134
Counsels for the Church
Liquor Makes Man a Slave
When the appetite for spirituous liquor is indulged, the man volun-
tarily places to his lips the draft which debases below the level of the
brute him who was made in the image of God. Reason is paralyzed,
the intellect is benumbed, the animal passions are excited, and then
follow crimes of the most debasing character
Under the influence of the drink they take, they [men] are led to
do things from which, if they had not tasted the maddening drug, they
would have shrunk in horror. When they are under the influence of
the liquid poison, they are in Satan’s control. He rules them, and they
co-operate with him
Thus he [Satan] works when he entices men to sell the soul for
liquor. He takes possession of body, mind, and soul, and it is no longer
the man, but Satan, who acts. And the cruelty of Satan is expressed as
the drunkard lifts his hand to strike down the wife he has promised to
love and cherish as long as life shall last. The deeds of the drunkard
are an expression of Satan’s violence
Men who use liquor make themselves the slaves of Satan. Satan
tempts those who occupy positions of trust on railways, on steamships,
those who have charge of the boats or cars laden with people flocking
to idolatrous amusement, to indulge perverted appetite, and thus forget
God and His laws.
They cannot see what they are about. Signals are made incorrectly,
and cars collide with each other. Then comes horror, mutilation, and
death. This condition of things will become more and more marked.
The drunkard’s corrupt tendencies are transmitted to his posterity,
and through them to the coming generations
Tobacco a Slow Poison
Tobacco is a slow, insidious, but most malignant poison. In what-
ever form it is used, it tells upon the constitution; it is all the more
dangerous because its effects are slow and at first hardly perceptible.
It excites and then paralyzes the nerves. It weakens and clouds the
140
Testimonies for the Church 3:561
141
Temperance, 24
142
Medical Ministry, 114
143
Temperance, 34, 38