which the young people are not only taught science and history, literature and economics, but religion also. An all-around man is the best man, so the religious side of the boy's life should not be neglected any more than any other side, but all sides should be developed harmoniously, and to the youth's best interest. One has fears for the young man who has no spiritual side of life, who believes that everything is just for today. Such a one is likely to have no regard for the morrow, nor for the future. Doubtless many a great genius is lost to society because he is born among the children of the poor, where he perishes for want of opportunity. Likewise, doubtless many a boy is lost to society because he is not given that kind of training which makes for char- acter, integrity, honesty, and faith. The time is ripe when we should wake up to the fact that the young people are our heritage and that it is our duty to assist them and help them to adjust their life's work so that they may conduct themselves in a way that will make for better young men, morally, physically, and mentally, as well as spiritually. Psychologists tell us that we are blessed with intelligence but that our intelligence may manifest itself in different ways. It is the duty of the parents, as well as the teachers of these young people, to discover these differences in order to guide the activities of youth in the channels which will lead to success. All boys are not equally com- petent mentally and physically, and neither are they spiritually. Therefore, it requires different training, different tact, different methods, in order to reach all boys in the best way. It is folly to try to drive a square peg into a round hole, and yet that is just about what it amounts to when we do not take enough interest in the young people to discover their aptitudes. We should not be too hasty in under-estimating the value and ability of people who seem to be born short in some things, because they may be born long in others; nor should we be too quick to condemn people

384 IMPROVEMENT ERA because they do not see as we do. Everyone has a right to his own views. When we come to that conclusion then we shall be able to understand the boy and to direct his thoughts in the right way; keeping in mind, of course, that he is wanting in experience and must be subject to adult guidance; i. e., he must form the habit of obedience to law and order. In the making of a boy, it is very necessary also that we put into his hands the right kind of reading material. It is the general opinion that one can pretty well determine the makeup of a boy by the kind of company he keeps and by the books he reads. Therefore, it is necessary to know the literary standards of the boy, because the kind of books that he loves to read is not only a test of the boy's estimation of the book, but usually is a test of the boy as well. No finer habit can be taken up by young people than the habit of reading good books, and especially the biographies of great and good men, for almost without exception these persons have been religious and righteous in their acts and deeds. Boys, too, should be taught about spiritual things as well as temporal. They should be made to see that they are the stewards of their Master, and that he expects them to use and cultivate the talents, or loans, which he has made to them, according to their op- portunities. Few of us, perhaps, have opportunities to do great things, but we all have the opportunity to be kind, charitable, help- ful, and sympathetic. Our talents, or gifts, are the inspiring things in us, and they do not depreciate by sharing them with others, but increase and become stronger, and they cannot be taken away except by Him who gave them. Boys should be taught that they must use their time in this life to the best of their ability. They should be taught to discover what is worth-while, what to keep and what to leave out, and to this there is but one answer: "They may let go all things which they cannot carry with them into Eternal Life." In conclusion, then, if we wish the youth of today to grow up with faith, we must teach them the right kind of religion and in the right way. The reason why we have failed thus far is be- cause of our narrowness and our disinterestedness in religious work ourselves. By narrowness I mean that we are intolerant and un- charitable with others. We can just as well be equally broad- minded and fair in the realm of religion as we can anywhere else. There are certain basic principles that are common to all religions, just as there are certain patriotic elements that are common to all political parties. But what are these principles? "The love of right- eousness and an honest attempt to attain it in all the affairs of life pretty nearly covers the whole ground. Surely there is no form of religion which ought not to include as much. What do we mean by

RELIGION AND THE BOY 385 righteousness? The word speaks for itself. There is a right and a wrong to everything in this world, and righteousness means an alli- ance with the first, in thought and word and deed, and a rejection of the last, continually." We must constantly inculcate into the mind of the boy a desire to know the truth, and to act in accordance with its dictates. The preface of one of the old arithmetics closed with these words: "And now I commend you to Him who maketh all things by number." The one who made that book doubtless taught righteousness to his pupils, and begot in them a love of the Author of all Truth. That is the kind of teaching we must give to the boy if we expect him to live a righteous life. That we need more religion in our schools at the present time is probably true. In brief, what the world needs at the present time, above everything else, is to be saturated through and through with a living religious spirit; "to be fused with vital religious fire," which shall enter into and become a part of every word and deed of all its citizens. "Religion, then, is an effort to bring the whole of experience into the light of the best that one knows." If one is devoted to the spiritual values of truth, goodness, beauty, and love, he has already begun to be religious. We may conceive of religion as the effort to find the source, the meaning, and the object of life, and to these conceptions we should attempt to relate our lives and that of the boy. Revelation I saw not God until I looked Upon the face of Innocence, Where shone the virtue of pure thought, And peace which is its recompense. I heard not God until there came The quiet voice of motherhood, And children's laughter turned to song, And nature's murmur in the wood. I felt not God until I roved Beneath the open country sky And smelled the breath of clover-bloom. With space about me. wide and high. I knew not God until my heart Was thrilled with love and wracked with pain; Till I had looked on evil things. And then saw Innocence again. I did not learn to worship God, Or know how close we were of kin, Till He from harm protected me And came my heart to dwell within. Huntington, Utah. LAMONT JOHNSON.