The free press. (Southern Pines, N.C.) 1898-19??, 1905-07-14
MORAL AMUSEMENT
OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON.
Powerful Appeal For the Higher and
Better Life We All Should Lead.

OF his series of sermons on problem!
of Power For Plain People," the spe
cial subject being 1.-THE Problem d
Morally Healthful Amusements." Ii
February he offered prizes for best re
plies to questions covering the severa
problems to be discussed. He sent Q
printed list of thei questions to sew
eral hundred people or the country
/ The sermon was based largely on the
replies he received The text was from
Ecclesiastes it'd: "There is a time tc
laugh and a time to weep" Among
other things he said:
A few years ago, when a certain sup
posed ornament O. to French society
was asked what he did, he replied
my business is to amuse 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 smile in
their religion. The world has never
lacked the stole and the sensualist To
the stole the church has seemed very
lax. To the sensualist she has seemed
| too strict. The church always has
stood and always will stand against
the purposeless lives Of both of these
extremes. If to the mere pleasure
seeker the church has seemed dogmatic
and damnatory, we must remember
that pleasure has been tyrannical and
brasen and absurd. TO him who wor-
ships the god Of pleasure, even other
wise harmless pleasures become dissi-
patton till the world is full of the in
sipid in heart and the vile in character
and the purposeless in life. God did
not make the world for mere amuse-
ment, neither did He design that it
should be run by the mere rollickers.
Yet desire for food and clothes is no
more an indication of the physically
robust and normal man than are the
demands for laughter and amusement
induces of the normal, mental and splr-
ltual man. The question is not, there
fore, one of amusements, 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 amusements. But be-
fore we censure 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 lewd and obscene amusements
were the rule-Rome, Corinth, Ephe-
sus, etc. In these cities the god of
pleasure held such high carnival that
industry was throttled and domestic
life was weakened Romes great am
phitheatre, seating 3S5,000 people, could
easily be filed with the morbid crowd
that measured the worth of the amuse-
ments by the fury of the entertain
ment and by the number Of men and
horses slain merely for their amuse-
ment. The Emperor Trajan gave a
three months show in which 10000
men and 1000 beasts were slain to
amuse the very best people of Rome.
Men would appear Oh the stage dressed
gorgeously, 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 ard 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 ears of the
dying gladiators. The popularity of
the ruler was measured by his willing
ness and ability to satisfy this cry for
flood and fun" An unwilling wit
ness to these debaucheries in the name
of amusement, can We wonder that
coming from such birthplace the
church has at times been extreme?
Gibbon tells us that in the days of
Rome's worst famines she dismissed
her senators and patrons of art. but to
satisfy her god of pleasure she kept
her vile vestal virgins and her 5000
dancers and singers of the lewd sort
to amuse her as she staggered down to
death or lay in the last commissions Of
her dying hour. He will not criticise
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-
ment. Who IS vile in purpose rs the
vestai virgins ard who for financial
gain will pander to the selfish and
sensual moods OF men til they leave
those who otherwise would be noble
men and women, mere derelicts on
life's sea to the menace of the innocent
voyagers.
Even to-day under the spell Of this
pleasure good men will pay an uncom-
planning tribute to her and do not
hesitate to keep an open account with
the dispensers of hilarious and sensu-
Gus amusements about dance halls and
theatres, while at the same time they
will become exceedingly poor and saw
ing If approached for charity or philan-
thropy or justice. The mere vagabond
on the streets with his hand organ and
monkey, or the Srewsome and 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 imbecile
skeleton she now represents, no Won
der our Puritan fathers were fearful
of this pleasure god. He is blind who
sees no inconsistence in the Puritan
ical bans on all forms of amusement
till man must be or at least appear
miserable before be 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 despotlc and that she tyrar-
nically invades every shrine of her
devotees, and that no day is too sacred
for her ribaldry and coarse jest. BY
to the runous passion that