Poking, Sep. 3
While American "talkies" ara making rapid strides in China, amd new theatres are being opened in: the larger cities at frequent inter vals, a little band of old-fashioned! American missionaries cre fighting rear-guard action against the advent Jof moving pictures, which they cons sider wicked, 4
Most of the younger missionaries: donot oppose theatre-attendance, jand even go themselves on over sion. But two or three hundred? veteran missionaries, many of" them the remote interior of China, are: still preaching against theatres, and! warn their Chinese converts that they, risk divine disapproval by attending the "talkies" or "movies.
The point of view of the "bitter= lenders" among the missionaries. expressed in a letter, to the "Norte China, Star," American-owned, now paper in "Tientsin, from Mareoyy: Ditmanson, an American missionary, in Inyi, a city in the interior off Honan province, Mr. Mitmansony writes as follows:—
"I think you have a fine papery but it is made to please men and! not God, as most magazines andr newspapers are-nowadays. In you: paper I think God dislikes" the: theatre advertisements and pieturee, I suppose you do get money by: putting them in, but you get it in wicked way, "There is as much harm done by putting them in as it is for a saloonkeeper to give people beer and 1 because by advertising: the you get people who perhaps have never gone to a theatre t0° get interested in them and little by little they are led farther from Christ By going to the theatres, docs ead them nearer to Christ'?
'No matter how many times you: searched the world you would' not bbe able to find any movie star? that could compare with Jesus Cariet in kindness, greatness or anything. By advertising these different then tres, you only get people to lose their lives in sin, "The Second Commandment say Thou shalt not take the name off Lord not hold him "gusts the Lord thy God in vain; for the
who maketh his name in vain This Jnot only means we should not swear or say things we should nov say, but by writing in words or pictures, wat is wicked, "We should rather try to keep: people from going to movies and' theatres. You call Charles Chaplin: and some of the movie people great, out they are not a kind of rear: people. People who fear and honour the true kind. of great "You have quite a good news Paper, but I think it has too much: movie stuff in it, T-am not eritieizing your paper. I'am just caying that the theatre is a tool of the devil. to draw people away froma Christ."—United Pres
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.