DRAMA
and
the
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH
Appendix 17
Seventh-day Adventists
and the Theater
Part I
(F.
M. Wilcox, Review and Herald, March 18, 1937)
Should
Seventh-day Adventists attend the theater? This may seem a strange question to
ask, and yet I believe it is an appropriate one to consider. Do you say they
should not, that it is entirely contrary to our belief and practice through
the years that the members of our church should go to worldly amusements of
this character? I fully agree with your reply, and I believe that the very
large majority of the readers of the Review
will give their assent to this answer.
May
I ask another question? If Seventh-day Adventist should not attend the theater
or the movies, do you think they should bring theatrical plays into the
gymnasiums of our sanitariums, the assembly rooms of our publishing houses,
and the chapels of our colleges and academies? In other words, do you think
that if it is wrong to attend a theatrical performance in a theater, it would
be perfectly right to attend the same program if it were transferred to
another atmosphere?
Oftentimes
we go to theaters to attend religious services. Many times our ministers hire
a theater building in which to preach the message. And this, I believe, is
absolutely right. Why then, let me inquire, if it is right and proper to
attend the theatrical play if it were enacted in one of our institutions, is
it not right to attend it if it is enacted in the public playhouse?
For
myself, I can see no difference. An amusement does not necessarily become
sinful because of its environment. Its environment may accentuate the evil,
may strengthen the evil influence attending it, but intrinsically the
geographical location does not make a thing wrong. Do you agree with me in
this? I know that the very large majority of the readers of the Review
do. On the other hand, I fear there is a respectable minority—respectable
both as to numbers and to character—who will take issue with me on this
proposition.
Do
you say, “It makes all the difference in the world what the character of the
play is?” Granted. Let us consider the character of some of the plays that
have been enacted before Seventh-day Adventist audiences.
I
have only to hark back a short while in my own experience to mention plays
that have come under my own personal observation, plays that I attended
innocently, not knowing their character until I witnessed them, attending them
because I believed that their promoters had a fine discriminating sense that
would not lead them to bring before their brethren and sisters plays of an
objectionable character.
One
was a play promoted by one of our sanitariums. Methods of the healing art in
different periods in the world’s history were demonstrated. The miraculous
healing attending the work of the apostles was pictured. Dorcas was
represented in a state of death by a young woman stretched out on a couch
before the audience. Several young women, personating Dorcas’ associates,
stood around her bedside, weeping. A messenger was sent for the apostle Peter.
A man personating Peter entered. He walked to the bedside of Dorcas, mumbled a
prayer for her restoration, and then commanded her to rise and walk, which she
did.
What
a terrible travesty upon a sacred scene! It made of death a horrible mockery.
It brought the miraculous working power of God down to the cheap and
commonplace. Think you such plays should be enacted before a Seventh-day
Adventist audience? I felt in duty bound to make earnest protest to the
management of the sanitarium against the character of such entertainments.
I
attended, in one of our college halls, a talking movie in behalf of the cause
of temperance. The pictures presented a series of fighting scenes, drinking,
and debauchery. There was sex appeal and a love plot running through the
story. I fail to see how any good could come to the cause of temperance from
the portrayal of such ungodly scenes.
I
was present at an entertainment in one of our college halls, and listened to a
talking movie picture supposed to represent the growth of science and the
heroic endeavor of a great scientist. It pictured the intrigue and jealousies
and passions of men and women. It unfolded a love story of thrilling
experience. It was advertised as historical and educational, but the
historical was so distorted and disguised by fiction and romance that it gave
an entirely wrong conception of the heroic struggles of the great scientist
whose life it was supposed to picture.
In
my judgment, only evil attended the presentation of these dramas, and this
evil was in no sense mitigated by the fact that the entertainment was given
for some worthy objective. I care not whether an entertainment of this
character is presented in order to raise money for a church building, for
missions, for the care of the poor, or for some other worthy objective, the
character of the play is not changed thereby. It ill becomes the church of
Christ to borrow the livery of Satan in which to serve Christ and His cause.
And
what is the influence of such entertainments upon the minds of the young? The
reaction which came to me from a number of Christian young men and women was
most unfavorable. In their estimation it broke down the barrier against
attendance at the theater and the movies; and I am convinced that many young
men and women, none too secure in their religious experience, are led to
attend similar worldly amusements in the playhouses of the world, after
listening to and seeing these things in Seventh-day Adventist institutions.
I
impute no unworthy motives to those who encourage entertainments of this
character. I have every confidence in the Christian integrity of some who have
done this. I feel, however, that they have a mistaken vision of true values.
The
plea is sometimes made that we must provide for our young people entertainment
of this character or they will go to the world to secure it. This argument, in
my estimation, falls of its own weight. Instead of holding our youth back from
the world by dramatic plays, we are creating in them an appetite for these
things, which they will seek elsewhere.
Years
ago, the messenger of the Lord recognized the evil influence attending
entertainments of this character in our sanitariums, and sounded a definite
warning against them:
As
soon as these entertainments are introduced, the objections to theater going
are removed from many minds, and the plea that moral and high-toned scenes are
to be acted at the theater, breaks down the last barrier. Those who would
permit this class of amusements at the sanitarium would better be seeking
wisdom from God to lead these poor, hungry, thirsting souls to the Fountain of
joy, and peace, and happiness. —Testimonies, Vol. IV, p. 578.
Upon
whom does the responsibility rest for seeing that the entertainments provided
for our young people in our institutions should be of a wholesome, upbuilding
character? The responsibility logically, and in the very nature of the case,
rests upon the management of the institution. And this is where it is placed
by the messenger of the Lord.
Those
who bear the responsibility at the sanitarium should be exceedingly guarded
that the amusements shall not be of a character to lower the standard of
Christianity, bringing this institution down upon a level with others, and
weakening the power of true godliness in the minds of those who are connected
with it. —Id., pp. 577, 578.
Regarding
this question we shall have more to say later.
Appendix 18
Seventh-day Adventists
and the Theater
Part II
(F.
M. Wilcox, Review and Herald, March 25, 1937)
Is
there coming into the Seventh-day Adventist Church a gradual lowering of the
standards for which we have stood throughout our denominational history? Are
we losing our simplicity of Christian faith and experience? Is there a growing
tendency on the part of many in the church to reach out and join hands with
the world?
These,
in my mind, are questions which need serious consideration at the present
time. I believe that there is a growing spirit of worldliness in the lives of
many of our church members. And I believe the time has fully come when the
voice of warning should be sounded against this danger.
I
know that many of our earnest ministers are sounding this warning, and it
should be sounded in the columns of our church paper. Indeed, if the Review
and Herald cannot stand
for the advent spirit which has characterized this movement through the years,
if it cannot uphold the principles of simplicity in Christian faith and
experience, and throw its influence against the growing tendency to
worldliness, then our church paper has no right to exist; it has missed the
way, and should obtain a new vision of the call of God to His people today, a
new vision of eternal values, or it is undeserving of the support of the
Adventist people.
The
Lord has told His watchmen to cry aloud and spare not, to lift up their voice
like a trumpet, and show His people their transgression, and the house of
Jacob their sins. Isa. 58:1. If the watchmen on the walls of Zion see danger
approaching and do not sound the warning of that danger, then God will hold
them responsible for their neglect of duty.
I
wrote last week of the danger of bringing into our churches and institutions
theatrical plays. These plays are bringing confusion to some of our brethren
and sisters. They cannot understand why such amusements should be permitted in
any of our institutions.
From
one of our readers who is anxious to know the right comes this inquiry:
There
are a few questions I should like to ask you. I am asking them in a humble
attempt to get right and to do what is right in the sight of God. First, just
what is right in regard to Seventh-day Adventists’ attending pictures? I am
sixty years old, and have been brought up in this message. I have always been
told it was wrong to attend theaters, moving pictures, and other worldly
amusements. But now I am told that while it may not be best, it is not a sin,
so one can attend if he desires. I cannot understand that sort of reasoning.
Will you make this plain to me?
Another
question: If I know men and women who are attending the movies, can I
conscientiously vote them into office in the church? I am a Sabbath school
superintendent here, and there are some who might be good teachers, but every
member knows that they attend the movies, and I have not felt free to put them
in the position of teachers. Am I too old-fashioned, and should I let down on
the beliefs that I have been holding for a long time? I do not want to be
fanatical, but I do want to do what is right.
What
answer would you give to these inquiries? Do you think that in standing
against our people’s attending theaters and the movies, this reader is too
old-fashioned? Do you think that times have changed, and that what was sinful
twenty years ago is right today?
The
apostle John gave this instruction to the church in his day:
Love
not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of
the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust
thereof: but he that doeth the will
of God abideth forever. 1 John
2:15-17.
Do
you think this instruction was applicable to the apostolic church, but is not
applicable to the remnant church? I cannot so regard it. The eternal truth of
God remains unchanged, and what was written aforetime was written for our
instruction today. I believe that the old-time standard of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church should be upheld, even though some in the church have lowered
that standard into the dust.
And
what would you reply in answer to the question as to whether men and women who
attend theaters and the movies should occupy official positions in the church?
Should they be appointed as Sabbath school teachers? In my judgment this would
be most inconsistent. The men and women who occupy positions of leadership in
the church of Christ should represent in their lives the principles of the
gospel message. Standing as the representatives of the church, they should
represent the principles of the church.
Indeed,
rather than being made leaders, such church members should rather become
subjects of missionary labor for evil which these misguided ones are exerting.
This was the recommendation of the Autumn Council of 1935 at Louisville,
Kentucky. I quote as follows from the report of that meeting, which appeared in
the Review of December 5, 1935:
We
appeal to our ministers, our workers, our people everywhere, to keep their feet
in the “old paths,” and not to remove the “ancient landmarks” of this
message.
In
cases where members of the churches hold bridge or similar card parties in their
homes, or frequent such gatherings in other places; or have dances in their
homes or attend them elsewhere; or frequent shows in theaters or movie houses,
we recommend that faithful labor be put forth to reclaim such individuals from
the errors of their way; but if this proves unsuccessful, that they be dismissed
from church membership.
I
believe that this instruction should be carried out in all our churches. I
recognize that some of our dear brethren and sisters are confused regarding
these things. They have unconsciously been following wrong paths. They have lost
their spiritual discernment. They need to be awakened to a new sense of their
duties as followers of the Master. Such missionary labor should be done in a
spirit to save and not condemn.
I
shall present next week another letter received from another part of the field
regarding this vital question.
Appendix 19
Seventh-day Adventists
and the Theater
Part III
(F. M. Wilcox,
Review and Herald, April 1, 1937)
It
is not enough to argue that some of the theatrical plays which are being given
in our churches and institutions are religious or historical in character, and
therefore are educational. Even though this view is advanced by sincere
Christian people, it is but the devil’s argument, designed to be an entering
wedge, with the purpose of ultimately opening a great gulf, making a complete
cleavage, between Christ and His professed children.
The
Devil’s Little Iron Wedge
When
I was a boy, I sometimes assisted my father in cutting wood and splitting
rails. When a log or a block of wood was particularly hard to split, my father
first used a small iron wedge. Driving this into the wood made a small crack,
but the crack was large enough to insert a larger wedge, and then a still
larger one, by which the log or block was split wide apart. Beware of the
devil’s little iron wedges. He has many of them, and he is seeking
constantly to find some opening or weakness in our character building in which
he can insert his wedge as a beginning to a larger and fuller entrance.
Satan
uses the less objectionable plays merely as decoys. They serve to whet the
appetite, to confuse the mind, to sear the conscience, thus preparing the way
for indulgence in the grosser forms of evil. And these less objectionable
amusements, instead of satisfying in our youth a desire for relaxation, and
thus holding them from the theater and motion pictures, as some argue they
will do, create a love of theatricals, and lead the youth to seek satisfaction
in the exhilaration of the grosser forms of amusement to be found in the
playhouses of the world.
Further Letters From the Field
This
danger is recognized by some of our readers who have expressed very decided
views relative to this question. We have received a number of letters of this
nature. From this larger number we have selected three that we are printing in
the Review. There has been no collusion among these various
writers. They write from widely separated sections of the country. One letter
came from the Atlantic Coast, another from the Pacific Coast, and another from
an inland town, one of the centers of our work. One of these letters was
printed last week. We present two others at this time:
I
am writing to you in order to get your opinion on a subject which has troubled
me for a long time. I should like to know whether it is right to show motion
pictures in our schools, colleges, and other institutions. Where should the
line be drawn between the proper ones and those which are not proper? Is it
right to use the proceeds from questionable pictures to build churches or for
investment goals?
Pictures
which have an educational value are ordinarily considered proper, but is it
right to show a historical picture in which the educational feature is covered
and destroyed by the scenes of fighting, smoking, gambling, and drinking? Is a
picture educational if only a few of the incidents are historical and the main
portion is purely fiction? How easy it is for Satan to gain a foothold in such
pictures.
Some
of our young women recently attended a certain motion picture given in one of
our institutions. In the picture one of the well-known actresses of the world
today took the part of a great humanitarian, portraying a life of sacrifice
and service. To these young people all this seemed very real and exciting,
with its scenes of dancing, love-making, violence, and war. Nerves were tense,
and emotions were stirred to a peak. After going to their rooms, these young
women could no longer restrain their feelings. A state of near hysteria
reigned, and it was long past the midnight hour before they could get their
minds calmed down enough so that they could go to sleep. Is this a fitting and
proper reaction to an educational program?
I
have been asked this question, If the latest moving pictures are shown in our
schools, then why is it wrong to go to the theater and see the same thing,
including the comedy and news? How shall we explain this to the young people?
Two Meetings—A Contrast
On
Sabbath morning announcements are made of two different meetings, one of the
midweek prayer meeting and the other of a moving-picture program, with an
admission charge. Let us take a look at both of these meetings. On the night
the picture is shown, we see the auditorium filled to its capacity long before
the time for the program to begin. We see whole families there—children,
young people, and older people. All are waiting to see the educational
pictures, but instead they are shown the ways of evil and wickedness which are
made to appear desirable. It is all interesting and very exciting, but nothing
is shown which will help them to live a better Christian life. A few days
later we see some of these same children who viewed the picture, playing that
they are fighting, smoking, and drinking. The young people fin dit easier to
accept an invitation to see a picture in a real theater. Sin does not look so
bad after it is seen in the pictures a time or two. Truly “by beholding we
become changed.”
But
now the scene changes. It is prayer meeting night, and we see the old faithful
members coming into this same auditorium. There are just a few of them; they
are quiet and sober. Mothers and fathers have come to pray for God’s
blessings, to plead for the souls of their children, asking God to be merciful
and to show them the better way and to lead them back to the family altar.
They pray to be kept faithful to Jesus and to remember His admonition, “Come
out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye
receive not of her plagues.”
What
a contrast between the two meetings! Which one is more pleasing in the sight
of the Lord? Which one will help us more to be separate from the world?
I
am thankful that there are still some of our young people who have enough will
power to stand for the right, who have never attended any of these theatrical
motion pictures shown in our institutions.
This
letter, it seems to me, requires no answer through the columns of the Review.
The writer has set forth very clearly the evil attending exhibitions of this
character in our own institutions. And he very justly draws a comparison
between the attendance at such theatrical performances on the part of many of
our people and the attendance at prayer meeting on the part of the few.
One
of Our Ministers Writes
The
second letter is from one of our ministers—not one who, on account of
advancing years, is out of touch with present-day conditions or out of
sympathy with the hopes and aspirations and reasonings of the youth of this
denomination. He is still young in years and young in heart, but he expresses
his very deep concern over some influences which he sees operating in the
church. His letter describes a dramatized play which he witnessed, one
Saturday evening, in one of our college chapels, and the reactions of his own
mind.
The
whole scene was a theatrical dramatization, and the emotions alternated
between weeping and laughter. Love scenes, with hugging and kissing, were
prominent throughout. Much of the picture was educational and interesting, but
to my mind it was worldly, and entirely foreign to our viewpoint and
educational standards, as I have understood them.
We
left the place with the solemnizing effects of the Sabbath service pretty well
destroyed. A worldly spirit pervaded the entire showing, and lingered in our
hearts as we departed. It did not seem that we had been in a house where
prayer was wont to be made.
Now
I do not want to place myself where I can do our young people no good, by
being too extreme, but it really does seem to me that such motion pictures are
to a worldly spirit what light wines and beer are to those struggling with the
liquor habit. I think we should see, not how near we can come to the world,
but how far we can shun amusements which are essentially worldly and
degrading, and which lead the thoughts far from God.
Sowing
for Worldliness
It
appears to me as if Satan, in these motion pictures, is inviting us to eat of
the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He shuts our eyes to the evil for the
sake of the knowledge, some of which may be good in itself, but which,
associated with the objectionable, becomes a decoy for evil. To me it appears
that we are breaking down the line of demarcation before our young people, as
well as before our older people, and are sowing for a harvest of worldliness.
Churches that have tried to cope with worldly influences by making these
entertainments church affairs, have lost their youth to right principles, and
have at last had to let the young people go to all kinds of worldly
amusements. We know the results. The same policy followed in our churches will
produce the same results, will it not?
I
think we could show pictures of our mission work, of the advancement of
God’s cause, of different countries and conditions, which would make our
young people missions-minded and do real good. But when we show such pictures
as I have described, we are whetting the appetite for all kinds of worldly
amusements.
Why
Print These Letters?
Why
do I print in this column these letters from our readers? For several reasons:
First, to show the dangers which confront us at the present time, the inroads
which the spirit of worldliness is making in the church; second, to present
the salient reasons these writers offer for sounding warnings against these
evils, reasons why our institutions should exclude from their program,
entertainments of this character. We give these letters because they represent
the earnest convictions of the large majority of our people against theatrical
entertainments.
When
we point out sin in the church, none should understand that we believe that
the church as a whole has departed from God and has gone after the world.
Elijah lamented that he was the only one in all Israel who was true to God.
But the Lord assured him that there were still seven thousand who had not
bowed the knee to Baal or kissed his image. And I am confident that there are
many thousands in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the large majority in
fact, who are true and loyal to the principles of this message.
Do
you inquire, Is it wrong to see any moving picture? Is a picture sinful simply
because it moves? Are there not proper pictures which may be thrown upon the
screen and witnessed by the rank and file of our readers? Indeed there are. I
have taken pleasure through the years in seeing a number of such presentations,
pictures which I considered wholesome and uplifting and educational in their
influence. Regarding this phase of the question and the manner in which we may
discriminate between the good and the evil, I shall speak more definitely next
week.
Appendix 20
Seventh-day Adventists
and the Theater
Part IV
(F.
M. Wilcox, Review and Herald, April 8, 1937)
I
have said much during the last few weeks about the evils of theatrical moving
pictures. I have felt that our institutions, especially our schools and
sanitariums, are threatened by grave danger in the presentation of some of
these pictures before their students and guests. I believe it is a greater
evil to present these pictures in our institutions than it would be to witness
them apart from the institution.
The
question naturally arises, Is there a class of moving pictures which can be
profitably exhibited to the guests in our sanitariums and to the students in
our training schools? I believe there is. In this, as in many other things, we
must discriminate between the evil and the good. We must show here the same
discriminating judgment exercised in the choice of the books and magazines we
read. This discrimination will lead us to turn away from the highly fictional,
the vulgar, the impure, from books and stories with sex appeal, and read that
which is elevating, uplifting, and ennobling.
We
must exercise this discrimination in the food we eat. The markets of today
teem with a large variety of vegetable and animal food products. An educated
judgment will lead us, under ordinary conditions, to discard the latter, and
to satisfy our physical needs with food which is drawn from the vegetable
kingdom. We must exercise this same sense of discrimination in the clothes we
wear. We shall be led to choose an attire which is simple, modest, and
dignified.
At
the recent spring meeting of the General Conference Committee, held at Takoma
Park, Washington, D.C., March 10, 1937, earnest study was given to this
question which we have been discussing in the Review
during the last few weeks. There had previously been appointed a committee on
visual education, to give study to principles and standards in the use of
motion pictures. This committee reported at the spring meeting, and this
report was adopted, as follows:
The
projection of motion pictures into the modern world, followed by their vast
exploitation, has thrust upon the church a problem of grave proportions. The
seriousness of this problem calls for a clear statement of the fundamental
principles involved, and for a courageous stand thereupon by the leadership of
the church.
Pictures
are not wrong merely because they move. The motion picture is simply an
animated photographic reproduction. There is legitimate use of motion pictures
for purposes of education, enlightenment, and recreation. And there are
sharply defined basic principles involved that determine the right or wrong of
the motion-picture film, as verily as of reading, dress, or association. These
principles we should recognize and apply firmly, consistently, and unitedly.
They involve what is taught, the way it is taught, where
it is taught, and by whom it is taught.
There
is, first of all, a fundamental distinction between natural pictures, or
pictures of real life, and pictures of dramatized theatrical plots. This is
a basic line of demarcation. By the former are meant scenes reproduced
through the motion-picture camera wholly of natural life, whether of persons,
animal or plant life, events, or places, and which are recognized, within
certain limitations herein set forth, as legitimate and proper for Christians,
and for the organizations and institutions of the church.
In
contrast, there are the motion pictures of dramatized theatrical plots,
usually produced by professional actors and actresses. The very principle upon
which these are constructed is inherently wrong, and cannot be approved or
condoned by the church. The history and the present estate of the theatrical
drama show it to be opposed to the highest ideals of morality, and alien to
spiritual life. Its themes are built upon human passion. It graphically
presents, by portrayal and by suggestion, the sins and crimes of
humanity,—murder, adultery, robbery, and every other evil. Even its
attempted depiction of virtue is feeble, and frequently false. And its
conception of love and of love-making desecrates the most intimate and sacred
relation of man and woman.
Theatrical
films are evil in their influence, and consequently unacceptable, because they
confuse the thinking of our people regarding the Seventh-day Adventist
attitude toward the theater, the opera, and novel reading; because they create
an appetite for emotional reaction which can be satisfied only by further
indulgence; and because they make an unwarranted play upon the emotions. This
is wrong because emotional stimulation without appropriate action is
destructive to character development. Pictures which play upon the emotions
create an appetite for the sensational, causing the individual to live in the
realm of the unreal, destroying responsiveness to duty, and resulting in
emotional instability.
The
motion-picture house has so popularized the theater that millions are daily in
attendance at exhibitions which can only exert an influence to lower standards
of Christian purity. We believe that in no small degree it is responsible for
the present breakdown of morality. There can therefore be no compromise here
without tragic loss and fundamental mistake. While it may be necessary at
times to go to theatrical buildings for evangelistic meetings, or to hear
wholesome lectures or musical concerts, we should avoid, just as far as
possible, attendance at places devoted to shows and theatrical performances.
In
education we are directed to build only upon the real, the actual, and the
true, and to turn away from the false, the speculative, and the fanciful. In
literature we are cautioned against the fictional and the unreal. In dress we
are to abandon the artificial, the showy, the merely decorative. In diet we
are asked to discard the impure, the corrupting, and the hurtful. In character
building we are admonished to reject all sham and pretense. So, likewise, in
our relation to the motion picture, silent or sound, we must definitely choose
only “whatsoever things are true,” honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good
report; and deliberately refuse that which is untrue and unreal, which
involves sham and pretense, or which is impure and corrupting. All such
pictures should, because of their inherent wrong, be barred from use by the
church, its organizations, institutions, and members.
With
such basic principles clearly established, we therefore take a definite and
positive stand against all dramatized motion pictures which use character
representation for the purpose of acting out a theatrical plot. Such
dramatization of imaginative plots, as a method of creating impressions,
influencing life, or conveying information, should not be employed in God’s
service, and is not to be countenanced by His people. We, therefore, call upon
our entire church membership, young and old, to take their stand upon this
platform.
With
such basic principles clearly established and accepted in our selection of
films, we are convinced that certain motion pictures can be used effectively
and helpfully in God’s cause, for purposes of education, enlightenment, and
wholesome entertainment. For the aid of those charged with the responsibility
of selection, we here submit a list of suggestions, further expanding and
applying the aforesaid principles, by which motion-picture films to be used in
our churches, schools, sanitariums, or elsewhere in connection with our cause,
may be adjudged, and either approved or rejected. We believe that the
fundamental principles and standards here set forth will prove helpful to
committees, boards, and individuals required to make decisions in the choice
of films. These are tabulated under two heads, (1) “Acceptable Films” and
(2) “Unacceptable Films,” though we are conscious of the fact that this
listing is neither final nor complete, but is only a general guide in
selection.
I.
Acceptable Films
a.
Industrial Pictures.—Pictures
showing processes of manufacture, lumbering, mining, oil production, public
utilities, transportation, commerce, transmission of news and information,
etc.
b.
Scenics.—Pictures
of national or other parks, natural scenery, mountain climbing, exploration,
and the like.
c.
Travelogues.—Pictures
of other countries, their national habits, customs, and life (excluding scenes
that may have a corrupting influence).
d.
Nature and Wild Life.—Pictures
of the Forest Service, of animal life in various States and nations. The life
development of insects, plants, fishes, birds, and animals (excluding those
which emphasize cruelty).
e.
Art and Archeology.—(Excluding
films that portray indecent and corrupt art.)
f.
News Reels and Current History.—(Excluding
films which are contrary to our recognized standards.)
g.
Educational Films.—Films
which impart information and teach truth in any branch of learning.
h.
Pictures of Places.—Those
associated with historical incidents.
i.
Our denominational work and activities.
2. Unacceptable Films
a.
Films portraying Christ and inspired men.
b.
Pictures portraying romantic love-making.
c.
Films portraying scenes which are contrary to Seventh-day Adventist
standards and ideals, such as popularized dancing, card playing, gambling,
drinking, etc.
d.
Films portraying crime or glorifying criminals.
e.
Films portraying scenes of violence or cruelty, such as prize fighting.
f.
Films which lower esteem for the sanctity of marriage by portraying
family disruptions, or ridiculing home life and home relationships.
g.
Films portraying scenes of night life, drinking, carousing, gaiety,
revelry, rowdiness.
h.
Films portraying scenes of smoking as a social activity. (Pictures
portraying processes of manufacture, for example, in which the operator might
happen to be smoking, might not be included in this category because the
attention of the observer is centered upon the process rather than upon the
smoking as a desirable activity.)
i.
Films which by ridicule, suggestive insinuation, or crude comedy, lower
in the estimation of the observer, religion or the ministry, or the dignity of
human personality, or law-enforcing agencies.
j.
Films of a scientific or historical character which blend
misrepresentation of facts with the actual.
k.
Popularized historical films which distort facts of history and pervert
truth, or which present scenes of cruelty and bloodshed.
The Responsibility
I
commend to the earnest study of our readers the excellent principles presented
in this report. I believe that if the suggestions given are followed, the
character of motion pictures shown in some of our institutions will be entirely
changed.
None
should exercise a spirit of censure or condemnation for what has been done.
Abuses have crept in, not because of intent or purpose, but through
thoughtlessness, through a lack, largely, of information and of a knowledge of
the underlying principles which should govern the selection.
I
believe that the managers and faculties in our various institutional families
are laboring in the fear of God to meet the situation which confronts them. They
need our prayers that God will uphold their hands, and help them to stay the
tide of evil with which Satan would submerge the church.
Appendix 21
Seventh-day Adventists
and the Theater
Part V
(F.
M. Wilcox, Review and Herald, April 15, 1937)
I
had intended to conclude these talks relative to theatrical entertainments
with the article in last week’s paper. I do not feel free, however, to do
this until I place before the readers of the Review
the very definite instruction which has come to us from the messenger of the
Lord relative to the question of entertainments in our institutions.
This
was addressed to the sanitarium in early days. The managers of that
institution felt that in order to divert the minds of their patients from
their maladies and ills, there must be furnished them exhilarating
entertainment. The sanitarium could not make use of the moving picture,
because it had not yet come into the world of invention. But the managers were
led to present theatrical plays of the same character as those which are
depicted upon the screen at the present time.
This
brought from the messenger of the Lord very earnest protest. In this protest
she enunciates certain principles which are as applicable today as when they
were uttered. They have been printed through the years in the “Testimonies
for the Church,” but as many of the readers of the Review
do not have the “Testimonies” in their homes, we reproduce the instruction
in this connection:
Amusements to Be Guarded
Those
who bear the responsibility at the sanitarium should be exceedingly guarded
that the amusements shall not be of a character to lower the standard of
Christianity, bringing this institution down upon a level with others, and
weakening the power of true godliness in the minds of those who are connected
with it. Worldly or theatrical entertainments are not essential for the
prosperity of the sanitarium or for the health of the patients. The more they
have of this kind of amusements, the less will they be pleased unless
something of the kind shall be continually carried on. The mind is in a fever
of unrest for something new and exciting, the very thing it ought not to have.
And if these amusements are once allowed, they are expected again, and the
patients lose their relish for any simple arrangement to occupy the time. But
repose, rather than excitement, is what many of the patients need.
As
soon as these entertainments are introduced, the objections to theater going
are removed from many minds, and the plea that moral and high-toned scenes are
to be acted at the theater, breaks down the last barrier. Those who would
permit this class of amusements at the sanitarium would better be seeking
wisdom from God to lead these poor, hungry, thirsting souls to the Fountain of
joy, and peace, and happiness.
When
there has been a departure from the right path, it is difficult to return.
Barriers have been removed, safeguards broken down. One step in the wrong
direction prepares the way for another. A single glass of wine may open the
door of temptation which will lead to habits of drunkenness. A single
vindictive feeling indulged may open the way to a train of feelings which will
end in murder. The least deviation from right and principle will lead to
separation from God, and may end in apostasy. What we do once, we more readily
and naturally do again; and to go forward in a certain path, be it right or
wrong, is more easy than to start. It takes less time and labor to corrupt our
ways before God than to engraft upon the character habits of righteousness and
truth. Whatever a man becomes accustomed to, be its influence good or evil, he
finds it difficult to abandon...
Our Institutions to Be Beacon Lights
If
physicians and workers flatter themselves that they are to find a panacea for
the varied ills of their patients by supplying them with a round of amusements
similar to those which have been the curse of their lives, they will be
disappointed. Let not these entertainments be placed in the position which the
living Fountain should occupy. The hungry, thirsty soul will continue to
hunger and thirst as long as it partakes of these unsatisfying pleasures. But
those who drink of the living water will thirst no more for frivolous,
sensual, exciting amusements. The ennobling principles of religion will
strengthen the mental powers, and will destroy a taste for these
gratifications. —Testimonies, Vol. IV, pp. 577-579.
God
designed that the sanitarium which He had established should stand forth as a
beacon of light, of warning and reproof. He would prove to the world that an
institution conducted on religious principles as an asylum for the sick, could
be sustained without sacrificing its peculiar, holy character; that it could
be kept free from the objectionable features that are found in other
institutions of the kind. —Id., p. 582.
Friendship With the World
Messages
were borne not only to our sanitarium, but to our college as well. Into that
institution worldly entertainments were brought in order to furnish the
students with change and recreation. These entertainments were of a worldly
character, and the servant of the Lord bore positive testimony relative to the
danger of thus linking with the world. I quote from the chapter entitled,
“Our College,” in “Testimonies,” Volume V, page 33:
The
object of God in bringing the college into existence has been lost sight of.
Ministers of the gospel have so far shown their want of wisdom from above, as
to unite a worldly element with the college; they have joined with the enemies
of God and the truth, in providing entertainments for the students. In thus
misleading the youth, they have done a work for Satan. That work, with all its
results, they must meet again at the bar of God.
Those
who pursue such a course, show that they cannot be trusted. After the evil
work has been done, they may confess their error; but can they easily gather
up the influence they have exerted? Will the “Well done” be spoken to
those who have been false to their trust? These unfaithful men have not built
upon the Eternal Rock. Their foundation will prove to be sliding sand. “Know
ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Lyceum Courses in Our Institutions
A
number of our institutions arrange lyceum courses each year for the benefit of
students and workers. I think this is commendable practice. I have often
wondered why, instead of securing talent entirely from the world, more could
not be done in the way of bringing onto our institutional platforms men and
women from our own ranks. Some of our schools have endeavored to do this.
The
Washington Missionary College, in its lyceum course for this year, under the
direction of Prof. S. W. Tymeson, secured talent for four of its evenings from
our own church workers. Miss Grace Washburn, a radio artist of excellent
ability, devoted one evening to a vocal concert. Mr. George Wargo, a violist,
assisted by Miss Sylvia Meyer, harpist in the National Symphony Orchestra,
gave another musical evening. Another evening was occupied by the Alabama
Singers, young men students from our Oakwood Junior College. And the closing
evening of the course is to be used by the College Glee Clubs in their annual
recital, under the direction of Prof. William Shadel. These numbers of the
course have been received with as great appreciation as has ever been accorded
to outside talent.
I
speak of this particular lyceum course for the reason only that I am personally
acquainted with its work. No doubt others of our schools have followed the same
plan, and have presented as fine courses of wholesome entertainment. I
recognize, however, that for lyceum work the talent in our own church is
limited. There are many workers among us who can preach the truth most
acceptably and engage the attention of large congregations, and yet many of
these workers could not render acceptable service on a lyceum program such gas
is required today of this class of talent. But I believe this home field should
be explored and utilized as far as is consistently possible.
It
would seem, for the present, that outside talent must be employed in conducting
these lyceum courses, and excellent talent is oftentimes available. However,
there is bound to be disappointment in individual instances. However highly some
popular lecturer may be recommended, and however carefully his record may be
investigated, it is found oftentimes that what he presents is not appropriate to
our lecture courses. We should, therefore, give great care about condemning the
committee which had the program in charge. We must recognize that the committee
did the best it could with the information available, and that the
disappointment of the committee is probably as great as that of any in the
audience, if not greater.
I
have great confidence in the management of our training schools. I know that the
managing boards and the school faculties are made up of men and women of God,
who are doing all they can to safeguard the interests of our youth and to train
them for work in the Master’s vineyard. Let us give, therefore, to those
bearing these heavy burdens, our sympathetic and prayerful support.
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