There are besides
a great variety of agreeable and healthful beverages, made from the
juices of fruit, containing no alcohol, and agreeable drinks, such as
milk, cocoa, and chocolate, that contain no stimulating principles,
and which are nourishing and healthful.
As one course, then, is perfectly safe and another involves great
danger, it is wrong and sinful to choose the path of danger. There is
no peril in drinking pure water, milk, the juices of fruits, and
infusions that are nourishing and harmless. But there is great danger
to the young, and to the commonwealth, in patronizing the sale and use
of alcoholic drinks. The religion of Christ, in its distinctive feature,
involves generous self-denial for the good of others, especially for
the weaker members of society. It is on this principle that St. Paul
sets forth his own example, "If meat make my brother to offend, I will
eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to
offend." And again he teaches, "We, then, that are strong ought to
bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves."
This Christian principle also applies to the common drinks of the
family, tea and coffee.
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