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TOBACCO CATECHISM

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International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 6, 1887

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 1.

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TOBACCO CATECHISM.

Question.—What advice do the slaves of tobacco always give to the young, when asked? Answer.—Never use or touch the unclean, unhealthy, and expensive thing.
Q.—Is it, then, almost as bad for a boy to use tobacco as it is to drink? A.—Nearly, because they are twin evils; one vice is rarely seen without the other. They go hand in hand; it is scarcely possible to separate them.
Q.—But some good men smoke who do not drink; why is this? A.—Some good men use tobacco, and though not strong enough to give up its use, they are able to resist beginning to drink. But it is an exception to see men smoke without drinking.
Q.—What can truly be said of the use of tobacco by Christians? A.—Tobacco is doing more harm to-day in the churches than spirituous liquors, because Christians who think it wrong to drink, often use tobacco freely, to their great harm.
Q.—Does tobacco, like rum, affect the soul and body? A.—Yes; it brings many evils and maladies upon the body, and it deadens the moral faculties, thus periling the soul.
Q.—How should we advise young people in regard to using tobacco? A.—Keep your lips free and pure from contact with tobacco in every form, whether it seems enticing or vulgar. And do the best you can to prevent your brothers and friends from forming or continuing the practice.
Q.—What is the most sensible thing Christians and tobacco-users generally can do? A.—Make a grand bonfire of their pipes, meerschaums, snuff-boxes, tobacco, snuff, cigarettes, and cigars. It would be more sensible than to burn tobacco by degrees all their lives, using their mouths for chimneys, and their systems as receptacles for poisonous nicotine.—Silver Star Catechism.