THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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THE AMUSEMENT PESTILENCE “ If any man love th e world, th e love of th e F a th e r is no t in him. The world passeth away, and th e lu st thereof, h u t he th a t doeth th e will of God abideth forever.” (1 Jn . 2:15, 17.) What fools people are to fix their affections upon the things that can not endure, but that are already in process of dissolution. The only thing worth while is the will of God, and no intelligent Christian will have diffi culty in ascertaining that many of the things in which our people of today are engaging are not according to the will of God and therefore belong to the things which are themselves perishing and Which are leading on untold thousands to eternal ruin. The lust of the flesh (those things which have their origin in the lower nature), the lust of the eyes (the desire of seeing unlawful sights for the sake of sensations), the pride of life (vainglory and the love of social rank and power or the possession of worldly resources)—all of this is bait for the devil’s hook. Some are getting greatly concerned because of the lengths to which our young people are going in the social life of the public schools. In the town where the writer resides, the number of young girls being ruined through dances and bootleg booze became so appalling that parents and teachers got together for a meeting to try to solve the problem. This is how they solved i t : They voted to hire an approved dancing master and put on weekly dances in the school building, under proper supervision. This, thev think, will cure their young people of the desire for these things of the flesh. Will they never learn that thousands upon thousands of girls that were once pure are now in houses of ill repute because they took their first steps in some select parlor dance? The modern dances, wherever they may be held, are designed to kindle the passions of young men. "Whether in parlor, school or public hall, the thought-life of any young man is almost certain to be set on fire of hell. Who can tell what the result will be ? Approved danc ing professors and genteel chaperones will never make the dance a safe proposition. True spiritual influence in the church and Sunday School, the truth of God and prayer at the family altar, the Bible in the school, Jesus Christ enthroned in the heart—these are the only things that can block the path of these young people in their present rush toward perdition. In the face of such conditions, it is sad to see churches letting down the bars and giving more liberty on the amusement question. The Canadian Methodist Church has just adopted a modified attitude. A few years ago they were out and out against the dance and other evils. Now they have appended a footnote to the discipline and simply call on the people to use discrimination, to distinguish between the wheat and the chaff. One of their resolutions says: “We desire to recognize th e liberty of all people to a full measure, in regard to all legitim ate pleasures, and yet urge th a t in pursuing th e things of passing happiness, we do not let our liberty become a cause of offense.” The Methodist Church of the Philadelphia Conference recently recorded the following remarkable passage on the pernicious effect upon the churches, of the amusement pestilence:
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