The Temperance Pledge

White Ribbon, Volume 24, Issue 11, 1 March 1953, Page 5

The Temperance Pledge

Sometimes when (he question of the temperance pledge is raised in discussion, I hear people, including some Christian ministers, say, “I don’t believe in pledges.” This attitude is scarcely intelligible to me. Whether we like it or not, our society is held together by a perfect network of pledges. The person who objects to all pledges, “on principle,” cannot do other than “contract out of the world as we know it. Originally a “pledge” denoted something offered as security for a debt or as a guarantee for the fulfilment of an engagement. Every pawnbroker’s establishment was filled with “pledges.” Hostages were often exchanged as “pledges for the fulfilment of peace treaties, When an accused person is released “on bail,” the bail is a “pledge” that he will duly appear for trial. A Solemn Engagement Thus it was that, by an easy transition, the word “pledge” came to mean “a solemn engagement.” Those entering the King’s service or seeking citizenship in the King’s dominions are required to “pledge” their loyalty by the oath of allegiance. When a political leader delivers himself in terms of a formal promise or obligation, this is called a “pledge.” All business contracts and engagements are of the nature of “pledges, which sometimes take *the form of a deposit or advance-payment in token of good faith. A formal engagement of marriage is a kind of “pledge : damages may be recovered for an unwarrantable breach thereof. In the marriage service is always an exchange of vows or “pledges"; the giving and acceptance of the ring is a token of this fact. Thus our political, business and family life involves "pledges” innumerable^ we could not get on without them. A Covenant • How a Christian minister can object to “pledges’ is especiallv hard to imagine. The Bible is so full of “pledges” that we call the Hebrew Scriptures “the old Testament” and the Christian Scriptures “the New Testament.” The correct word is really “covenant," which implies mutual pledges. God made covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses and David, to mention no others. God and Israel were hound together by such a covenant. The outpoured blood of sacrifice was the “pledge” for the fulfilment of the covenant. Christ s death on the C ross was the supreme “pledge’ of God s love to ma n and of His purpose of'redemption. The fellowship of the Christian Church is based on a pledge of loyalty to Christ and love to one another. The word “sacramentum” meant “a pledge,” originally referring to the “pledge’ which a soldier made to his military commander. Baptism is a public pledge. So also is Holy Communion. A Public Committal The essence of a pledge is that ix is a definite and formal public committal. Its goodness or badness depends on its nature and object. Liquor drinkers cannot object to “pledges, for the drinking

Rev. Principal E. S. Klek, M A., D.D.

of a toast is a recognised form of a “pledge,” though why the drink should necessarily possess an alcoholic content is hard to see. Certaip it is that a “pledge” to abstain from intoxicating (the Greek word means “poisonous”) ’iquors is a considerable help to people exposed to that terrible social pressure xvhich is the main factor in social drinking. Very many people drink * not because they like them or believe that they arc any good, but simply because such drinking is customary and expected in the circles where they move. Refusal demands a moral courage extremely rare. This is.why the keeping of the temperance pledge requires the grace of God for its accomplishment. The liquor trade needs, for its continuance, to capture successive generations of young people. The propensity for alcohol has to be acquired; it does not come to us in the course of nature. This is why the liquor trade spends such enormous sums on advertising, often distinctly misleading in its claims. One way of counteracting all this propaganda is to secure as many pledged abstainers as possible. Sofiie “pledges” are, like that # of Jepthath, rash and foolish; others become occasions for bitter regret. But I have never heard of anyone being the worse for total abstinence, though I have known many intending “moderate” drinkers whose “moderation” has been undermined by the subtle influence of what is undoubtedly a* habitforming drug. The temperance pledge needs, of course, to be supplemented by temperance education. This is where the Band of Hope has proved its value. Every new generation of young people ought to be warned against the liquor traffic and the liquor habit, both of which make against all those values which right-thinking people hold dear. —Courtesy “The Patriot” (South Australia).