ent000899-009

# My dear Catholic People of Nevada: From various reports and newspaper accounts it is ap- parent that a serious moral situation is being created here in Nevada. I refer, of course, to the type, of entertainment which is being introduced in certain of the hotels and places of public | recreation. Without going into unnecessary details it seems to be unhappily true that new lows are being reached and that the ; agents responsible are throwing all scruples aside in appealing to the very worst in man?╟╓s animal appetites. Your Bishop is not a public law enforcement officer. It is not his business to determine whether certain entertainment fea- tures transgress the state, county* or municipal ordinances gov- erning these matters. He is, however, the guardian of the morals of the flock entrusted to his care. It is very much his business to alert the faithful of the diocese to the gravity of the situation and to warn them of the dangers involved. Let it be clearly stated that all Catholics are strictly forbid- den by the divine law itself to have any parr in entertainment which is of its nature indecent, suggestive, or calculated to ex- cite thoughts or actions contrary to the Sixth Commandment. This means that no Catholic is permitted, under pain of grave sin, to participate in the management, direction, production, or even the advertising of such entertainment. And it most positively means that no Catholic is permitted to be a spectator at such a production. Let those who are visitors or strangers in , Nevada take note of this. They are bound by the same law, and there is no vacation from the Ten Commandments. It is truly a great shame that your Bishop should find it needful to write this letter. It is a shocking thing to contemplate that Nevada should acquire the reputation of being a state which tolerates lewd and indecent entertainment, and attract* visitors on the strength of such an appeal. It is even more horrible to | think that our young people should be exposed to such influ- i ences, if not as spectators, then by way of-advertising and com- mon talk. It seems a little futile for us to build our schools and teach our Christian ethics if all standards of decency can be j flouted with impunity by the purveyors of suggestive entertain- ment. There is, we think, an urgent demand for public action by way of protest against this lowering of entertainment standards, ] The entertainment world lives by public approval; it is par- ticularly sensitive to the barometer of patronage. If, as has been stated, there is an absence of appropriate legislation to deal with the matter, there is still the force of public opinion. Here, cer- | ! tainly, is an issue upon which all right-thinking people, Catho- lics, Protestants, and Jews, should join in instant and emphatic protest. It is most encouraging to note that some of the strongest opposition to this perversion of popular taste and this assault upon decency has come from the better elements of the enter- tainment world itself. These managers, producers, and artists know full well that entertainment need not be vulgar or dirty or suggestive in order to be pleasing to the American public. It is most unfortunate that *the few who care little or nothing for moral standards should be permitted to dishonor the enter- i tainment profession and bring Nevada into disrepute, making her name a byword and a hiss throughout the nation. I write this letter on the feast of Our Blessed Patroness, Our Lady of the Snows. May she, whose immaculate purity is whiter than the snows of the Sierras, have us in her keeping i and preserve us from this particular evil. We pray that she may protect our children, above all, from its foul influence. For our part, both as Catholics and as citizens of the Commonwealth we love, let us do all in our power to keep Nevada a decent place in which to live and to rear our families. With a heartfelt blessing, I am 4 \Your devoted Shepherd in Christ, Robert J. Dwyer, Bishop of Reno - , jpl Sr;; | ?╟╓?√ß t- <^/trR.