Medical Ministry in the Homes
89
Those who are advocating a reform in diet should, by the provision
they make for their own table, present the advantages of hygiene in
the best light. They should so exemplify its principles as to commend
it to the judgment of candid minds....
When those who advocate hygienic reform carry the matter to
extremes, people are not to blame if they become disgusted. Too
often our religious faith is thus brought into disrepute, and in many
cases those who witness such exhibitions of inconsistency can never
afterward be brought to think that there is anything good in the reform.
These extremists do more harm in a few months than they can undo
in a lifetime. They are engaged in a work which Satan loves to see
go on.... Narrow ideas and overstraining of small points have been a
great injury to the cause of hygiene.—
Christian Temperance and Bible
Hygiene, 55-57
.
Personal Views Not to Be Urged—Those who have but a partial
understanding of the principles of reform are often the most rigid, not
only in carrying out their views themselves, but in urging them on their
families and their neighbors. The effect of their mistaken reforms, as
seen in their own ill-health, and their efforts to force their views upon
others give many a false idea of dietetic reform and lead them to reject
it altogether.
Those who understand the laws of health and who are governed by
principle will shun the extremes both of indulgence and of restriction.
[130]
Their diet is chosen, not for the mere gratification of appetite, but for
the upbuilding of the body. They seek to preserve every power in the
best condition for highest service to God and man. The appetite is
under the control of reason and conscience, and they are rewarded
with health of body and mind. While they do not urge their views
offensively upon others, their example is a testimony in favor of right
principles. These persons have a wide influence for good.
There is a real common sense in dietetic reform. The subject
should be studied broadly and deeply, and no one should criticize
others because their practice is not, in all things, in harmony with his
own. It is impossible to make an unvarying rule to regulate everyone’s
habits, and no one should think himself a criterion for all. Not all
can eat the same things. Foods that are palatable and wholesome to
one person may be distasteful, and even harmful, to another. Some
cannot use milk, while others thrive on it. Some persons cannot digest