The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-06
PROFESSION
 OF PRETENSE Rev. H. w. Fancher Preached on Stage. sETHIcs OF THE THEATRE" He Held It an Institution of
 Evil. Declares That the Bihie Condemns the ssase, Drew Hiiassrations fo~ writers conaenning the
 Roman and Greciaa
 Theatres.

Rev. rfenry W. Fancher, pastor of thN Baptist Tabernacle. in his sermon 10 his congregation last night attack cd the modern theatre ss an institution of evil. The actors profession be de- nounced as one of pretense and the &C., VI .rbs sfhscs of the rheatre." was the subject of Mir. Fancher's address. He said:
 sTt is not our purpose this evening to discuss dramatic literature. We are all agreed that such literature may be within itself wholesome.
 We are to bear In mind also that there is q distinction to be made be- tween the gtage as an institution and an occasional performance. As an inc atituflon the stage may be vicious, while the occasional performance may Dc moral. The question for us to an- swer fs not, Shall read dramatic lit- erneuxe. or see an occasional perform ancns but. shall I patronise the insti- fution commonly known as the theatre. of which the occasional performance is only a part.
 Axatn. let 1t be understood that we are not concerned primarily with what the theatre has been. or might be, but what it actually is today. We are to consider the theatre as an institution of the social world. not from a buyi- mesa. a social. an esthetic or artistic, but from a Bible standpoint.
 Yes. said Bible! It is a sad day in the life of any individual Christian or conRregntIon when the Bible is not taken as the sole authority on all mo- rna questions. Recently a remark was made in my presence to the effect that the Bfbis he'd nothing to say at all on tho uabsect of theatre going. would r0Mre1 very much 10 learn that there Aa He. my life. or the life of any man. upon which the Bible could throw no light either directly or indirectly. If we VIII study the theatre and what 1t stands for as an institution. and weigh t from the standpoint of some we'll Known principles of the Bible. we win not be in doubt of to what should be our attitude toward 1t as followers of
 Under It's present management ana naora1 condition. can see but one cone giatent stand for a Christian to take, and that is total abstinence.
 Hisfprienl Survey.
 Tn substantiating our position we win first make a brief historical survey of the theatre in the past. The theatre has been known to the world for more than twenty and Q half centuries. It's moral and ethical influence in all these centuries 4s well understood. Only history can tell what thfs-ha been. and this is what 1t does. Such Greek and Roman writers as Plutarch, Seneca. Ovid. and others. regarded the theatre as antagonistic to morals. Some of these writers denounced it as exerting corrupting influence upon the Greek and Roman mind. At Athens the theatre was suppressed by law. Think of itl We can't close the doors of this institution in some of our sup posedly Christian cities of America on the Lord's Day. pr. Schoff. speaking of the time after Augustus, says:
 The Roman theatre became more and more the nursery of vice. and de- served to be abhorred by all men of decent feeling and refined taste" Ma cau1ay, writing about the English theatre. says: From the time the theatres were opened. they became the seninaries of vice." In all countries as . menace to good morals and thus fo good government, for no govern ulezt can be good independent of nor afify. Because the American Congress had such a conception of the theatre, soon after the Declaration of Inde- pemdence, they adopted a preamble and rAsoiution recommending all the States sfo take steps to suppress ''theatricaI en&ertninnents, horse racing, gaming, and such other diversions as were pro- duottve Of idIeness, dissipation and c general depravity of principles and Fnanners. :" Some hearers may say that the theatre has been materially re-. formed in our time. but facts are @gAinst such a position. hold in my hand an article written last year by an sdftor of one of the daily papers of New York on ''the questionable plays" of that city. The article opens with these two sentences: The popular at- fractions in New York theatres this season are hardly of a class that could be called elevating. either to the play CTS or to the audience. The plots are based upon the wickedness of women and the weakness of men" We must bsar in mind that these statements are made. not by a religious enthusiast, but by an editor of a paper that makes no religious pretensions. Tn the sue ceeding lines the writer gives a short