Temperance Outlook – Past and Present

White Ribbon, Volume 28, Issue 8, 1 January 1957, Page 2

Temperance Outlook - Past and Present

The Bible and Temperr.nce

For the ( the Btnlf - mperaii eat anportaaca, In the Old Testament we find I "total abstin i nee" j>arty already in existence—the Nazarites—special vows of consecration to the 1 rd included abstinence from wint and strong drink Soil k their VOWS temporarily, and others for life, ai in the ca Sanwei, Samson, and the Recbal ee Numbers 6:1-21; Amos 2:12; 2 Kini and Jeremiah 35). I'nests on duty in the I "emple were iltO required to Irink (Levitictu 10:8) thus i ' using at .ill times the sobriety ol mind befitting n ipeciall) dedicated to God (Hoaea 4:11). (h Unary Israelites indulged in strong drink, but drtmkennesi is often condemned by the prop while the abstineoo itei and Rechabites ■intended \\ i conclude, therefore, that total inence is regarded in the Old Testament as worthy ideal, and indulgence in -trong drink a it attitude.

New Testament References

Turning to the New TestSSßSCnt, we find that a t deal of controversy bat raged about the whether or not Jesus drank int<>\i'.tting wine. If He did, «fC RU) !»<• sure th.tt n "iily because wine was tie riptnrstHi drink of t!ie and we nay be equally sure that His Mamies would have made capital out of it if th-.re had been even the slightest hint o( ••■ His part On the Other hand pel doei actually record (Matthen l~ : \) that on the Crots Jesus rtfaaad the drugged vine which coul'i have eased His . and accepted instead I .irink of sour vinegar 16) Ma.n people fad thai His anion at this critical tine points to I consistent habit of abstinon Hi< part.

1 an urged bis • (Ephesians 5:18) "Be not drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit." ( >I ponents of the Temperance outlook love to • his advice to Timothy (1 Tim 5:23) "Drink tlO longer water, but ate a little wine for thy lake .". but it needs to be pointed •>ut that the Apostle *aid "a little!" and he commended as a medicine, not as a beverage! uning up, we might well say that our Lord's inmmary of the law in the two great commandments. "Love God," and "Love thy neighbour" (Mali 12:28-34) and Paul's principle cf sacrifice tor the sake of "the weaker brother" (Romans 14:21) provide our most authoritative guide in

I K. M (,:lmore, H A President, Auckland Area New Zealand Alliance (Condensed from an address given at the Auckland District NV.CT.D Convention, 19

The Need for Facts

BUJ ' tal abstinence rather than selt-inrful-uence. Today's Outlook DO* to the contemporar> scene, we note the contention of naanj that excess is the evil, not alcohol itself Strictly speakifig, alcohol is not in itself an evil, but evil can resull even from its a- a beverage. Brewery interests are er to prove that in every c.tse of alcoholism there «:» some psychological maladjuMineni which renders a man unable to "take his liquor." On the other hand, we have the asvirance mssm very highly qualified medical men that many happy, well-adjusted people become alcoholics merely by too much social drinking. Psychoa! maladjustment de\ ai I rcsul' •ii, rather than b< hik caused bv it I'strongly believe thai it is time we total abitainers lost our inferiority complex, for in every •iv bast ol things—in health, in ivr, and m our social relationships lust tliii.k < i it in this 11 The to'.al abstainer will ne\er start a drunken brawl He'll never be arrested as a "drunken dnv r" : he'll BCVCr be fbnnd guilty of any crime r mmitted while under the influence of liquor Statistically he'll live longer, tie will be a better insurance risk, and even by the Lasjnof Trade itself he will 1 | more desirable employee than the drinker. It is quite common to advcrtilfmeats for barmen stating that they must and industrious." and even abstaining publicans are by no means unknown—they know niul] ab«>ut liquor to be fooled by it.

We must attack the evils of liquor in e\ei\ we can. protesting agaittSl s.,cial pratfall drink, banishing lies and half-truths by correct information and bringing to bear upon the problem all the forces of reason and religion. Why is it, for instance, that people their eyebl ind snigger when someone says in COSnpany, "No thanks, I prefer a lemonade'"-' Why must a person be considered a spoilsport because he refuses "the enemy that steals away his brains"' Mo one makes adverse comment if you refuse sugar in your tea. and no oie should be abused or M >ffed at because they prefer to take the safe w ty of abstinence.

It is high time, too, that we banished popular fallacies about liquor. A good churchwoman said

to me recently, "Beer is awful, but there's nothing wrong with food, wholesome wine." Apparently she was quite unawarr th;it \'< ■ /< aland wines contain between tour and rive times the amount of alcohol found in beer Ifl 'act, 10 put the matter in a nu'.shell, you get the lamt amount of alcohol m a bottle ol I ■ IMS ol wine, and a nip of whisky We tnuM abo attack the commonly held . n w tliat beer of low alcoholic content can do the drinker no harm. Scientific tests recently conducted in Sweden have proved that evi n Miiall quantities of alcohol render people unfit to drive motor vehicles Moderation We must leek firmly but courteously t<> pi our point of view that "moderation is not enough." The Trade itself Stands for moderation Excess is an embarrassment, and arc find even brewery organisations giving donations to help in the treatment of akoholkl Vet I Fen donations here and there cannot exonerate the Liquor Trade from the soul-dest:ovinu ef' its products. The oft-quoted excuse that the Trade only eSßttl GO fulfil i need is i dangerous half-truth In point of tact all the highly-skilled techniques of modtrn advertising are constantly used to increase consumption among the great' -lble number of people. At the verv least we must meet the evils of Liquor by a renewed campaign in and by the churches for personal total abstinence based on moral and spiritual principles. For any man or woman the taking of alcoholic liquor involves a risk, the ultimate results of which cannot be foreseen There are pkntv of noble hazards to face in life without rjnning the risk of impairing our usefulness by becuming slaves of liquor. "Call the Witnesses!" Listen to the testimony of the poet, Oliver Goldsmith: "I never saw a city or village yet whose miseries were not in proportion to the number of its public houses!" Then, for those who seek the highest and best in life, there is this word from Charles Kingsley "There are two freedoms; the false, where a man is free to do as he likes; the true, where a man is 'ree to do as he ought " The freedom to drink is a false freedom! Let us finally think abou* the words of that famous. American preacher, Harry Emerson Fosdick:

"If there h.-.s ever been an institution in this country which the Church as a whole heartily has hated, it has been the organised liquor traffic Multitudes of ministers like myself, with no special bigotry against liquor (although we did not use it ourselves) went out into the pastorate and found that everything we worked for was fought by the tavern "

"Effective Christianity," someone has said, "calls for continuous individual commitment to God." It liially true of the Temperance Movement. To be effective, our Temperance sentiim-nts must be 1 on Christian love of people ant' concern for their flight st welfare Here undoubtedly, an ounce of example is worth a ton of precept "Whilst .ill arc not agreed upon the dut> ol total abstinence from intoxicating lniuor a aid the Bishopl at the Lambeth Conice m 1920, "there is no room for doubt that such abstinence tor the Mstl of others and contribution to the itabilhj of our industrial and is a splendid pririlege of Christian ice." Ma) we all make that splendid privilege our own '