Semi-weekly herald., 1909-09-27
Then. certainly what CANNOT be done

| ihsh, certdinfy HHat cannot De done
without tendency to moral harm, can
not be seen without a tendency 10
moral harm. Corrupt tastes arc form
. ed at the theater. False views OF
life are incuicated Coarse epithets,
4 profanity. ridicule at religion, loud
hints. and suggestions are freely scat.
tered from the lips OF the actors and
actresses. There is entirely too much
immortality in real life to make 1t de
sirable to reproduce II upon the stage
We find some OF the strongest denun
Citations of the theater have come from
the actors or actresses themselves
city said to a friend of DIR. Cuyier's
as they were passing a theater Be
hind those doors, lies Sodom itself"
aicCready, the great acio or, said. None
of my children shall ever with my
consent enter theater OF have any
visiting connections with actors or act
reases." Mr.. Dumas, the playwright,
wrote to friend, "Yon do not take
are right Let me say. once for all,
you must not take your daughter to
the theater" # is not mainly the
work thai is immoral 1t is the place
Richard Mansfield, the great actor,
: who died In 1907, never permitted his
own son to witness play, the boy
never saw his father on the stage
1t would seem as though Christian
people would be influenced by these
things and also keep their children
from the theater. If 1t Is not good
place for players child, why should
1t be good place for other folks
children? Certainly there is something
radically wrong with the theater when
: great actors view 1t in the light of
the Old Puritans.
1t certainly kills the influence of
any Christian who patronizes the the.
aier.
y In the Wrong Place.
A young lady, who was Christian
worker, was speaking to another girl
at revival meeting, trying hard to
bring her to Christ Some few even
' ings later this young lady worker was
y in a theater, and, happening to turn
around. whom should she see but the
very girl to whom she had spoken at
the meeting. That girls eyes had a
triumphant. mocking look in them.
"Ah, hal" she exclaimed, what are
you doing here?~ We'll" responded
the young Christian, 81 heard 1t was
nice, respectable sort of play, So
You did, did your" said the other
scornfully You are pretty sort
TO be speaking to me about my soul.
You ought to go back to that meet
ing and get right down on your knees
in the sawdust among the sinnersY
The world keeps a sharp eye ON Chris
tians, and it knows If we do not what
: is consistent,
The Dance.
=, Sow the dance In your parlor, and
you may help to fill the brothel.
y These three evils we find associated
very closely together. We usually find
. the patrons OF one to be the patrons
of the other One of the first things
argued In favor of the dance is that
young people must have amusements.
; And they say "if they are denied the
i dance that religion will be presented
to them in such a way as to repel
them. Now, II the pursuit of amuse-
ments Is the end for which they are
created, If they are under no obliga
d ton to remember their Creator in the
days of their youth, If 1t is right for
them to put off all serious thought
about God, Eternity and Salvation
until they are old. or until death lays
his sudden hold upon their career of
= gayety and friyolity, then, there might
be some force in that apology But,
II, on the other hand, 1t is the chief
end of man TO seek first, the king
dom of God, and his righteousness this
reason is utterly worthless. And il Il
fact, that the dance has such
fascination over the young peopleNwho
indulge IN IT, 1t is impossible to reach
them for Christ This is esepecially
true of the young ladies' Doubtless
as many of them are kept from com.
ing TO Christ because of the dance as
any one thing. With young men Ii.
quor, harlotry. profanity and many
; other things have much to do with |
keeping them frorn taking a stand for
Christ
Keep Them Out of Church.
Others say If we ask them TO give |
up the dance, they viii not come into |
the churches. | would answer this
by saying that II the dance is going
to keep anyone out of the church they
ought TO be kept out Joining the
church will save no one, and II
man or woman is not willing to give
up sin. 1t is no benefit to them to
belong to the church. Others say Won
cannot stop the dance, anyway, so you
might as well lay down your sword
"A \