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182
Temperance
children are educated for exciting stimulants. They themselves have
sown in their children the seeds of intemperance, and it is
their
fault
if they become drunkards.—
The Health Reformer, May 1877
.
The food is often such as to excite a desire for stimulating drinks.
Luxurious dishes are placed before the children,—spiced foods, rich
gravies, cakes, and pastries. This highly seasoned food irritates the
stomach, and causes a craving for still stronger stimulants. Not only
is the appetite tempted with unsuitable food, of which the children
are allowed to eat freely at their meals, but they are permitted to eat
between meals, and by the time they are twelve or fourteen years of
age they are often confirmed dyspeptics.
You have perhaps seen a picture of the stomach of one who is
addicted to strong drink. A similar condition is produced under the
irritating influence of fiery spices. With the stomach in such a state,
there is a craving for something more to meet the demands of the
appetite, something stronger, and still stronger. Next you find your
sons out on the street learning to smoke.—
Counsels on Diet and
Foods, 235, 236
.
Highway of Intemperance
—In their ignorance or carelessness,
parents give their children the first lessons in intemperance. At
the table, loaded with injurious condiments, rich food, and spiced
knickknacks, the child acquires a taste for that which is hurtful to
him, which tends to irritate the tender coats of the stomach, inflame
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the blood, and strengthen the animal passions. The appetite soon
craves something stronger, and tobacco is used to gratify that craving.
This indulgence only increasing the unnatural longing for stimulants,
liquor drinking is soon resorted to, and drunkenness follows. This is
the course of the great highway to intemperance.—
The Review and
Herald, September 6, 1877
.
Moral Powers Paralyzed
—Through the channel of appetite,
the passions are inflamed, and the moral powers are paralyzed, so
that parental instruction in the principles of morality and true good-
ness falls upon the ear without affecting the heart. The most fearful
warnings and threatenings of the word of God are not powerful
enough to arouse the benumbed intellect and awaken the violated
conscience.
The indulgence of appetite and passion fever and debilitate the
mind, and disqualify for education. Our youth need a physiological