An english poem in 10th grade textbook

[shrihara]

I found this poem in 10th grade text book of karnataka state syllabus. What frustrates me more is that this poem is marked for memorization too. I want to protest against the people who opted this poem.

Quote:God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

[Ajita Kamal]

I did a bit of searching and found that the poem is actually one of the Olney Hymns which were written for a Christian evangelical preacher. This is not literature. You could take it up in court that its inclusion in the syllabus constitutes a violation of some sort.

I doubt that any general appeal to reason will fail on a popular level. I think one easy way to get that hymn out of the syllabus would be to make a lot of noise about it being Christian proselytism forced on our kids. But I'm not sure about this, and such a move might set things off and end up being counter-productive on multiple levels. Perhaps the better approach would be to seek a constitutional recourse by appealing to separation of religion and state.

[shrihara]

(26-Oct-2010, 09:53 AM)Ajita Kamal Wrote: I did a bit of searching and found that the poem is actually one of the Olney Hymns which were written for a Christian evangelical preacher. This is not literature. You could take it up in court that its inclusion in the syllabus constitutes a violation of some sort.

I doubt that any general appeal to reason will fail on a popular level. I think one easy way to get that hymn out of the syllabus would be to make a lot of noise about it being Christian proselytism forced on our kids. But I'm not sure about this, and such a move might set things off and end up being counter-productive on multiple levels. Perhaps the better approach would be to seek a constitutional recourse by appealing to separation of religion and state.

The text book says that it was composed by William Cowperd. This is wrong on so many levels, it says atheism is wrong, we should not judge God etc. These are unacceptable to teach in school. Its christians' teaching in disguise.

[Ajita Kamal]

(26-Oct-2010, 11:55 AM)shrihara Wrote:

(26-Oct-2010, 09:53 AM)Ajita Kamal Wrote: I did a bit of searching and found that the poem is actually one of the Olney Hymns which were written for a Christian evangelical preacher. This is not literature. You could take it up in court that its inclusion in the syllabus constitutes a violation of some sort.

I doubt that any general appeal to reason will fail on a popular level. I think one easy way to get that hymn out of the syllabus would be to make a lot of noise about it being Christian proselytism forced on our kids. But I'm not sure about this, and such a move might set things off and end up being counter-productive on multiple levels. Perhaps the better approach would be to seek a constitutional recourse by appealing to separation of religion and state.

The text book says that it was composed by William Cowperd. This is wrong on so many levels, it says atheism is wrong, we should not judge God etc. These are unacceptable to teach in school. Its christians' teaching in disguise.

Yes, William Cowperd wrote these Olney Hymns along with a preacher. Its interesting how the text book leaves out the part about the evangelical preacher and just mentions Cowperd.