Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-05
LOCKE ATTACK
ELECTS REPLY
CLERGYMAN AMONG DEFEND
Frs OF THEATER
REV. n. c. DUNHAM REPLIES TO
METHODIST DIVINE
Says Not All Plays Are Bad and Urges
churchgoers to Elevate the
Theater by Attend
ance

Rev. Howard c. Durham. pastor of
the New Jerusalem church of Los An
geles, replies to DR.. Charles Edward
Locke's recent attack on the theater i'll
vehement denial OF DIR. Locke 5
charges, published exclusively in The
Herald. Rev. Durham condemns the
Methodist divine for his sweeping de-
nunciation and says, Evidently Dr..
Locke needs to more carefully study
the life and teachings of the Savior Of
Christ Should Come to Los Angeles. ="
Rev. Dunhams letter follows:
10 the Editor of The Herald:
! All the earnest people of this City
Beautiful must agree that DIR. Locke
has taken up, in his vigorous way, one
| of the vitality important practical Dues
tions OF our day. Tne moral character
of the theater is a matter that comes
closer home to the welfare and happi-
ness of all, and particularly of this city
! of Los Angeles, than most people are
aware. In no city of the world, per-
haps, is the theater a more dominant
! factor for good or evil than here in Los
Angeles, where there are SO many tour
| lSIS anu OIHGTS WllliOul dCllNC CiliPlOy
ment, who crave and need recreation
and amusement, which the theater
readily furnishes for vast numbers of
| our people. Approaching this, and also
the effect which the theater must have
upon all who frequent and enjoy 1t, we
can hardly conceive of any mere exter-
nal matter of greater moment. That
the theater as a whole is not what it
should be will be admitted by ali intel
ligent and right-minded people. That
much of what Dr. Locke cites against
the present morals of the theater must
be conceded as sadly true. But are his
conclusions, judgments and remedies
! for these evils just and practical? Is
| DIR. Locke the wise and competent
! physician whose prescriptions for the
evils of the stage it would be well for
the good people of Los Angeles to
adopt? Does DR.. Locke prescribe for it
as Christ would were He outwardly in
Los Angeles? 1 fear not. 1 fear the
good doctor has made a serious mis-
take, and that were large numbers to
follow his opinions it would eventually
lead to greater degradation.
Tribute to Clergyman
But before controverting his posi-
ton, permit the writer to say that in
the few months he has been in Los An
| geles he has come to appreciate DR..
Locke very highly, both as minister
and as a man, for he is a wonderful
| dynamo of moral energy, with a ca
| pacity for great good when his power
! is rightly directed; also that the writer
highly respects and appreciates the
moral earnestness of the Methodist
church. and the splendid efforts which
! it has everywhere made, from the days
of Whitfield and the Wesleys, to lead
people to pattern their lives after that
of our Lord and Savior.
With this admission, all will see that
nothing here said will have the least
personal hostility to our good brother,
or to the noble church organization in
which he is such q splendid worker.
| l. DIR. Locke virtually condemns the
| theater utterly, and declares IF Christ
| should come to Los Angeles he would
not approve of and attend the modern
theater" Now the theater is surely
one of the greatest and most powerful
God-given institutions among men. 1t
| Is that institution which can most WV
| idly depict virtue and vice. By its ma
ture it can deeply impress upon the
mind the use, the beauty and all the
winning attractions of purity and good
ness, and it can also set forth the
wrong, responsiveness and horrors of
sin and evil. To those who know the
| facts, the theater is as much a God
| given institution as the external or
ganization of the Christian church.
Christ Used PARALLELS
| The Savior, while on earth, en-
| ployed parallels or stories to teach the
| higher truths of life, and 1.-THE Revela-
ton of Jesus Christ, which God gave
unto him, to show unto his servants
things which must shortly come to
pass consisted mainly of most re-
| markable series of tableauX and plays
seen by the beloved disciple while 'in
| the shirt"
! Theatrical representation is, as this
would lead us to believe, an essential
part of the God-given life of the better
world. Christ, therefore, If He came to
Los Angeles, would not condemn the
| theater, His own creation, an inStitu-
ton of His own laws; but He surely
would condemn what is wrong, immor-
! al and harmful in it. Follow the atti>
| tude and sayings of Christ in the pages
of the Gospel. He always condemned
sin and evil. never what, in its nature,
might be good. Christ condemned sin,
not the sinner. All good Christlike
people should do likewise and join in
seeking to raise the standards of the
| stage, and in striving to make the the
alter the great and splendid power for
good in our midst that it should be.
''If Christ should come to Los An
geles" it is not at all certain but he
would attend the theater to show and
encourage it's great usefulness and to
| condemn and discourage what is wrong
/ and harmful. When on earth, much to
the disgust of the self-righteous Phari-
sees. he sat at meat with publicans
! and sinners"-not for the purpose of
encouraging what was wrong, but that
he might help and promote what was
! right Evidently DR.. Locke needs to
more carefully study the life and teach
ings of the Savior of the world before
preaching on "If. Christ should come to
Los Angeles"
Urges First-Hand knowledge
2. DR.. Locke admits that his knowl-
edge of the theater is entirely second
hand; that he does not go even when
a well-known. good and pure play is
produced. What encouragement, one
| may ask would there be for any theat-
rical management to produce a good
play, If all were to follow the example
of DIR. Locke? I put 1t straight to the
doctor, is his attitude to, and whole
sale condemnation of the theater
! Christlike? If DR. Locke knew how
wrong, unjust and ludicrous were some
! Of his statements before his large con-
gregation of last Sunday night, think
| he would feel not a little Inundated.
| He utterly condemned all ballet dam
cling and quite coarsely, as 1t seemed.
| inslnuated that no woman could appear
| on the stage in tights without sacrifice