Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-10-13


ernoon or "Amusements," and last night |
preached the same sermon, as follows:
Galatians vi. "a BE not deceived |
chat is, don't let the devil deceive you)
God is not Knocked, for whatsoever |
man soweth, that shall he also reap"
That would be true II 1t were not in
the Bible. 1t has always been true in
nature. 1t would be unnatural to expect
TO plant a turnip seed and get apples.
1t would be unnatural to plant apple
seed and expect to get oranges. You
reap what you sow in nature, and in
works. either material or spiritual.
Whatsoever q man soweth that shall he
also reap"
If you SOW saloons you will reap
drunkards. II you sow cards you will
reap gamblers. If you SOW dance halls
you will reap shame. You ought to.
If you vote for the dirty, rotten saloon
your boy ought to be a drunkard You
ought to be paid in your own coin.
know of no more suitable text in the
Bible for the topic that have In hand,
and by the presence of such a vast
audience and by the expocJant look upon
your faces. am sure that you won't ex-
pect me to utter one word in defense
of the amusement proposition. And yet
IL there is no harm in it should be the
champion of It and not the bitter. enemy
of 1t. Not all are bad. 1 wouldn't say
that, but most of them are. You know
how few are good. and so do 1.
Skill of the Devil.
But the energetic skill OF the devil has
defied the truth of such mastery power
that IL it is to be defeated there is but
one or two alternatives open to the man
who assaults the hell-soaked institutions
with grit and courage. One, OF two alter
natives. He can consume his energy and
time talking about the minor usages of
the possible limits one might go, or he
can peel the bark away and show the
thing full of worm holes and run the
risk of losing his fair reputation.
1 want TO say that have willingly
and deliberately, and with malace afore-
thought, chosen the latter course.
have never preached this sermon or lee
ture, as you call it. but that 1 always
feel myself like a demon placed there
w society to take revenge for the things
At society itself had made possible and
'essary. I'm not responsible for them.
you. and you know it. II 1 were
ing these things 1 wouldn't have the
dacity to preach against them don't
play cards and attend theaters. II l
too. But don't and you can't come to
me and say, physician, neal yourself"
l have a message which burns its way
into your soul and to my heart. My
words may be strong, but If they are,
you must remember they are blood red
with conviction. With the cry of lost
souls ringing in my ears cannot remain
still. If / can save one from going to
hell, l consider myself well paid for all
the vituperation and malediction that you
can hurl against me because l rub it
into your pet sin.
Judged in the court of human desire,
j might be condemned by everybody that
wants to do 1t, but judged in the court
of human conscience and need. l will re-
ceive a universal verdict of approval.
For Moral Decency.
l am actuated by no other motive than
moral decency and If you are ready to
aid in moral uplift you will listen and
give me your thanks.
We always associate in our minds GER
tain Observation-Disclosures, cards and
dance, While some will champion and
indorse some other will condemn. Some
who will play cards will seek to justify
that and condemn the theater and those
who fall by their own sinking rotten
ness. do not condemn the theater as an
institution. but / do condemn the way
it Is run. 1t is hellish And you church
members of responsible for it. II church
members would stop patronizing the
theaters they would either clean UP or
rot. If every man with his name on a
church roll would vote against the
saloons we wouldn't have them. 1t is up
to the church. In my opinion the theater
is of such DOUBTFUL character that 1t has
been relegated to the class of forbidden
amusements. You know that the theater
had its beginning with the handmade OF
religion. 1t produced so much fuss and
trouble that they were compelled to drop
IT. Unless the theater is redeemed II will
fall " its own vileness.
We are flooded with vile drama that
moeks and SCOTS at the sacredness OF
marriage
Theater Not Teacher.
The theater is not a teacher. Il is not
intended to be educational, but it Is in
tended for entertainment. Efforts have
been made TO reform the stage, but II
has always gone downward. and. like
water, seeks it's own level. There have
been spasmodic revivals. but today the
majority of theaters allow any show thai
will bring money to be played at tbs
theaters.
We could shut up the theaters and you
wouldn't miss them in forty-eight hours
You wouldn't stand up and defend q
thing because there's lots Of money in II
would your
They began TO cut new exits in Chi
cago theaters after the Iroquois theatei
fire so people could get out easier. but
no dreadful things came to pass such as
had been predicted by leading actor.
The public has a earacity OF amusing