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worn by the boys and girls, the leaders, and
the counselors. In the club there is always
an oppottunity to share our faith with
others.
HOW OFTEN DO WE MEET?
The Pathfinder Club usually meets once
a week in some suitable place. During the
school months the meeting may be held
after school ot in the evening, and usually
lasts about one and a half hours, If the
club meeting is in the evening, it should
close not later than eight thirty. In the
summer the club can meet for a longer
period than one and a half hours. Sunday
afternoon is a good time, or any day except
the Sabbath will do. During the summer
the club can take hikes into the mountains,
into the country, or to some park.
CLUB SPIRIT AND ATTENDANCE
Club spirit helps make the Pathfinder |
Club interesting, Members should wy to
get new members to join, and it is important
that all be faithful in attendance. Co-opera-
tion is also very important. To have a good
Pathfinder Club, all members must obey the
rules and co-operate in all its activities.
Wearing the club uniform and keeping it
clean and neat are also very important. The
captain and scribe of each unit, the counse-
lors, deputy directors, and director of the
club all work together to make it successful.
Let's make our Pathfinder Club the best
one in the conference!
April 28
THE MOVIES—GUILTY OR
NOT GUILTY?
BY J. R. NELSON
Program target: To teach Junior youth
the dangers of movie witendance and to
warn them of the subtlety of its influence,
Songs
OPENING: “Can the World See Jesus in
You?’ No. 34 in Missionary Volunteer
Songs.
CLOSING: "Can He Count on You?” No.
49.
This Week’s Program
You may have discovered that some of
your boys and girls quite regularly attend
the movies and that their parents take them
there. The purpose of this program is to
instill in the hearts of these boys and girls,
as well as in those who do not attend, the
THE CHURCH OFFICERS GAZETTE
undesirability of leaving themselves open
to the harmful effects of the movies. It is
important that we devote at least one of
the Junior programs to this perplexing
question. The Junior youth should partici-
pate by pointing out “Ten Reasons Why
I Do Not Attend the Movies” (see sym-
posium material). Select ten of your
Juniors who do not go to the movies and
have them present the various reasons. The
. leader may answer questions at the close
and have the Junior boys and girls take a
pledge not to go to the movies. This could
be coupled with joining hands and repeating
the JMV Pledge and Law. They should be
taught how to explain to parents who are
Adventists why they took the pledge. For
additional material and facts see the Senior
program.
Symposium—-Ten Reasons
Why I Do Not Go to the Movies
1. I DO NOT GO TO THE MOVIES
BECAUSE I am a Christian, and Christ is
my leader. When Jesus was here on earth,
He never went to the theater. There was a
theater in Jerusalem, but Jesus and the
Christians never attended it. I want to be
like Jesus, and that is why I do not go to
the movies.
2. I DO NOT GO TO THE MOVIES
BECAUSE the worldly motion pictures
ate usually made by sinful, wicked people.
I do not want to be influenced by the pic-
tures they make. We have our own schools
so that we can have Christian teachers.
These teachers live what they teach, and it
helps us to be better Christians. The movies
teach evil and glorify wrong ideals.
3. I DO NOT GO TO THE MOVIES
BECAUSE it is a waste of rime. My time
can be spent in a much better way. Much
in the movies is devoted to amusing and
to making people laugh. We can laugh and
have a good time without the motion
pictures.
4. I DO NOT GO TO THE MOVIES
BECAUSE they are not always true to life,
and they cause me to want to do things
that are unnatural. One boy after watching
a movie tried to jump from the top of one
building to the top of another and nearly
lost his life. Both of his legs were broken.
He saw a boy doing it in a movie without
getting hurt and thought he, too, could
do ir.
5. I DO NOT GO TO THE MOVIES
BECAUSE it is hard ro sleep afterward.
There are so many exciting experiences that
I can’t help but think about them at night.
They disturb my sleep.
6. I DO NOT GO TO THE MOVIES
BECAUSE I don’t like quarreling, shooting,
and killing. It is not good for boys and
girls to watch fights. We are told in the
Bible to avoid the very appearance of evil.
April, 1951
7.1 DO NOT GO TO THE MOVIES
BECAUSE they teach crime. When crime
is made easy and attractive, young people
see nO harm in it and ate led to do things
that are evil. Not long ago a junior boy
tried to wreck a passenger train. He was
caught breaking a switch lock and a signal.
The sheriff who arrested the boy asked him
why he tried to wreck the train, and he
said: “I saw it done in a movie last night.
The Dalton gang did it, and it looked so
easy that I decided to try it myself.” The
boy found out that it is not easy to wreck
a train, and besides it is a terrible thing to
do. Movies make young people want to do
things that are wrong, so that is one reason
why I don’t go to the movies.
8. I DO NOT GO TO THE MOVIES
BECAUSE they make people nervous and
unhappy. The unnatural crimes, tensions,
and exciting stories have bad effects on
the physical as well as the mental powers.
Every day many children, as well as adults,
faint and become sick while watching
movies with exciting stories. Children who
attend movies are exposed to murder, war,
crime, and monsters. These movies shock
their minds and leave bad effects on their
young lives. Here is what a doctor says
about the effect of these movies on children:
“The seeing of a motion picture is for the
young children a powerful emotional ek-
perience that affects their young brains
and nerves with almost the force of an
electric chatge,” A noted neurologist says:
“Movies have an effect very similar to shell
shock, such as soldiers receive in war.”
9. I DO NOT GO TO THE MOVIES
BECAUSE it is a waste of money. It is
better to use the money for missions or
save it for my education than to spend it
for movies that do more harm than good.
10. I DO NOT GO TO THE MOVIES
BECAUSE the movies set up false standards
for boys and girls. The Bible gives us true
standards, Christian heroes, and teaches us
the proper way to act. The movies deceive
us by making attractive and popular false
standards of living. The motion picture
hero is ustially a person who does not live
for Jesus. A “hero” of this kind will only
lead us away from God.
Be a Man
When habits bind you like a chain,
And you seem helpless to refrain,
Then never say, “I can’t,” but, “Can”:
Just brace yourself, and be a man.
And if the whole world should go wrong,
And you alone must face the throng,
Don't say, “I can’t,” but, “Sure I can”;
Just show your colors, and be a man,
The men who conquer habits small,
And conquer self, will conquer all—
But they are those who say, “I can.”
Be one of them: just be a man!