The Drinker Not Excusable—While intoxicated, every degree of crime has been committed, and yet the perpetrators have been excused in many instances, because they knew not what they were doing. This does not lessen the guilt of the criminal. If by his own hand he puts the glass to his lips, and deliberately takes that which he knows will destroy his reasoning faculties, he becomes responsible for all the injury he does while intoxicated, at the very moment he lets his appetite control him, and he barters away his reasoning faculties for intoxicating drinks. It was his own act which brought him even below the brutes, and crimes committed when he is in a state of intoxication should be punished as severely as though the person had all the power of his reasoning faculties.—Spiritual Gifts 4a:125. (Te 25.1) MC VC

Drunkenness and Crime Before the Flood and Now—The evils that are so apparent at the present time, are the same that brought destruction to the antediluvian world. “In the days that were before the Flood” one of the prevailing sins was drunkenness. From the record in Genesis we learn that “the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Genesis 6:11. Crime reigned supreme; life itself was unsafe. Men whose reason was dethroned by intoxicating drink, thought little of taking the life of a human being. (Te 25.2) MC VC

“As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Luke 17:26. The drunkenness and the crime that now prevail, have been foretold by the Saviour Himself. We are living in the closing days of this earth’s history. It is a most solemn time. Everything betokens the soon return of our Lord.—The Review and Herald, October 25, 1906. (Te 25.3) MC VC

Thousands Selling Their Mental Capabilities—What man would, for any sum of money, deliberately sell his mental capabilities? Should one offer him money if he would part with his intellect, he would turn with disgust from the insane suggestion. Yet thousands are parting with health of body, vigor of intellect, and elevation of soul, for the sake of gratifying appetite. Instead of gain, they experience only loss. This they do not realize because of their benumbed sensibilities. They have bartered away their God-given faculties. And for what? Answer. Groveling sensualities and degrading vices. The gratification of taste is indulged at the cost of health and intellect.—The Review and Herald, March 4, 1875. (Te 228.1) MC VC

The Insidious Gradual Change—The use of intoxicating liquor dethrones reason, and hardens the heart against every pure and holy influence. The inanimate rock will sooner listen to the appeals of truth and justice than will that man whose sensibilities are paralyzed by intemperance. The finer feelings of the heart are not blunted all at once. A gradual change is wrought. Those who venture to enter the forbidden path are gradually demoralized and corrupted. And though in the cities liquor saloons abound, making indulgence easy, and though youth are surrounded by allurements to tempt the appetite, the evil does not often begin with the use of intoxicating liquors. Tea, coffee, and tobacco are artificial stimulants, and their use creates the demand for the stronger stimulus found in alcoholic beverages. And while Christians are asleep, this giant evil of intemperance is gaining strength and making fresh victims.—The Signs of the Times, December 6, 1910. (Te 228.2) MC VC