Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1905-07-13
u Observation-Disclosures.
5 SUNDAY SERMON s
= Y y = = q
Q A Scholarly Discourse By d
y DR.. NJ. f. Harlin.

Harlan, pastor of the First Church of
Christ, Sunday morning gave another
of his series of sermons on "I'roDlcms
! of Power For Plain People," the spe.
cial subject being "The Problem Of
, Morally Healthful Amusements.' III
February he offered prizes for best re-
plies to questions covering the several
problems to be discussed. He sent
printed list of these questions to sew
cral hundred people over the country.
/ The sermon was based largely on the
replies he received The text was from
Ecclcsiastcs iii:4: "Therc is time to
! laugh and time to weep Among
other things he said:
! a few years ago, when certain sup
posed ornament (0 to French society
was asked what he did, he replied:
"My business is to amusc myself"
The history of the church is but his
tory of the struggle between men and
women like this Frenchman, on the
one hand, and on the other hand, those
who have had no place for Il smile in
their religion. The world has never
lacked the stole and the scnsualSt. 10
the stole the church has seemed very
lax. TO the scnsualist she has seemed
y
stood and always will stand against
the purposcless lives Of both Of these
extremes. If to the mere pleasure
seeker the church has seemed dogmatiC
and damnatOsy, we must remember
that pleasure has been tyrannical and
brazen and absurd. TO him who Itor-
ships tSc god of pleasure, even other
wise harmless pleasures become diSsi-
~ t., Cal - Ia I'm
sipid in heart and the vile in character
and the putposclcSs in life. God did
not make the world for mere amuSc-
ment. neither did He design that It
should be run by the mere rolllckrrS.
Yet desire for food and clothes is no
more an indication of the physically
robust and normal man than arc the
demands for laughter and amusement
indices of the normal. mental and splr-
itual man. The question is not. there
fore, one of amuscmcnts, but what
kind and how much
No doubt that the church has often
been too closely allied with the stole
in exercising damnatory power respect
ing all forms of amuSemcntS. But be-
fore we cenSurc too severely let us take
into account the conditions Of her early
history. The church began her mighty
march of conquest in cities where all
sorts of lcwd and obscene amuScmrntS
were the rulc-Romc. Corinth, Ephc-
S,ls, etc. In these cities the god Of
pleasure held such high carnival that
industry was throttlcd and domestic
life was weakened. ROmc'S great am.
phithcatrc. seating 3SI,OU people. could
easily be filled with the morbid crowd
that measured the worth of the amuSc-
mcntS ny the fury of the cntcrtain-
ment and by the number Of men and
horses slain merely for their anluSc-
mcnt. The Emperor Traian gave
three months show in which 10000
men and 1000 beasts were slain to
GmuSe the very best people of Rome.
Men would appear on the stage dressed
gorgcouSly, when suddenly flames
would burst forth all over their bodies
and they would die writing in agony
of flames to the delight of the god of
pleasure. Often Christians were forced
spectators and often unwilling partici-
pants in these brutalities. Food and
fun" was the hilarious cry of these
amusement loving people that haunted
with its awful hiss the cars of the
the ruler was measured BY his willing
ness and ability to satisfy this cry for
"food and fun" An unwilling wit
ness to these dcbauchericS il the name
of amusement. can we wonder that
coming from such birthplace the
church has ut times been extreme?
GibbOn tells us that in the days of
Romc's worst famineS she dismissed
I,,, ,,I ,,,y, al, 1,,,t
satisfy her god of pleasure she kept
her vile vestal virgins and her GOO0
dancers and singers of the lcwd sort
to amusc her as she staggered down to
death or lay in the last commissions of
her dying hour. He will not criticse
too harshly the church who has come
with her down her Historic way and
has witnessed her death struggle with
the professional dispensers of amuse-
mcnt, who. as vile in purpose as the
yeStal virgins and who for financial
gain will pandcr to the selfish and
sensual moods of men till they leave
those who otherwise would be noble
men and women, mere derclicts on
lifc'S sch to the menace of the innocent
voyagcrS.
Even to-day under the spell of this
pleasure good men will pay an mcom-
planning tribute to her and do not
hesitate to keep an open account with
the dispensers of hilarious and scnSu-
GUS amuScmcntS about dance halls ana
theatres. while at the same time they
will become exceedingly poor and saw
ing if approached for charity or philan-
f. thropy or justice. The mere vagabond
on the streets with his hand organ and
monkey, or the Grewsome ana discord-
ant curb stone band'' take in the rev
enue that belongs TO laundryman or
grocer as though these mOuntebank
dispensers of amusement were more
deserving than they.
Seeing how Rome amused herself to
death and how Spain amused herself
with her bull fights out of one of the
first rank powers into the imbccile
Skeleton she now represents, no Won
der our Puritan fathers were fearful
of this pleasure god. He is blind who
sees no inconSistencc in the Puritan-
zeal bans on all forms of amusement
till a man must be or at least appear
miserable before he can be happy. But
he to-day is worse than blind who
does not see, and especially in city life,
that the god of pleasure has become
daringly despOtic and that she tyran-
aically invades every shrine of her
devotees, and that no day is too sacred
for her ribaldry and coarse jest. BY
pandcring to the runous passion that
would rather laugh than to think she
would leave our fair land tenantless of
the serious and the wise and I'll! it
with a race of grinning pigmies. Any
amusement that hindcrs me from doing
my duty in my business during the
week or makes me careless of my du-
ties In the house Of God or that would
aln cnrinIlc fhn11nl1to llnr ir,4 10,