Haven’t times changed? The things that caused an outrage a generation or two ago are merely items of curiosity today. Case in point: a letter to the editor written by a pastor who is a predecessor at my church.
Editor, American Press: I, as a citizen of Calcasieu parish, wish to join with the Rev. R. H. Wynn in making a protest against a Bathing Beauty Revue being held in the little city of Lake Charles. It does seem to me that our people could offer a better moral attraction. First, it would not bring the class of people whom we would have as citizens. Second, it does not boost Lake Charles in a way we would have it boosted. I trust that the people sponsoring this move will reconsider and launch a program on a higher moral plane.~ W. J. Westberry Pastor, Sulphur Baptist Church
Unfortunately, I have no record of the result of the protests. I suspect that things went right on as they were intended. Today, we have issues much worse to protest in Lake Charles. Chief among them is the proliferation of gambling. One large casino here is working to become even larger. As part of its campaign to expand, it told of expanding job opportunities in our parish.
What astounds me is that area merchants seem to go along with their arguments. It seems to me that a dollar spent in a casino is a dollar NOT spent at a furniture store, a grocery store, etc. Some will say that this is discretionary money. Perhaps, but how discretionary is it to lose a house, valued possessions, jobs, and even a family due to gambling? The cost to private lives is immeasurable.
Beyond that, we in our parish have put so many eggs in the gambling basket, so to speak, i.e. become dependant upon gambling, that when Texas legalizes it, we will suffer greatly. For some, this is all well into the future, a mess for someone else to clean up.
At this point, being unable to change the way things are, I, too, must protest things like legalized gambling. I commend the good pastor for his protests on moral grounds of the Bathing Beauty Revue and wish that was all I had to protest in Southwest Louisiana.
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