Amusements

AMUSEMENTS. - I. GENERAL NOTIONS. - Etymologically the word d. from diverto means a turning aside, a digression. And in reality d. is a diverting of the tension of the mind and body from what are the usual activities in order to let them enjoy a pause of quiet and rest. It is therefore an interlude in human activity, but a joyful one.

It is impossible for man to keep body and soul in uninterrupted activity, in continuous work: nature itself feels a sensation of weariness, and demands relaxation and rest. Relaxatio (from relaxare, to slow down), as the Latins said, is rest; it is not yet d.; but it is its first element, to which a second must be added, enjoyment, which is like the aroma of rest and relaxation: it increases its effectiveness and ensures its result. There is therefore d. when rest is accompanied by a joy more or less profound. D. is perfect when it attains that serene gladness of the soul which keeps everything in man, in soul and body, healthy and young.

This enjoyment may be of the higher faculties only, of the intelligence, for example, as in the reading of an attractive and instructive book; of the higher faculties and at the same time of the senses, as in painting, practiced not as a profession but for d., music, etc. It may also be either of the external senses only, such as baths, dances, sports, or of the external senses and at the same time the internal senses and the higher faculties themselves, for example, the theater, cinema, etc. (v. SPETTACOLO).

From this it is understood that in d. itself there is a certain hierarchy of values. The d. that directly also nourishes the culture of the spirit is evidently nobler than a d. that produces a purely sensory pleasure of sight, hearing, touch. In this latter field, moreover, it is easier to slip from purely sensory pleasures to those inspired by a certain sensuality, which from vague can become well defined and perhaps transform the d. into a proximate occasion of sin. One of the noblest and most precious forms of d. are the enjoyments produced by art.

But on the other hand not all d., even the noblest, are the most useful and profitable at every moment; nor are all the most suited to all types and all ages, also because certain forms of d. require a more refined culture of the spirit, and gifts that are not always common. In order for d. to attain its purpose, it is therefore necessary that it be relative to the taste of the person, to the circumstances of work and employment. The different epochs of history too, the degree of civilization, the social class, and fashion itself influence the choice of d. A very special importance is held today for popular recreation by the theater and the cinema (v.).

From what has been said the honesty and lawfulness of d. emerges, which not only has nothing intrinsically evil in itself and by itself, but in a certain respect, at least insofar as it is rest, and at a certain age of life, is necessary to repair the loss of strength and to render the individual capable and disposed to provide other services. Beyond this natural need, d. also has its moral justification in the necessity of fostering social relations. Relations themselves with relatives and friends procure for man an occasion of recreation, while d. favor these family and friendly gatherings and are an occasion for the exercise of certain virtues, such as charity.

It is therefore a gratuitous accusation, the reproach often made against the ethics of the Gospel, of being the champion of a melancholy and gloomy existence, without joy and without sun, that is, without d. Among the blessings promised by the prophet to Jerusalem is the spectacle of boys and girls intent on amusing themselves (Zech. 8:4). Jesus himself in the Gospel takes his cue from the games and d. of Palestinian children (Mt. 11:16-17). And nothing prevents us from imagining, as artists have often done, the very childhood of Jesus interspersed with these interludes, proper above all to the earliest age.

It would suffice, moreover, to look at how great a part d. has had in Christian pedagogy, of certain saints in particular, such as a St. Philip Neri (1515-95) and a St. John Bosco (1815-88), the most perfect modern educator, who declared himself an enemy of sullenness and willingly mingled in the d. of his boys.

The Church herself, in determining the use of benefice goods, includes in the honesta sustentatio of clerics the expenses required for moderate d. (cf. can. 1473 and the relevant commentaries). She only forbids them (and with greater reason religious) certain forms of d. too alien to the ecclesiastical spirit.

Thus in general she forbids them to attend spectacles, dances and festivities not suitable in themselves to their state, or when their presence could be a cause of scandal: which holds above all for public theaters (can. 140). She forbids them to take part in games of chance, played with the staking of money; in clamorous hunts, as used to be held in times past, while she recommends moderation in the pastime of small-game hunting (can. 138). To enter cafés, bars, etc. for pure d. is likewise forbidden to them. For all other d. the general principle holds: « Clerici ab iis omnibus, quae statum suum dedecent, prorsus abstineant » (can. 138).

But this is evident: here the clerical state, freely chosen, imposes a more serious demeanor. Moreover, certain forms of d. dangerous from the social aspect, the State itself condemns: games of chance, for example (Italian Penal Code, arts. 718-23). But this does not mean a condemnation of d. for everyone and of all d.

If d. is lawful and in a certain respect necessary, certain professions are still lawful, and in social life necessary, which serve no other purpose than the organization of d. (for example, the profession of film director, orchestra conductor, theater impresario, etc.).

Here too, if the Church has found and finds something to criticize, it is abuse that she condemns, not the profession itself. When Roman law itself regarded certain professions as infamous (the exercise of the theatrical art and of the gladiatorial art; D. 3, 2, 1), because practicing them implied violating so many norms of civilized living and, we should say, of natural law, it is logical that the Church should consider them incompatible with the profession of the Christian religion, and should seek to turn Christians away from such spectacles, necessarily mixed with idolatry and immorality (cf. Athenagoras, Supplicatio pro christianis, 34-36: PG 6, 967-72; Tertullian, De spectaculis: PL 1, 627-62; St. Augustine, Confessiones, III, 1-4, ed. P. H. Wangnereck, Turin-Rome 1928, pp. 65-68).

In the Middle Ages, on the other hand, the Church found nothing to criticize in the profession of the jongleur, and by radical changes sought to replace the ancient spectacles with representations of her own (v.). Even in the classic d. of Carnival (v.) the Church condemns and has condemned nothing other than abuse.

We can indeed abuse everything, especially those things or objects that are a means in the order willed by God, but which, through the egoism of our senses, tend to become an end (amusements and sensory pleasures). It is the duty of the Christian to frame d. too within the high conception he has of life: it is necessary that d. enter into the ordering of human life, individual and social. The virtue that presides over this framing is eutrapelia (εὐτραπέλια), which falls within the more general virtue of modesty. Its moderating function is exercised first of all in preserving for d. the purpose it has, namely that of a means of interposing interludes in the succession of human activity.

In writing, the function of a comma cannot be changed into that of a letter or perhaps of a word or of a group of words: that would be the confusion of Babel. Likewise in life, d. [diversion] cannot occupy the place that belongs to work or to the occupations of one's state: otherwise it becomes immoral. And this as soon as man is capable of some activity (St. Augustine, op. cit., 1, 10; ibid., p. 21). The word "d.," at least in the partial sense of rest, has no meaning except when it has been earned through work.

Moreover, the diversion that a reasonable man allows himself must always be subject to the rule of reflection and self-control, and must be confined to its duration and to the proper place and time, within the bounds of lawful pleasure.

From the ethical point of view, moreover, one cannot overlook the repercussions that a given form of entertainment will have on the life of the spirit. For entertainment to be lawful, therefore, it is necessary: a) that entertainment not be sought in base or harmful actions and words; b) that entertainment not completely submerge the gravity of the soul and the harmony of one's occupations and good works (St. Ambrose, De officiis, I, 20); c) that d. be «tempore et homine dignus» (Cicero, De officiis, I, 29).

This is the standard by which one can draw from entertainment what is sound, moral and educational, rejecting whatever is unhealthy and morbid.

Pietro Palazzini