Tobacco Catechism

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 26, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 33.

Tobacco Catechism.

TWELVE reasons why no rational being should use tobacco.

1. The habit is at war with temperance. Tobacco is an intoxicant, it is a part of the merchandise of dram shops, and an incentive to drunkenness.

2. The habit is a self-indulgence. It hinders moral reform and impedes progress.

3. The habit is essentially filthy. No Christian gentleman should fill the air with poisoned smoke or deluge the floor with liquid filthiness.

4. The lips of the tobacco-chewer or habitual smoker are swelled and saturated with a disgusting poison. The gums are spongy and tender, and the whole mouth and throat affected by its use.

5. The habit impairs digestion, brings on consumption, and weakens the constitution.

6. The habit injures the voice. The smoker generally articulates huskily. The chewer often croaks. The snuffer speaks indistinctly, as he cannot breathe through his nose.

7. The habit is costly. Official statistics show that more money is spent for tobacco in the United States every year than for bread.

8. The habit often lowers the self-respect of those who practice it. "I love my pipe," said a clergyman, "but despise myself for using it."

9. The habit disturbs the regular pulsation of the heart; tobacco-users are thus in constant danger; many fall dead suddenly.

10. The habit weakens the mind. It enfeebles the memory, paralyzes the will, produces morbid irritability, diseases the imagination, and deadens the moral sensibilities.

11. The habit is at rebellion against conscience. The user knows that it wastes time, money, strength, and life, and tramples upon the laws of nature, which are the laws of God.

12. The habit is as contagious as the cholera.—Silver Star Catechism.