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Show Present-Day America Given Over to the Idolatry of Pleasure By REV. DR. J. C. MASSEE, Boston. If I were asked to name the god of America, I would erect an idol of pleasure and say "Here is your god, oh America." The idolatry of pleasure is more prevalent than any other idolatry in America these days; the mad scramble for indulgence of the senses; the wild pursuit of thrill; the idolatry of dress and of lawlessness. Pleasure in the life of America, in the church, and in the life of the individual, has a far greater formative forma-tive influence than Christ. The use of tobacco by women is a sign that while men are becoming more conservative, women are tending in the other direction. I am not saying that women ought not to smoke. But I would estimate that 50 per cent of the women do smoke, and I think that the most symptomatic thing in our age. If I read the signs rightly, it means that while men are going more and more toward conservatism, women are headed in the opposite direction. |