The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1942-06-25
ALCOHOL FACTS VERSUS
DRINKING PROPAGANDA

ALCOHOL FACTS VERSUS
DRINKING PROPAGANDA
LESSON TEXT-Proverbs PLY; 1882:
Isaiah 5:20-23; Hosea Ali; Joel SO. g.;
Ephesans 5:18.
GOLDEN TEXT-If sinners entice thee,
consent thou not.-Proverbs I:10.
The facts are on the side of the
one who opposes the liquor traffic,
and they are so plentiful and so
devastating that the industry does
not care to face them. Their best
bet IS TO use propaganda so skill
fully prepared as to disarm the
reader. If the propaganda is truth
full, it is only because it has to be,
and only in that measure.
Our lesson suggests several points
in the liquor propaganda, each of
which we can prove to be untrue.
l. They Say, Enjoy Life, That's
What We Are Here For" prov. q:
1O.
Consider the ads of the liquor
trade. They carry the beautiful
lady, the brilliant young man, the
socially correct surroundings, riches,
ease, etc. They suggest that even
the grandmother in the home ap-
proves the use of intoxicants to
bring comfort and pleasure to the
breadWinner in the home.
What is the truth? Man is not
here for pleasure; he is here to
serve God. History demonstrates
that the nation that lives for pleas
ure, especially in connection with
the use of intoXicants, is doomed to
extinction.
II. They Say, "Liquor Is Net
Dangerous" prov. 23:32).
1t is presented as a pleasant and
harmless stimulant, when in fact it
is known to science, to police and
social welfare workers as narcotic
which not only upsets digestion and
deranges physical processes but,
most vicious of all, ''affects person
ality by its action upon the certain
specific brain area. 1t disturbs,
confuses, slows down, and removes
the restraints, the checks and bal
ances which make a well-rounded
personality. 1t is the highest func-
tional level of the brain, the per-
sonality level, which is first put
into eclipse by the action of alco-
hol' carson Taylor).
III. They Say, Those Who On
pose Liquor Are Fanatics" lisa. 5:
20, q, 23).
The prophet answers that claim by
pointing out that those who favor
the use Of alcohol are the ones who
call evil good and good evil, etc. A
little study Of liquor propaganda as
it appears in the advertising of the
industry soon demonstrates that
fact. Of late they have been trying
to convince us that beer is Just a
soft drink for the home. Any police
man who has seen a man drunk on
beer, and any social or religious
worker who has seen the dcstruc-
ton it has wrought in the home and
in society, knows that is not true.
~. They Say, "Strong Men and
Leaders Are Drinkers" lisa. 5:22).
Sadly enough, many of our lead
ing men Go indulge in liquor, but if
the truth were out, it would be
known that they are less capable
as leaders and weaker men for
their use of it. And who has not
seen a leader become a poor dere-
lict by the alcohol route, or a strong
man become a jittery mental, NOR
al, and physical wreck in the same
way.
The work of a nation in both war
and peace is done by sober, steady,
trustworthy men who have a clear
head" not because they use GER
tain whisky but because they do not
use it.
V. They Say, "Thc Pleasure Is
Worth Price" (Hosea All; Joel
80, 81.
The wicked ones who captured
Israel felt they made a good trade
when they gave a boy for a harlot,
or exchanged girl for wine. The
modern system of making merchan-
disc of boys and girls is not as open
ly Grass as that, but when you figure
the cost of alcohol to our land, be
sure to add in the girls who have
gone into iniquity by the way of
tavern hostesses and the boys who
have lost everything sacred be-
cause of ''booze."
Remember too that the beer MAX
ers are deliberately using this war
to cultivate a taste for beer in
millions of young men-their fu-
ture customers-and we are letting
them get away with it, right in the
army camps.
vi. They Say, Drinking and Re
igiOn Go Well Together" (Eph. 5:18).
The contrast of Paul gives that
claim the direct brand Of falsehood.
Being drunk with wine is the exact
opposite of spirituality.
Liquor interests know that if
church members can be led to be-
lieve that wine at dinner, beer as a
soft drink-and an occasional social
cocktails not incompatible with
religious life, they will have effectu-
ally shut the mouth Of the opposition
they fear the most-the church.
Let pastors and church boards
deal plainly and drastically with
drinking church members, and the
church will profit spiritually, and
and again become an effective means
of stemming the tide of social
iniquity which is engulfng our
nation.