The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1890-01-31
The Truth About Alcohol.

The Truth About
God never made any alcohol. There is
no such thing as alcohol in nature. The
chemist may ransack the kingdom of ma
ture, from the highest type Of intelligent
animal life down to the lowest possible
form of merely material existence, and he
will find no alcohol in any IF the forms of
nature until he finds The normal condition
of nature interfered with by some artifi-
cial process. Alcohol is opposed to nature;
it is contrary to nature. The life of alco-
hol is the death of nature; the production
of alcohol is the destruction of nature.
God is the author of nature, but he is
nature without leaving something better
in the place of that which is destroyed.
Alcohol is the product OF death. The
chemist, Faraday, calls it the rubbish of
life" If there had never been any death
in the world there would never have been
any alcohol. That We may see that this
position is correct let us look for Il
at the processes of the formation of aleo-
hol. When death comes to organized
forms of matter there soon follows the
process of decay. When organized matter
decays it separates into its original elemants.
Now IS, during this separation, when the
particles are free to move among them
selves, chemical action is brought to bear
upon these elements chemical affinity may,
at any stage, unite them into new substan-
ces. This is the way alcohol is formed.
There exists no alcohol i'll the fruits and
grains from which alcoholic drinks are
made. AS an illustration of this, take the
process by which malt liquors are formed.
In this process some of the starch of Che
grain is turned into sugar by the process
of %sprouting. When that is done the
sprouting germ is killed; then the sugary
matters are washed ont and set away to
decay, out from that decay, which in ev-
cry case must be preceded by death, there
comes the alcohol of the malt Liquors. 1t
is foolish to say, as many do, that if we
may not use these alcoholic drinks, that
we ought not to eat apples, or grapes, or
bread, or corn, because the drinks are
made from the juices of these things.
Those who use that argument overlook the
fact that it is an ESSENTIAL property of
chemical action to change the nature of
things, and that when these juices are put
through the processes which convert them
into alcohol, they are wholly changed,
and thereby are become something else
than that they were while in their native
fruit and grain. Wine is not grape Juice.
Whisky and other drinks are not compos-
ed of the natural substances of the grains
from which they are made.
God is not the creator of alcohol, for he
is not the author or creator of death.
Death is the father of alcohol. Alcohol
is an artificial product obtained by human
interference with Gods plans. 1t would
be as reasonable to say that God is the au-
thor OF murder Az to say that lie is the Gle
tor of alcohol. Murder is, a result that
comes by human interference with Gods
plans. God creates life and s~ustains and
| provides for the continuance of life; but
murder, either by the hand Of the suicide
or assassin, interferes with Gods plan.
Murder is the result, not of Gods dealing
with man, but of mans failure TO harmonic
himself it'll the divine Will and plan.
So also the production OF alcohol is an
interference with God and nature.
God created nature and nature furnishes
us with the fruits and grains. God and
nature design these things to be helpful,
healthful and life giving. Man inter feres
v it'll this design and brushes out the life
from these good gifts, and forth from their
crushed life and untimely death he brings
the spirit of death, and calls it '~'alcohol."
God did not create alcohol. Not only
is the philosophy Of our enemies false
when they use such an argument as that
given in the quotation with which this ar
ticle begins, but, dear friends of temper
ance, our own philosophy is also false
when we allow such a thought to go I'M
challenged.
Let us no longer hold in our minds the
thought that our Heavenly Father is the
/ creator Of this ''sum of all villainies. faith
er Of all crimes, mother of all abomina-
tions, the devils best friend and Gods
worst enemy" alcohol. Let us rather as
sign it that place to which it rightfully be-
longs, and call it the spirit of that
'sdeath'' that always m by mans I'M
holy interference with the Divine plan.