“THE ROAD TO HELL!"

Taranaki Daily News, 13 June 1923, Page 9

“THE ROAD TO HELL!"

SfINJSTERS AT VARIANCE. ETHICS OF THE “JAZZ” AND THE THEATRE. The ethics of the “jazz” and the thea- ( . . om t!le viewpoint of avowed Christiana formed the theme of an address by the Rev. J. W. Kemp at the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle. The text was a verse from Ezekiel, “And they shall teach My people the difference between the Holy and Profane, and cause them to discern between the Unclean and the Clean.’- Mr. Kemp said that at the Aagli-can Church Congress in Christchurch recently a high tone was maintained, a magnificent note was struck from the beginning, and a most gracious and spiritual atmosphere pervaded the gathering. One could not read the reports without realising that; byt one report came out which widely shocked the thoughtful and right-thinking people who were interested in the morals of our young people and the spiritual life of the community. “I have the report before me, and I am only too sorry that the message was declared by an Anglican minister in Auckland.” Mr. Kemp read the following passage from the report: “When the people said that card-playing, dancing, and the theatre were wrong, and that the racecourse was the ‘road to hell,’ then there was some justification for thinking their judgment was warped.’’ A confession was made by an Anglican divine that he had made some unsuccessful attempts at “jazzing,” that his wife had perhaps not been a successful teacher in that line, and that he did not get many opportunities of going to the theatre, but from his earliest days he had attended theatres, and, generally speaking, there had. been profit in it. A SIGN OF THE TIMES. “The whole tenor and tone so far as the report goes is to indicate his approval of the things I have mentioned,” said Mr. Kemp. “You do not wonder, therefore, that the atmosphere of Christchurch was charged with amazement r.rd bewilderment. I think the reverend gentleman made one of the greatest mistakes in his life when he made the statements he did.” He was bewildered; not only he, but thousands upon thousands of people, to hear it declared from the platform of the Church Congress that it was quite legitimate for , young people to go to theatres, to jazz, and to play cards. It was a sign of the times.

When he talked two years ago on morals, Mr. Kemp continued, he was dragged through mire and filth, and was made to appear the most colossal “joykiller” that ever put foot in the Dominion. When he went to Christchurch recently he found that “thunderous lie” had run ahead of him, and when he went to see the choir they looked like so many frightened hares. He asked them to sing, and they said, “Why, we thought you did not believe in singing ?’• MODERN DANCING DENOUNCED.

He was not against pleasure, against sweet, clean and genuine amusement. He was not an enemy of the people’s pleasure, but he was bound to express his condemnation of every form of amusement that cast a blight upon young people. God had given us desire and capacity for amusement. Every sensible man knew there was benefit in some forms of recreation, but he could give scores of reasons why no good people should practice dance as it was practiced to-day. Dance generally sought the cover of night, and as carried out to-day it could not be indulged in without weakening the brain cells. With regard to the theatre, he said that some time ago when he spoke on the subject he was taken to task by some notable people in the theatrical world, and at the same time he was visited by one who had been 35 years behind the footlights and behind the scenes, and he said, “"What yon stated is mild and tame as compared with the actual reility.” “NARROWNESS AND INTOLERANCE.” In a reply to Mr. Kemp, published in the New Zealand Herald, the Rev. Gordon Bell, the Anglican clergyman referred to, says: “I am satisfied that more harm is being done to Christianity in the Dominion by the narrowness and intolerance of some professing Christians than by its avowed opponents. It is one thing to be impressed by the fact that New Zealanders are pleasure-loving people and to feel the necessity of warning people against over indulgence in pleasures. It is quite another matter to allow oneself to be trapped into violent denunciation of pleasures which are in themselves innocent, to declare things to be sins which God Himself has not declared sins. That is just the position into which Mr. Kemp and those who think with him have placed themselves. Can he or any of his friends justify their denunciations of a game of cords, a visit to the theatre, or participation in a dance as essentially sinful? The strongest denunciations which fell from the lips of Our Blessed Lord in His life upon earth were those which he addressed to narrow, puritanical Pharisees, and they accused Him, the one only who is without sin, of too great tolerance — ‘This man eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners.’ I attacked modern Puritanism deliberately and with a good conscience. I shall continue to do so, because I am convinced that Mr, Kemp and the school of thought which he represents are misinterpreting our holy faith and alienating many from Christ by their narrowness of outlook. Mr. Bell proceeds: “What justification has Mr. Kemp for his assertion that ‘thousands upon thousands of people’ were bewildered by my remarks, or for his implication that I was responsible for lowering the spiritual tone of the Church Congress? There was ample time for any member of the congress to call attention to the matter and to make a protest if it was thought necessary at the meetings on the day following; but far from being criticised I was thanked repeatedly for having spoken out on this subject.”