Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1901-05-24
4 ADJUSTMENTS.
raImage breaches on the
YStraitiackct Religion.
Places Where We May Find
ated Moral Entertainments.
Copyright 1901


mat belittle and deprave; text, ii Samuel
play before u.s."
There are two armies encamped by the
pool of Gideon. The time hangs heavily
on their hands. One army proposes q
game OF sword fencing. Nothing could be
more healthful and innocent, The other
army accepts the challenge, Twelve men
against twelve men, the sport opens. But
something went adversely. Perhaps one
OF the swordsmen got an unlucky slip or
IN some way mad his ire aroused, and that
which opened in sportfulness ended in vio-
lence, each one taking his contestant by
the hair and then with the sword thrust
ing him in the side, so that that which
opened In innocent fun ended in the mas
sacre Of all the twenty-four sportsmen.
Was there ever a better illustration of
what was true then and is true now-that
thas which is innocent may be made de.
structive?
:. What of a worldly nature is more inn
portant and strengthening and innocent
ed more victims? / have no sympathy
with straitjacket religion. This is very
bright world to me, and propose to do
all can to make it bright for others. I
never could keep step to dead march, A
book years ago issued says that Chris
tan man has right to some amusements.
For instance, if he comes at night weary
from his work and, feeling the need of
recreation, puts on his slippers and goes
into his garnet and walks lively round the
floor several times there can be no harm
In it. / believe the church Of God has
made great mistake in trying to suppress
the sportfulness of youth. and drive out
from men their love of amusement. If
God ever implanted anything in US, He
implanted this desire. But instead of pro-
viding for this demand of our nature the
church of God has for the main part ig-
nored it, As in a riot the mayor plants a
battery at the end of the street and has it
fired off so that everything is cut down
that happens to stand in the range, the
good as well as the bad, so there are men
In the church who plant their batteries of
condemnation and fire away indiscrimin-
ately. Everything is condemned. But
RAUL, the apostle, commends those who
the natural world God has done everything
to please and amuse US.
sand am glad to know that in all our
cities there are plenty of places where we
may find elevated moral entertainment.
But all honest men and good women will
agree with me in the statement that one
of the worst things in these cities is cor
rupt amusement. Multitudes have gone
down under the blasting influence, never
to rise. If we may judge of what is going
on In many of the places of amusement by
the pictures on board fences and in many
Of the show windows, there is not much
lower depth of prohigacy to reach. At
Naples, Italy, they keep such pictures
locked up from indiscriminate inspection
Those pictures were exhumed from Pom
peii, and are not fit for public gaze. If the
effrontery of bad places of amusement in
hanging out improper advertisements of
what they are doing night by night grows
worse In the same proportion, in fifty
years some OF our modern cities will beat
Pompeii.
/ project certain principles by which
you may Judge in regard to any amusement
or recreation, finding out for yourself
whether it is right or wrong.
! remark, in the first place, that you can
judge OF the moral character of any amuse.
ment by its healthful result or by its bale
full reaction. There are people who seem
made up of hard facts. They are comb.
nation of multiplication tables and stats.
tics. If you show them an exquisite pic
ture they will begin to discuss the pig
ments involved in the coloring. II you
show them beautiful rose they will sub
init it to botanical analysis, which is only
the post-mortem examination of a flower.
They hare no rebound in their nature.
They never do anything more than smile.
here are no great tides of feeling surging
Up from the depths of their sosl in billow
after billow of reverberating laughter. They
seem as if nature had built them by con.
tract and made bungling job of it. But
blessed be God, there are people in the
world who have bright faces and whose
life is song, an anthem, a paean of vic
tory
Now, it is these exhilarant and sympa-
thetlc and warm hearted people that are
most tempted to pernicious amusements.
In proportion as ship is swift it wants q
strong helmsman, in proportion as horse
is gay it wants stout driver, and these
people OF exuberant nature will do well to
look at the reaction of all their amuse-
ments. 1t an amusement sends you home
at night nervous, so that you cannot sleep,
and you rise up in the morning not be-
cause you are slept out, but because your
duty drags you from your slumbers, you
have been where you ought not to have
been. There are amusements that send a
man next day to his work with his eyes
bloodshot, yawning, stupid, nauseated, and
they are wrong kinds of amusement. They
are entertainments that give a man dis
gust with the drudgery of life, with tools
because they are not swords, with work
ing aprons because they are not robes,
with cattle because they are not Infatuated
bulls of the arena.
Ii any amusement sends you home long
ing for life of romance and thrilling ad-
venture, love that takes poison and shoots
Itself moonlight adventures and hair
breath escapes, you may depend upon it
that you are the sacrificed victim of un.
sanctfed pleasure. Our recreations are
intended to build us up, and if they pull
us down as to our moral or as to our ply
steal strength you may come to the con-
ciudoh that they are obnoxious.
1heke is nothing more depraving than
attend hnce. upon amusements that are full |
OF inn uendo and low suggestion. The |
yolnp8 man enters. At first he sits far
back with his hat on and his coat collar |
up, feN rful that somebody there may know |
him. Several nights pass on. He takes off |
his hat earlier and puts his coat collar |
down. The blush that first came into his |
cheek when anything indecent was enacted
comes no more to his cheek. Farewell,
young man! You have probably started |
on tho long road which ends in consum-
mate destruction. The stars Of hope will |
go Quit one by one until you will be left in |
utter darkness. Hear you not the rush of |
the mdelstrom, in whose outer circle your |
boat nlbw dances, making merry with the |
whiflidg waters? But you are being |
dra xn in, and the gentle motion will be- |
come terrific agitation. You cry for help |
in vairl; you pull at the oar to put back,
but tho struggle will not avail. You will /
be tossed and dashed and shipwrecked and
swallowed in the whirlpool that has al
ready brushed in its wrath 10000 hulks.
Younlg men who have come from the |
residence to city residence will do
well to be on guard and let no one induce
then, I'd places of improper amusement. 1t
is nightly alluring when young man,
long ditizen, offers to show a newcomer
all around.
Still further, those amusements are