The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-10-09
Christians and Prohibition.

upon air. but protested Christians are the
strictly up to the word and spirit of this
command. Let me ask do protested
Christians act consistently when pray
ing, Lead us not into temptation" and
at the same time refuse to do anything to
rid the land of rum-the greatest by far
of all temptation to lead man into sin
and evil The spirit of the. prayer is that
what we pray for we must work for-nOt
pray for a thing and then work against
it; or pray to be kept out OF temptation
ourselves while we assist to place the
most enticing and corrupting temptation
known to civilized man before US and our
neighbOrs. Our duty no doubt Is to pray
to be kept out OF temptation, and strive
ourselves to keep out, and endeavOr to
keep others out OF temptation by persua-
sive arguments and removing every
temptation to sin and every stumbling
block out of their path. This could be
done if all temperance people and all
protested Christians, that are supposed
to teach morals both by precept and eX-
ample, were to join forces they could en-
force prohibition both here and in the
United States, where majOritleS are sup
posed to rule. How can we claim to
have done all and feel justified before
God and man when we refuse to assist
in driving rum, the breeder OF poverty
and sin, from the land, and instead,
work and argue to regulate" the traffic
by license, when it is Well-knOwn that
no form of license prohibits or dimin-
ishes the evil; it regulates and keeps the
,k~txAN, Il
being by law established and maintained.
this sin-breeder becomes an hOnOred in
stitutiOn and the government shares in
the profits, but it is temptation and
snare all the same, and set there by the
assistance Of your voice and vote, and
serves the devils purpose Of destroying
the bodies and souls OF men. Just
think of the conduct OF Christians giving
their political influence to regulate this
source of sin when they could at least
try to abolish it. Is that doing the
Masters will and keeping out OF tempta-
ton?
The Master never makes laws to di-
rect the source OF sin. His laws are all
prohibitory. Thou shalt not steal"
E'Thou shalt not kill" etc. Yet thOus-
ands of our good Christian brethren who
are supposed to be working for and with
the Master, uphold these laws that
directs this breeder of want and i'm
purity in the home life, and yet pray to
be % kept out of temptation" at the same
time, by suasiOn and political influence
help set up and maintain temptation all
around. Oh! consistency, thou art a
jewel!
When will Christians wake up to real
ize and be willing to do their dnty to
God and to man by squaring their actions
to agree with their profession and thHs
cease their sin of omission, and turn to
God with a full and hearty endeavOr to
be on the Masters side of the rum ques-
ton and quit arguing that public SEN
timent in favor of entire prohibition is
not sufficiently advanced to render pro-
hibitiOn practicable or eXpedient until
our foreigners are advanced up to the
measure" Thus they argue, and in
stead of hosting high this principle OF
true gospel temperance and reason all
foreigners cup to the measure" they
urge restrictive legislation-whichn never
restricts, but does direct and keeps this
vice breeding openly and made hOnOra-
able by law, and thus liquor drinking is
constantly on the increase. GrOg shops
and LIQUOR selling must be OutlaWed,
must be put under the ban of the law,
like other nuisances and crimes. "The
day has gone by for compromise meas
ures on this question, the opposing forces
are engaged in death grappe and will
not separate until one or the other has
been OVerthrOWn.
Let those who desire to be found on
the winning side calculate calmly which
is the more likely to 90 down, the liquor
traffic or the party set out to destroy it.
And let them not forget to take into ac-
count, that one of these forces represents
sin and shame, rags and misery, crime
and degradation while the other repre-
sents purity and home, peace and pros
perity, sympathy with human suffering,
and fellowship in the great work of
Christ for the salvation of lost sinners"
No doubt if some. religious teachers
would teach by precept and example
more of the temperance part OF the Cos
pei of Jesus, they would enjoy a greater
portion of the spirit of the Master and be
enabled to accomplish much more good,
as anything that prohibits sin, or the /
cause of sin, is beyond doubt part of
the gospel they profess to preach, and
the total prohibition of rum as a beverage
would prevent more damning sins than
any man is capable of estimating in his
degenerate state.
The Master makes no compromises
with sin-total prohibition is his decree,
but the adversary of souls encourages,
directs the cause of sin and keeps the
channels for it to flow freely always open.
Let me ask, are you working with the
Master to abolish sin, or only protesting
to work for and with him, while doing
the work of Satan. 1t is supposed that
all gospel ministers are bordering over
sin and its remedy-goodness and the
means of increasing it. But how they
think to remedy sin or increase goodness
while justifying and directing rum
shops l am not sharp enough to see.