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Sights and Sounds and Criminality, May 17
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them
that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart
from me: I will not know a wicked person.
Psalm 101:3, 4
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There is reason for deep solicitude on your part for your children, who
have temptations to encounter at every advance step. It is impossible for
them to avoid contact with evil associates.... They will see sights, hear
sounds, and be subjected to influences which are demoralizing and which,
unless they are thoroughly guarded, will imperceptibly but surely corrupt
the heart and deform the character....
Some fathers and mothers are so indifferent, so careless, that they think
it makes no difference whether their children attend a church school or a
public school. “We are in the world,” they say, “and we cannot get out of
it.” But, parents, we can get a good way out of the world, if we choose to
do so. We can avoid seeing many of the evils that are multiplying so fast in
these last days....
To the active minds of children and youth the scenes pictured in imagi-
nary revelations of the future are realities. As revolutions are predicted and
all manner of proceedings described that break down the barriers of law and
self-restraint, many catch the spirit of these representations. They are led to
the commission of crimes even worse, if possible, than these sensational
writers depict. Through such influences as these society is becoming de-
moralized. The seeds of lawlessness are sown broadcast. None need marvel
that a harvest of crime is the result...
Say firmly: “I will not spend precious moments in reading that which
will be of no profit to me, and which only unfits me to be of service to
others. I will devote my time and my thoughts to acquiring a fitness for
God’s service. I will close my eyes to frivolous and sinful things. My ears
are the Lord’s, and I will not listen to the subtle reasoning of the enemy. My
voice shall not in any way be subject to a will that is not under the influence
of the Spirit of God. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and every
power of my being shall be consecrated to worthy pursuits.”
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