Arizona republican., 1909-03-03
POPULAR ADJUSTMENTS
 REV. MIR. D|XON's SERMON
Caustic Condemnation of the Sins and Follies of the Day.

The sermon on popular amusements 1 by Dr. Dixon, who closed a series of meetings last Sunday night, was one
 that greatly impressed many people. A synopsis of it, t is believed, will be | interesting to many who heard it, as
 we'll as some who did not Dr. Dixon said, in part:
 Seeking pleasure does not bring | pleasure Solomon tried this, and ! gives us the results in the book of Ec- | clesiastes. He had power, wealth and 1 leisure. and could therefore make | fair test of the pleasure seeking life. | He drank moderately, he gratified his aesthetic tastes in building great pub ] lie works, fine houses, in planting vineyards, gardens and orchards. ! adorned with pools of water and flowing fountains. To them he added music. the best wealth and kingly pa tronage could procure. He says, I withheld not my heart from any joy Whatever mine eyes desired I kept not from them And after such an. ex- perience of pleasure seeking. he ex- claimed in disgust. All is vanity and veXation of spirit, and there is no profit under the sun Then he turned himself to madness and folly He plunged into eNcesscs of drink and lust, which soon turned him into a misanthrope. so that he says. I hated life, yea. hated all my labor because l should leave it unto the man that shall be after me- These experiences of Solomon prove five things: First. that the pleasure seeking spirit does not, in the long run, bring pleasure Second, that the pleasure seeking spirit fosters selfishness, and thus makes ugly character. Third, that a pleasure seeking spirit degenerates into a life of debauchery. Fourth, that a pleas ure-seefung spirit ends in hatred of all life, and in sense of failure. which is positive pain. Fifth. that a pleas ure-seeking spirit. therefore, is certain. sooner or later. to banish all pleasure and i'll life with disappointment and sorrow. In a word, Solomon's verdict IS that the pleasure seeking spirit is immoral Beau Brummel. after he had spent his life in rounds of pleasure. dancing with the princesses of the land. pointed to dog as he lay asleep in the sun and said, wish I were that dog The seeking spirit. according to the New Testament. real ly kills the soul to all that is noble"
 In discussing the theater, Dr Dixon said: There is Q wide gulf between the church and the stage The pur- pose of the stage is to teach men how to act part. The purpose of the Church of Christ is to teach men how to be real The purpose of the stage IS to amuse; the purpose of the church IS to save. The purpose of the stage Is to make money. and the managers are not slow to do so, even at the ex- pense of good morals; the purpose of the Church of Christ is to make char acter, and good morals are not for sale at any price. The stage gives what the people want, and, sad to say. the worst plays draw the biggest crowds: the purpose of the Chuprch of Christ Is to give what the people need. re- wardless of its popularity The stage ministers to the lust of the flesh. to
 the lust of the eye, and the pride of llfe' which is not of the Father: the ! purpose of the Church of Christ is to cruelty these things. The stage is
 a caterer; the Church of Christ is a prophet The stage panders: the church rebukes. The stage in its tragedies glorifies revenge. which leads to murder; the Church of Christ teaches forgiveness of enemies ard ] the patient endurance of wrong. The ! tendency of the stage is to make peo- | pie childish in their feverish desire for ] diversion; the work of the church is ] to make people child-lil5e in their faith and love and simplicity of character. The tendency of the stage is to keep
 the race in it's childhood of self grati- I lying amusement; the work of the | church is to lead the race into the manhood of self-sacrificing achieve ment- The footlights are suggestive Of the fact that the lower tendencies Of human nature are there brought into prominence; the Church of Christ would magnify the headlight and heart-light that reveal and develop the higher attributes of our being. In word. the real church is the incarna- tion of the Spirit of Christ-pure. humble, self-sacrificing and forgiving. The stage is the incarnation of the spirit of the wOrld-lustful, proud selfish, revengeful. And wha. God hath put asunder, no man can join"
 As to the dance it was said: "The modern dance is inimical to the high est enlightened Christian conscious ness, as voiced by a consesuns of opinion from the Christian church. in cluding the Roman Catholic, and from