07.02.2017 Views

Counsels on Health - Ellen G. White

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cards will so<strong>on</strong> lead to a desire to put this<br />

knowledge and tact to some use for pers<strong>on</strong>al<br />

benefit. A small sum is staked, and then a larger,<br />

until a thirst for gaming is acquired, which leads to<br />

certain ruin. How many has this pernicious<br />

amusement led to every sinful practice, to poverty,<br />

to pris<strong>on</strong>, to murder, and to the gallows! And yet<br />

many parents do not see the terrible gulf of ruin<br />

that is yawning for our youth.<br />

Am<strong>on</strong>g the most dangerous resorts for pleasure<br />

is the theater. Instead of being a school of morality<br />

and virtue, as is so often claimed, it is the very<br />

hotbed of immorality. Vicious habits and sinful<br />

propensities are strengthened and c<strong>on</strong>firmed by<br />

these entertainments. Low s<strong>on</strong>gs, lewd gestures,<br />

expressi<strong>on</strong>s, and attitudes, deprave the imaginati<strong>on</strong><br />

and debase the morals. Every youth who habitually<br />

attends such exhibiti<strong>on</strong>s will be corrupted in<br />

principle. There is no influence in our land more<br />

powerful to pois<strong>on</strong> the imaginati<strong>on</strong>, to destroy<br />

religious impressi<strong>on</strong>s, and to blunt the relish for the<br />

tranquil pleasures and sober realities of life, than<br />

theatrical amusements. The love for these scenes<br />

311

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