Morning journal and courier., 1883-03-14
ssThe Indifferent Things. ;
Determinations

| wise, ,sunder the stimulus of it's settlements 1 the rapidity of it's movements, and the natu 1 ral tendency of human nature to oscillate like | 8 pendulum from one extreme to another, | "the precious and the vile'' become con l founded and are swallowed or rejected to- l gether. None who have noted the drift o1
 popular practice as touching the morals ot l political, business social and domestic life, 1 with the care and candor which the impor- 1 tarce of the subject demands, can fail to sec l that there is cause for serious alarm. God 1 has set his church on earth as his own rep l resentative, as the guardian of morals, and I the guide to heaven. ''Out of Zion, the per
 lection of beauty, God hath shined." As the l moon in the natural heavens receives the suns light and rehecting t Eliminates the l earth so the Church is intended to catch the | rays of the Sun of Righteousness and shine l for the moral and s;,lti5ual benefit of men. l If, therefore, the light that is in her 'be ] darkness, how great is that darkness | lighthouse with the light gone out, wat oh
 man asleep on the walls of tho city while the | enemy is entering the gates, shepherd l that comes not for the sheep l these are the appropriate symbols. l of the Church in her unfaithfulness, but none of these deserve such damning execration. Whether or not we have fallen on the times foretold by St. Pau, are there not some mem bers of churches who twill not endure sound doctrine and even some ministers who are In the market as customers for those ho
 ''after their own lusts'' desire to 'theap to
 themselves teachers, having itching ears p What close observer fails to that the boundary line between religion and art, piety and culture, morals and manners, is less and
 less clearly defined; and that it Is especially lndlstinct in the churches which most affect the tone of fashionable society? Some who bear the Christian name keep nice little gods of their own, enthroned in their vest pock-
 cts, dear, dapper little joves, who nod with < pressed or the string pulled-modern inven-
 tlons they are, and great conveniences wor- thy patent enabling men to live at peace with (the) god, the world, the flesh and the devil all at the same time.
 The pendulum is swinging from the asceti- clsm of the Puritans toward the catholicism of l the pagan Greeks, and has already passed the golden meridian of Christian consistency and moral safety. The "factitious' conscience of the past, so deprecated by the s'Congrega- tIonal Pastor,' was an evil, but an evil of in fnitesimal magnitude when compared with the sophisticated conscience existing to some extent already, and which he is doing his ut | most to increase. If that inclined to narrow | ness by too rigid restriction, this threatens 1 to inundate even the Church of God by lift ing the flood gates of license.
 In ths recent controversy upon this topic the Congregational Pastor has filled his pages with assertions that the condemnation of amusements on our side has been s'indis- criminate." He is evidently gentleman of some cultivation, and hence must understand the meaning of so simple 6 word. It is therefore passing strange that he should not see that he is the person who has failed to discrimirate,' while we have done so clos ely from the beginning But we are willing to | indulge him to any extent in his call for stdiscriminations'' within the limits of our time and strength. And first in regard to my own position. It is small matter in it. self and not worth mentioning, for I claim 1 to represent nobody but myself, though I l believe the best intelligence and piety of the Christian Church stand substantially on the same ground, and I mention it merely to forestall mistakes as to theposition occupied I believe then most heartily in the two
 things we have in hand, viz. amusements and dlscrlmlnations. In amusements that
 are not in themselves, or their associations or inevitable tendencies, vicious; but which
 are of the kind, quality, quantity and occa- sion that, in the true sense of recreation,
 rest, cheer, encourage and strengthen the good clements of nature, as against the
 evil; and discrimination to determine the
 aforesaid kind, quality, quantity and occa sion,'' the apostle Paul gives the creed to which I subscribe. Whatsoever things are
 trUe and honeSt, jElst, pure and lovely, and
 of good report, are the things to think upon
 and engage in, whether for business pleas
 ure; and these to the exclusion of their op-
 posites. Within this brief category believe
 is 8 full opportunity for the finest exercise,
 the fullest enjoyment and the most complete
 development of our physical, mental
 and moral nature; that, within these limits
 every open gateway leads up to the sunny
 highlands where Gods children may live
 and love and play and labor and grow in like
 ness to himself and fitness for heaven and
 that the bars put up only but always
 where the paths lead downward to the low lying moral marshes which breed presidential
 malarias and fever and death.
 As we proceed let the ''CoDgregational Pastor note carefully that we make no issue
 over the views of the "Puritans." ''Metho- dists,'' ''Presbyterians, ''Mennonites, y
 ''Dunkards,'' nor any other sect, ancient
 modern. Also that we are not discussing the
 propriety of wearing ribbons" or ''frock coats, or ''justers,' or 'fur or cloth hats,
 umbrellas or having the ''hair shingleG'
 or parted on one side.' Nor yet have we
 before us such amusements as ''croquet," :"
 ''ball, y ''rowing," singing ''When the Swal
 lows Homeward Fly" ''Galloping on, or ''Kiss me, Mother, Kiss me Quickly. If there be a case on any of these it is not in court save as the Pastor has endeavored to introduce it as 8 foil There is not and
 has not been any counsel for the prosecu- ton. But I discriminate distinctly three so- called amusements, viz.: the theater, the dance, and card-playing, and avow my belief that they ought not to be practiced by Chris tians, and if not by them, certainly not by any others. The ground of condemnation
 urged is not, reiterate, that indulgence in them, or any of them, is essentially and of itself a sin but affirm that they ought not
 to be practiced because the practice necessa- rily involves temptations and tendencies to
 gross wrong-doing or, in card playing,
 the associations are such as to make a case
 against them.
 Let US consider the theater. I claim that
 as an institution it Is immoral and the alder
 and abettor of immortality Space allows me
 only to sample our stock of eviden ce on this
 and the following cases, but if more is asked
 it shall be forthcoming The moral status of
 actors as class is below grade. A reputa-
 ton for personal uncleanliness which would
 bar the way of man, but especially woman,
 to other professions, is no embarrassment
 but in many cases positive aid to place and
 popularity in this In proof, note that the
 two most loudly heralded star actresses i'm
 ported to this country from Europe in recent
 years, the most talked of and widely reported
 drawing the largest houses and receiving
 immense sums of money, were more famous
 one for her boldness and the other for her
 physical charms, and both for their adiso7as,
 than for their talents, which are not remark
 able.
 The character of the plays in general is licentious. No theater can live from the ssMoral Drama
 The theater is not only indirectly but direct ly the alder and abettor of immortality. Does the t'Pastor" remember the arraign- ment before the courts of large and popu
 lar theater some years ago by one of the foremost universities of the country, on the
 general complaint that it was debauching the
 morals of the students If so he will of
 course recall the testimony that the proprie
 tors of the brothels of the city were permit
 ted by the manager systematically to
 post the most attractive of their lswd girls in different parts of the house as
 deeoys for the young men; that drinking
 houses and gambling saloons which with the brothels nestled near like chickens about the
 mother hen, had the same privilege and used it freely to scatter their paid agents among the audience as drummers for their various establishments Does the 'fPastor" remember the defence, that it was not a denial nor an attempt to impeach the witnesses-the case was too
 strong for that ine-but the plea that what
 was done by that one was the common prac- tice of large theaters If the ''Pastor" IS not informed of these customs of his pet in
 stitution he surely ought to be, so that when he leads his flock into these pastures ho may
 inform his young lady members, 'the earnest loving disciples of the Master, that they are