Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of abstaining totally from alcoholic drinks.
In the Old Testament several Jewish prophets criticized those who reveled in too much wine. Isaiah, for instance claimed that not only were the common people prone to overindulging but even priests and prophets stumbled and blundered in judgement "through strong drink."
Small groups of Old Testament Israeli men dedicated themselves to abstaining from the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Groups of Jews and Israelis such as Nazarites and Recabites took ascetic vows, which included refraining from the consumption of wine. They were the first abstainers from intoxicating drinks.
Jewish priests incorporated wine into their religious ceremonies hoping that by utilizing the alcoholic beverage as part of their holy rituals, the people would be less inclined to involve themselves in undisciplined drinking in their everyday lives.
On one occasion in his younger pre-revelation days the prophet Muhammad drank too much and made a fool of himself. Later he decided that Allah prohibited the consumption of alcohol because it distracts the believer from focusing on God and caused medical and social problems. As a result the Quran forbids Muslims to drink alcohol.
The American Temperance Society (later renamed the American Temperance Union) was founded in Boston in 1826 to promote total (but voluntary) abstinence from distilled liquor. Among the 16 founders were Protestant clergymen
The word "teetotal" was first used in 1833 at a meeting in a English village where one of the founders of the Total Abstinence Society in England, Mr Richard Turner, was making a speech advocating total abstention from intoxicating drink. Mr Turner, a Preston, Lancashire working man suffered from a stutter. Passionately pleading his cause, he ended his address by proclaiming that "nothing but t-t-ttotal abstention will do - that or nowt!" His opponents seeing an opportunity for ridiculing both Mr Turner and the movement nicknamed it "t-totalism." However Mr Turner used this to his advantage and in later speeches to emphasize that members were to totally abstain he stressed the first word "T total " or teetotal.
Soon the temperance movement as a whole both in Britain and America were adopting the name, possibly also because many total abstainers drank a lot of tea.
 |
| Wikipedia |
In the Old Testament several Jewish prophets criticized those who reveled in too much wine. Isaiah, for instance claimed that not only were the common people prone to overindulging but even priests and prophets stumbled and blundered in judgement "through strong drink."
Small groups of Old Testament Israeli men dedicated themselves to abstaining from the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Groups of Jews and Israelis such as Nazarites and Recabites took ascetic vows, which included refraining from the consumption of wine. They were the first abstainers from intoxicating drinks.
Jewish priests incorporated wine into their religious ceremonies hoping that by utilizing the alcoholic beverage as part of their holy rituals, the people would be less inclined to involve themselves in undisciplined drinking in their everyday lives.
On one occasion in his younger pre-revelation days the prophet Muhammad drank too much and made a fool of himself. Later he decided that Allah prohibited the consumption of alcohol because it distracts the believer from focusing on God and caused medical and social problems. As a result the Quran forbids Muslims to drink alcohol.
The American Temperance Society (later renamed the American Temperance Union) was founded in Boston in 1826 to promote total (but voluntary) abstinence from distilled liquor. Among the 16 founders were Protestant clergymen
 |
| The Drunkard's Progress, a lithograph by Nathaniel Currier supporting the temperance movement |
The word "teetotal" was first used in 1833 at a meeting in a English village where one of the founders of the Total Abstinence Society in England, Mr Richard Turner, was making a speech advocating total abstention from intoxicating drink. Mr Turner, a Preston, Lancashire working man suffered from a stutter. Passionately pleading his cause, he ended his address by proclaiming that "nothing but t-t-ttotal abstention will do - that or nowt!" His opponents seeing an opportunity for ridiculing both Mr Turner and the movement nicknamed it "t-totalism." However Mr Turner used this to his advantage and in later speeches to emphasize that members were to totally abstain he stressed the first word "T total " or teetotal.
Soon the temperance movement as a whole both in Britain and America were adopting the name, possibly also because many total abstainers drank a lot of tea.
By denouncing public drinking temperance advocates drove the middle classes and women away from Public Houses. By the middle of the nineteenth century the clientele of most pubs were mainly working-class males.
Carrie Amelia Nation (November 25, 1846 – June 9, 1911), the teetotal wife of an American minister, David Nation, was an imposing 6ft tall 175 lb figure, who dressed like a deaconess. Her alcoholic first husband left Carrie with an abiding hatred for liquor and saloons. She embarked on a crusade touring America saloons where she berated customers and tried to damage as much of the places as she could with her hatchet. On June 7, 1899 Carrie Nation entered a saloon in Kiowa, Kansas, and proceeded to destroy all the alcoholic beverages with rocks.
Despite being constantly arrested for disturbing the peace, the American Temperance crusader believed in divine guidance and that her name, Carrie A Nation, was preordained. However, even supporters of the temperance movement found her to be a difficult person to deal with.
 |
| Nation with her hatchet in 1910 |
Henry Ford was a teetotaller. He once declared "Nobody can drink alcohol and smoke without injuring their brains. It is easy for me. I don't like alcohol."
During the First World War, the English Prime Minister, David Lloyd George encouraged his king, George V to give up alcohol as an example to munitions workers, many of whom were over indulging on alcoholic beverages.
Thanks to the influence of anti-alcohol crusades, such as the Anti-Saloon League, the U.S. government voted for the 19th Amendment, a law which prohibited the public sale or the manufacture of alcohol. Prohibition was ratified by January 16, 1919 and lasted until 1933 when it was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment.
Adolf Hitler was a near-teetotaller as a result of an experience in his youth when he got extremely drunk and vomited vigorously. He did drink on rare, special occasion such as having light champagne when celebrating his victories.
No comments:
Post a Comment