April 1924
i96
T H E
K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
ELDER HAYS A LITTLE HAZY Will H, Hays, former Postmaster General of the United States, and now Motion Picture Director, has our sympathy. When, as an elder in the Presbyterian Church and an attorney at law, he practiced his profession and taught a Bible Class, he had no doubt a quiet, restful life. Not so now. He has a big job and a big salary, but we do not envy him. In the Los Angeles Times today is an earnest appeal from Brother Hays, made by him at a gathering of editors, for their support in his effort to oppose cen sorship of the- films, on the same basis that any effort to destroy the freedom of the press or pulpit must be opposed. He said “ film censorship is as ineffective in execution as it is un-American in conception.” This was the posi
THE DECEIVER’S DESTRUCTIVE WORK Every student of the world conditions is confronted with a marked evidence of the decline in morals, most marked of all in the so-called “ civilized” nations. Fifty years ago there were some moral standards, voiced by leaders and recognized by the people. Now they are gone. We do not mean that then the leaders were all moral themselves, not that immorality was not practiced by many people, for that has never been true in the his tory of the world. We are speaking of what was then the recognized standards of morality. The Bible was then God’s holy Word, and in our land it had a place of preeminence. Men then attacked the Bible, but they were outside the church, and there were but few of any importance. Now the Bible is
attacked on every side,—from the plat form in colleges, uni versities, seminaries, and in the pulpits of many churches. The B i b l e was then recognized as the foundation of moral principles and as containing rules for right living. Now it is differ ent. What is the rea son for the change, and by what means has it been brought about? There is but one reply. It is the work of the De ceiver. There are thirty
tion held by the whisky element for years,—but the pub lic, after fifty years of education a n d warfare, d e c i d e d that it was a menace to the nation. Mr. Hays does not say that the movie business is clean or above reproach; but suggests that it will o u t g r o w its low level by the natural law of elimination. He is not thinking of the children or the young people whose morals are be ing corrupted every
day, nor of the criminals who are being educated through the moving pictures that should be prohibited. No man may use obscene language on the street without being subject to arrest. Why permit our young people to be degraded by demoralizing pic tures? No one can doubt that the increase of crime among the young has been fostered by the “ movies.” Why should there be any hesitation in a matter that common decency demands should be eliminated? Is it a question of money that obscures the question of morals? Do we owe more to an enterprise that de stroys character in its formative period, because it fills the pockets of a few, than we do to our country which must pay the penalty by spending millions in detecting and punishing criminals? Any student of crime knows that the influence of the “ movies” has had a degenerating effect upon the morals of our young people, and that the standard has been lowered a hundred per cent in the last twenty- five years. It is silly to charge this condition to the war, and an unjust reflection upon the young men who paid the price and rallied to the defense of the nation. A remarkable commentary on this matter is found in the very same issue of the newspaper which presents the plea of Mr. Hays, in the form of a long story, il lustrated by photographs, of one of the leading “ movie stars, ’’ who was in the apartments of a Mr. Dines when her heroic (?) chauffeur called for her and shot the said Mr. Dines; and another story describing Charlie
names given to Satan in the Bible, we are using but one of them now—Deceiver—for that applies to that phase of his work which is so manifest today. Look at the signs displayed in the cartoon by “ The Modern Advertising Co.” Fifty years ago the Uni tarian church was a dead organization. Spiritism had just been introduced by the Fox sisters; Christian Science and Russellism were unknown. Mormonism was in its infancy, and New Thought had not been thought of. Satan, as the Deceiver, is"playing a strong hand. He has some new divisive suggestions for the human race. Look at the church advertising pages of the daily news paper,—innumerable cults, multiplying day by day, flaunt their claims. And why? A restless world is seeking rest. Hungry hearts are hunting for bread. They wander from-one “ ism” to another, ever seeking, never finding, food for the soul. “ For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” (2 John 7) Hath not Satan blinded the eyes of these teachers? And shall we not pray that their eyes may be opened to His truth? There is but One who can say “ Come unto me and I will give you rest” and that One is our Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood atones for all our sins, and faith in Him can alone give rest.
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