酒类交易的祸害
“为本家积蓄不义之财、在高处搭窝……的有祸了!……给人酒喝、又加上毒物、使他喝醉……的有祸了!”“那行不义盖房、行不公造楼、白白使用人的手工不给工价的有祸了!他说：我要为自己盖广大的房、宽敞的楼，为自己开窗户。这楼房的护墙板是香柏木的，楼房是丹色油漆的。难道你作王是在乎造香柏木楼房争胜吗?……惟有你的眼和你的心专顾贪婪，流无辜人的血，行欺压和强暴”(哈2:9-15;耶22:13-17)。{PH132 1.1}
贩酒的每一个阶段都存在不诚实和暴力。酒商的房子是用不义的工价建造起来的，是用暴力和欺压来支撑的。那些经营酒类的人，和那些支持这种交易的人，是在与撒但合作。藉着这种生意，他们在做比世上任何其它生意更加使人类的祸患长存的工作。基督徒不能饮用醉人的酒类，也不能参与任何导致人类退化和衰败的业务。{PH132 1.2}
卖酒的人采取与该隐一样的立场说：“我岂是看守我兄弟的吗?”上帝对他像对该隐那样说：“你兄弟的血有声音从地里向我哀告”(创4:9,10)。一些道德力薄弱的人因饮酒的试探而堕落。卖酒的人要为带给他们家庭的不幸和痛苦负责。他们要受控告，因为他们藉着酒类交易将悲惨、痛苦和绝望带进了世界。他们一定要为饮酒之人的妻儿所遭受的祸患与贫乏交账，因为这些人缺衣少食，流离失所，葬送了一切希望和喜乐。主关心麻雀，连它掉在地上都予以关注;地上的草今天还在明天就丢在炉里，主仍给它装扮(太6:30)。所以祂必不忽视那些照着祂自己的形像而造、用祂自己的宝血所买来的人。祂必要垂听他们受苦的呼声。上帝看到这种使悲惨与犯罪长存的罪恶。祂将这一切都归咎于那些用自己的影响帮助打开试探人心之门的人。{PH132 2.1}
有些人接受了受信任的高位要职，郑重宣誓要为百姓谋利益，却不忠于这些誓言，不作看守弟兄的人。他们是在违背上帝律法的原则，没能爱人如己。立法者允许各地建立酿酒厂，供应酒吧饭店他们明知是致命邪恶的东西。各城各镇到处都有酒店，请旅行者停下来，在很方便的水槽饮马，也请他们进来，花钱喝一杯醉人的饮料。水槽的水对口渴的马来说是个福气，但酒对那进去喝的人却是何等的咒诅啊。旅客进入酒店的时候头脑是清醒的，还能挺起身来走路，但请看他出来时的样子。他的眼睛失去了光彩。走路也站不直了。他步履蹒跚像海里的船只。他的推理能力瘫痪了，上帝的形像摧毁了。致人疯狂的毒酒在他身上烙下了如此邪恶的印记以致自然机能造反了，拒绝承认他。他是堕落食欲的奴隶，他的弟兄们非但不来帮助他，折断一切的轭，让受欺压的得自由，反而使捆他的锁链更紧了。他们通过配给他一份使他发疯的药剂，抢了他妻儿从他应得的钱，从他们身边夺走了一个善良明智的丈夫和父亲。他的身心都受奴役，无法辨别是非。酒商把酒瓶端到邻舍嘴边。在酒的影响之下，他充满残忍和凶杀的念头，在疯狂之中竟杀了人。{PH132 2.2}
他被带到地上的法庭。那些使酒类交易合法化的人，被迫处理自己行为的结果。他们立法授权允许这个人喝酒，使他从一个神志正常的人变成一个疯子，可是现在他们却有必要把他送进监牢，并要因他的罪行而处死他。他的妻儿要被抛弃在穷困贫乏之中，成为他们所生活之社会的负担。那个人既丧失了灵魂又丧失了肉体，从地上消灭了，也无权进入天国。{PH132 3.1}
但是有一个比地上的法庭更高的法庭，在那个法庭上要追溯因果，那将酒瓶放在邻舍嘴边的人被控告犯有谋杀罪，因为酒的影响使他的邻舍丧失了理智。{PH132 4.1}
但是我国的领袖们难道不要对这些加重的罪行、这种致命弊端的流行，就是酒类交易的结果负主要的责任吗?他们难道没有责任和权力消除这种弊端吗?——是的，他们有责任。而且他们若不这么做，就必在他们的衣服上发现生灵的血。{PH132 4.2}
当一艘船在海岸附近失事，人们观看，却无力拯救时，他们感到极其震惊和痛苦。他们谈论一切可能的方法来拯救那些正在灭亡的人;甚至在这艘船沉没了，所有的人都丧命之后，他们仍然试图想出一些本来可以成功地拯救濒临死亡之人的方法。但在我们这片土地上却有一种致命的邪恶是法律所允许的。日复一日，月复一月，年复一年，撒但死亡的陷阱设在我们的社区、门口和各街角凡能捕捉到人的地方，以毁灭人道德的力量，抹煞上帝的形像，使人们堕落到禽兽不如的地步。人们处于危险之中正在灭亡，哪里有基督徒积极活动，作出坚决的努力，发出警告，开导同胞，拯救他们将亡的弟兄呢?我们不要谈论设法拯救已经死亡或失丧的人，而要拯救那些尚能感应同情和帮助的人。我们要向这些犯罪污秽的人提出真理，就是耶稣基督的血能洗净一切的罪。{PH132 4.3}
难道人们总得面对敞开着的试探的巢穴争取胜利吗?难道撒但总是得着代表去试探那些道德力薄弱的人吗?一个决心戒酒的人，既被拉进这些罪恶的巢穴，难道就要被诱导再抓起酒杯，在喝下酒贩子送到他嘴边的第一口酒时，就发现一切美好的决心都被制服，消失不见了吗?一尝那令人发疯的酒，所有关于痛苦心碎妻子的想法就都消失了。这个堕落的父亲便不再关心他孩子们缺衣少食了。藉着使酒类交易合法化，法律许可了灵魂的堕落，拒绝制止这种使罪恶泛滥世界的交易。但愿立法者们考虑一下，这一切对人类的生命、体力和智力所带来的危险是否不可避免。{PH132 5.1}
在饮酒的影响下发生了多少可怕的事故啊!某个在重要岗位上的人没能发出正确的信号，或者发出了不正确的信息，然后火车来了。发生了碰撞，数百人丧命了。当这事被调查时，发现在岗的那个人喝醉了。一艘轮船在海上遇难，当这件事被追查到根源时，人们发现轮机手喝醉了，或者船长在晚饭时喝了太多的酒。这种可怕的麻醉性饮料，任何一个身居要职的人喝多少会危及人身的安全呢?只能完全戒酒才有安全。他不可让自己的头脑因酒而混乱。他应该滴酒不沾，这样，在灾难临到的时候，处于负责岗位的人才能有最好的表现，无论是遇到什么问题，都会做出令人满意的事。{PH132 5.2}
每一个人都要记住自己对上帝负有神圣的责任，要尽全力善待自己的同胞。每一个人都要小心，不要引起对兴奋剂的欲望，劝朋友和邻居为了健康而喝白兰地或其它醉人的东西。许多事件引起了我们的注意。有时只是某个这样的建议，就使男男女女成了饮酒恶习的奴隶。医生们也对许多人成为酒徒负有责任。他们既知道饮酒对喝的人会有什么后果，就要对给病人开出饮酒的处方负责。这些医生对自己使父母们成为酒徒所发挥的影响有什么推诿之辞呢?这些父母将这种食欲遗传给了自己的孩子，邪恶就这样长存了，罪行和不幸增多了。因此，堕落、贫困和祸患充斥着我们的世界。因此，无知和邪恶广泛传播，记录显示饥饿、赤身露体、悲惨和犯罪日益增加。{PH132 6.1}
在上帝给以色列人的指示中，有给我们的一个教训，祂曾指示他们怎么处理恶牛触死人的情况。祂说：“牛若触死男人或是女人，总要用石头打死那牛，却不可吃他的肉;牛的主人可算无罪。倘若那牛素来是触人的，有人报告了牛主，他竟不把牛拴着，以致把男人或是女人触死，就要用石头打死那牛，牛主也必治死。若罚他赎命的价银，他必照所罚的赎他的命。牛无论触了人的儿子或是女儿，必照这例办理。牛若触了奴仆或是婢女，必将银子三十舍客勒给他们的主人，也要用石头把牛打死”(出21:28-32)。{PH132 7.1}
要记住这条关于恶牛的指示，并将其原则应用于出售有毒酒精饮料的人，和那些许可酒类交易的人。这是那种应该给予酒商的补偿。那些从事酒类生意的人并非不知道它导致堕落、痛苦、贫穷、残酷和死亡的无数种方式。酒类交易乃是我国一个可怕的祸根，并且得到自称为基督徒者的支持而合法化。各教会这样做，要对这种致命交易的一切后果负责。酒类交易的根源在地狱，是通向毁灭的。这些问题都需要严肃考虑。{PH132 7.2}
那些饮酒成瘾的人，处在绝望的境地。已无法劝说他放弃自己的爱好。他的胃和脑都患了病。他的意志力削弱了，食欲也控制不住了。黑暗权势的君王已经囚禁了他，使他法挣脱。为了帮助这样的受害者，就必须禁止酒的交易。{PH132 8.1}
世界正变得像所多玛和蛾摩拉，像洪水前世界，可怕的场面就在我们面前。立法者和酒商们将不得不面对怎样的记录呢?他们可以像彼拉多那样洗手，但是他们洗不净流人血的罪。他们既通过自己的影响和力量，促使人成为酒徒，洗手的礼节就洁净不了他们。{PH132 8.2}
没有人看不到酒类交易的可怕后果。报纸的新闻说明这种交易所造成的不幸、贫穷和罪恶并不是乖巧捏造的虚言。数以百计的人正在发财致富，而他们的财富来自他们可怕的酒类生意所毁灭之人的微薄收入。充斥日报的报道足以打动铁石心肠，要是我们的统治者们的理智没有被扭曲，他们就会看到取缔这种致命交易的必要性。但愿大家都能意识到需要制止酒类交易，关闭酒馆，给他们疯狂的受害者们一个思考永恒现实的机会!{PH132 8.3}
PH132 - The Curse of the Liquor Traffic
(Mrs. E. G. White)
“Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high.... Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken.” “Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; that saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar? .... Thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.”?Habakkuk 2:9-15;?Jeremiah 22:13-17.?{PH132 1.1}[1]
In every phase of the liquor-selling business, there is dishonesty and violence. The houses of liquor-dealers are built with the wages of unrighteousness, and upheld by violence and oppression. Those who deal in liquor, and those who sustain the traffic, are working in co-partnership with Satan. Through this business they are doing a greater work to perpetuate human woe than are men through any other business in the world.?Christians cannot use intoxicating liquors, nor connect themselves in the least degree with any business that leads to the degradation and downfall of humanity.{PH132 1.2}[2]
The rum-seller takes the same position as did Cain, and says, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” And God says to him, as He said to Cain, “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground.”?Genesis 4:9, 10. Liquor-dealers will be held accountable for the wretchedness and misery brought into the homes of those who are weak in moral power, and who fall through temptation to drink. They will be charged with the misery, the suffering, the hopelessness brought into the world through the liquor traffic. They will have to answer for the want and woe of the mothers and children who have suffered for food, and clothing, and shelter, who have buried all hope and joy. He who has a care for the sparrow, and notes its fall to the ground, who “clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven,” will not pass by those who have been formed in his own image, purchased with his own blood, and pay no heed to their suffering cries. God marks this wickedness that perpetuates misery and crime. He charges it all up to those whose influence helps to open the door of temptation to the soul.?{PH132 2.1}[3]
There are men who have accepted high positions of trust, who have placed themselves under solemn vows to work for the good of the people, but who are untrue to these vows, who are not acting the part of their brother’s keeper. They are violating the principles of God’s law, and failing to love their neighbour as themselves. Law-makers are permitting breweries to be?planted all over the land, thus defiling the earth, and supplying to public houses that which they know to be a deadly evil. Drinking houses are scattered all over the cities and towns, inviting the traveller to stop and water his horses at the troughs, which are so convenient, and also to come in, and spend his money for a glass of some intoxicating drink. The water in the trough is a blessing to the thirsty horses, but what a curse is the liquor to the man who enters and drinks. The traveller enters the public house with his reason, with ability to walk upright; but look at him as he leaves. The lustre is gone from his eye. The power to walk upright is gone; he reels to and fro like a ship at sea. His reasoning power is paralysed; the image of God is destroyed. The poisonous, maddening draught has left a brand upon him so evil that nature rebels, and refuses to own him. He is the slave of depraved appetite, and instead of coming to his help, to break every yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, his brethren bind him the tighter in his chains. They rob his wife and children of his money, and take away from them a kind and sensible husband and father, by dealing out to him a potion that makes him a madman. He is in slavery, body and soul, and he cannot distinguish between right and wrong. The liquor-dealer has put the bottle to his neighbour’s lips, and under its influence he is full of cruelty and murder, and in his madness actually commits murder.?{PH132 2.2}[4]
He is brought before an earthly tribunal, and those who legalized the traffic are forced to deal with the results of their own work. They authorised by law the giving to this man of a draught that would turn him?from a sane man into a madman, and now it is necessary for them to send him to prison and to the gallows for his crime. His wife and children are left in destitution and poverty, to become the charge of the community in which they live. Soul and body the man is lost, cut off from earth, and with no title to heaven.?{PH132 3.1}[5]
But there is a higher tribunal than that of earth, and in that tribunal the effect is traced to the cause, and the man who put the bottle to his neighbour’s lips is charged with the sins of him who committed murder through the influence of the draught that robbed him of his reason.?{PH132 4.1}[6]
And are not the rulers of the land largely responsible for the aggravated crimes, the current of deadly evil, that is the result of this liquor traffic? Is it not their duty and in their power to remove this evil?—Yes, it is; and unless they do it, the blood of souls will be found upon their garments.?{PH132 4.2}[7]
When a ship is wrecked in sight of the shore, and the people look on, powerless to save, they are shocked and pained beyond measure. They talk of every possible means whereby to save those who are perishing; and even after the ship has gone down, and the lives of all are lost, they still try to think of some means that might have been successful in saving the perishing. But there is a deadly evil in our very land, which is sanctioned by law. Day after day, month after month, year after year, Satan’s death-traps are set in our communities, at our doors, at the street corners, everywhere that it is possible to catch souls, that their moral power may be destroyed, and the image of God obliterated, and that they may be sunken in degradation far below the level of the brute. Souls are imperilled and perishing,?and where is the active energy, the determined effort on the part of Christians to raise a warning signal, to enlighten their fellow-men, to save their perishing brothers? We are not talking of methods to save those who are dead and lost, but we desire to move upon those who are not yet beyond the reach of sympathy and help. We would present to these souls, who are guilty and polluted, the truth that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.?{PH132 4.3}[8]
Shall souls always have to struggle for the victory, with the dens of temptation open before their very faces? Shall Satan always find agents to tempt those who are weak in moral power? Drawn into these dens of evil, shall he who has resolved to quit drink, be led to seize the glass again, and in the first sip of the intoxicant, put to his lips by the liquor-dealer, find every good resolution overpowered and gone? One taste of the maddening draught, and all thought of the suffering, heart-crushed wife has vanished. The debauched father cares no more that his children are hungry and naked. The law, by legalizing the liquor traffic, gives its sanction to the downfall of the soul, and refuses to stop the traffic that floods the land with evil. Let law-makers consider whether or not all this imperilling of human life, of physical power and mental vigour, is unavoidable.?{PH132 5.1}[9]
How many frightful accidents occur through the influence of drink. Some one at an important post fails to give the right signal, or sends an incorrect message, and on come the trains. There is a collision, and hundreds of lives are lost. When the matter is investigated, it is found that the man at the post was drunk.?A steamer at sea meets with disaster, and when the matter is traced to its source, it is found that the engineer was drunk, or that the captain had taken too much liquor at supper. What is the portion of this terrible intoxicant that any man in responsible position can afford to take, and be safe with the lives of human beings? He can be safe only as he totally abstains from drink. He should not have his mind confused with drink. No intoxicant should pass the lips; then if disaster comes, men in responsible places can do their best, and meet their record with satisfaction, whatever may be the issue.?{PH132 5.2}[10]
Let every soul remember that he is under sacred obligation to God to do his best for his fellow-creatures. How careful should every one be not to create a desire for stimulants by advising friends or neighbours to take brandy or other intoxicants for the sake of their health. Many instances have come to our notice in which through some such advice, men and women have become the slaves of drink. Physicians are responsible for making many a man or woman a drunkard. Knowing what drink will do for its lovers, they have taken upon themselves the responsibility of prescribing it for their patients. What excuse can these doctors render for the influence they have exerted in making fathers and mothers drunkards? These fathers and mothers transmit this appetite to their children, and thus the evil is perpetuated, and crime and misery increased. Thus it is that degradation, poverty, and woe are filling our world. Thus it is that ignorance and evil are wide-spread, and that the records show increasing hunger, nakedness, wretchedness, and transgression.?{PH132 6.1}[11]
There is a lesson for us in the instruction God gave to Israel, directing them what to do in the case of a vicious ox that caused the death of any person. He said, “If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die; then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit. But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death. If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him. Whether he have gored a son or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him. If the ox shall push a man-servant or a maid-servant; he shall give unto their master thirty pieces of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.”?Exodus 21:28-32.?{PH132 7.1}[12]
Remember this instruction in regard to the vicious ox, and apply the principle involved to the man who deals out the poisonous alcoholic drinks, and to those who license the liquor traffic. This is the kind of compensation that should be granted to the liquor-dealer. Those who engage in the liquor business are not ignorant of the numberless ways in which it results in degradation, misery, poverty, cruelty, and death. The liquor traffic is a terrible scourge to our land, and yet it is sustained and legalized by those who profess to be Christians. In thus doing, the churches make themselves responsible for the results of this death-dealing traffic. The liquor traffic has its root in hell itself, and it leads to perdition. These are solemn considerations.?{PH132 7.2}[13]
The man who has formed the habit of drinking intoxicating liquor is in a desperate situation. He cannot be reasoned with, or persuaded to deny himself the indulgence. His stomach and brain are diseased, his will power is weakened, and his appetite uncontrolled. The prince of the hosts of darkness holds him in bondage that he has no power to break. For the aid of such victims the liquor traffic should be prohibited.?{PH132 8.1}[14]
The world is becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah, like the world before the flood, and terrible scenes are before us. What will be the record that law-makers and liquor-dealers will have to meet? They may wash their hands as did Pilate, but they will not be clean from the blood of souls. The ceremony of washing their hands will not cleanse them if they have by their influence or agency helped to make men drunkards.?{PH132 8.2}[15]
No one can blind himself to the terrible results of the drink traffic. The daily papers show that the wretchedness, the poverty, the crime, resulting from this traffic, are not cunningly devised fables, and that hundreds of men are growing rich off the pittances of the men they are sending to perdition by their drink business. The accounts that fill the daily papers are enough to move a heart of stone, and if the senses of our rulers were not perverted, they would see the necessity of doing away with this death-dealing traffic. O that a public sentiment might be created that would put an end to the drink business, close the public houses, and give their maddened victims an opportunity to reflect on eternal realities!?{PH132 8.3}[16]
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