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Signing the Pledge
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children and youth may be prepared to fill positions of usefulness in
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the world.—
Testimonies for the Church 7:58
.
Sign at Our Camp Meetings
—At our camp meetings we
should call attention to this work and make it a living issue. We
should present to the people the principles of true temperance and
call for signers to the temperance pledge.—
Testimonies for the
Church 6:110
.
Offer No Excuse
—Let no excuse be offered when you are asked
to put your name to the temperance pledge, but sign every pledge
presented, and induce others to sign with you. Work for the good of
your own souls, and the good of others. Never let an opportunity pass
to cast your influence on the side of strict temperance.—
Counsels
on Health, 441
.
Failure to Sign Leaves Bars Down
—After the discourse Sun-
day evening, the pledge was circulated, and one hundred and thirty-
seven names were attached. We were sorry to learn that some few
names were withheld for that which we consider was no reason that
would justify a true child of God. Their excuse was that their work
called them into places where wine would be passed to them (as is
customary in this country), and they could not refuse to take it for
fear of offending those for whom they worked. I thought that here
was a very good opportunity for them to lift the cross, and let their
light shine forth as God’s peculiar people whom He was purifying
unto Himself....
At all times and on all occasions it requires moral courage to
resist temptation on the point of appetite. We may expect such
practice will be a surprise to those who do not practice habits of
total abstinence from all stimulants; but how are we to carry forward
the work of reform if we are to conform to the habits and practices
of those with whom we associate? Here is the very opportunity to
manifest that we are a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
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The beer drinkers will present their glasses of beer, and those
who claim to be children of God may plead the same excuse for
not signing the temperance pledge,—because they will be treated
with beer, and it will not be agreeable to refuse. These excuses may
be carried to any length, but they are not of any weight; and we
were sorry that any who claimed to believe the truth should refuse to
sign the pledge—refuse to put barriers about their souls and fortify