Arizona daily citizen., 1901-05-10
SIN AND AMUSEMENT.

SIN AND AMUSEMENT
The Sentinel says that the controversy
which has recently been reopened in ln-
as to the propriety OF certain
forms of amusement is almost as old as
the world, and yet is one that is always
new, for the reason that it is one that
must be settled By every individual for
him self, and is to him a new question.
Such questions-and there are many of
them-cannot be permanently settled
and disposed of. II the present genera
ton should hold some sort of conven-
ton and arrive at unanimous decision
OF the question, it could not bind the
minds or conseiences oil future genera
tions, and the question would certainly
be reopened By the next generation.
And singular it is that succeeding ages
OF discussion and experience have very
little effect in reducing the extremes OF
the views held. Men are as radical as
they ever were, and quite as violent in
condemning those who do not agree
with them. The apparent difference in
intolerance is the result OF greater free
dom in government, which prevents men
from exercising the arbitrary power they
once exercised.
In spite of our supposed progress in
liberality in religion there are prob
ably as many people who regard this as
religious question as there ever were
in the past. And yet it is not. We pre-
sumo there is no one who would say that
play was sinful. The admission would
be made by the most strict that it de-
pended on the character OF the amuse-
ment, its associations and i,s tenencies
But these are accessories. They have
nothing to do with intrinsic morality.
There are many people who object to
card-rlaying who have no religious scrup-
les on the subject, and yet the arguments
they use against it are practically the
same as those used by the persons who
imagine that they object on religious
grounds. They complain OF waste of
time, tendency toward gambling, bad
associations and the like, and these are
purely prudential considerations which
haye nothing to do with the intrinsic
morality of card-playing. The fact is
that position on this question is more
matter OF individual temperament than
anything else. Conservative persons
object to excess or intemperance in any
thing, and they usually have an intem-
pefate aversion to anything that may
readily lead To excess.
II may, perhaps, he worth while for
the opponents of the card playing to
consider the paradoxical proposition
that the best way to avoid the evils as
Hociated with it is to teach children to
play cards. II is probably fact that
/ the majority of those who waste time,-
gamble, or seek bad associates in adult
life on account of cards are persons who
did not play cards at home as children.
The reasons are simple. Children have
time to waste-that is, they need to be
amnsedand everybody encourages
their amusemen 8. Millions Of dollars
are spent annually for games and toys.
But the strict say that the games
should be innocent and instructive.
Cards are both. Most game OF cards
are mathematical. A child can learn
more arithmatic BY playing casino than
from any other game it can play, and
childhood IL the time to acquire prof.
cheney III mental arithmatic. More
over. children play games till they be:
come tired Of them and quit them. Let
S&me become known as child's game
md adults abandon it. They want to
~ mannish. An acquaintance with the
Mathematics OF cards prevents gam
hing. foE enc who understands the ma
tbeaAtics d cards can easily see that
~ chances Are agsinst him in ordinary
- bling devices. And as to associa-
i1ns tl.oes enamored Of game play it
had associates only because they
8 dni6n0t dnd coed associates to play with.
NJ n sisf iiks all persistent questions,
u Iis M m tKo sides to II, and II is not SC
b o ~ on which side the advanta.
|S r. 4 esen from the prudential stand.