Mormon history

“Have I been under the necessity of guzzling liquid poison?”

4 Comments

Some of our pretended pious people, a few years ago, were shocked and horrified by seeing the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye and the words ‘Holiness to the Lord’ in gilt letters over the front of Zion’s Co-operative Mercantile Institution. Especially was this the case with some of our brethren when they found these letters over the drug department of Z.C.M.I. Why was it? Why, some of these pious Mormons found that Z.C.M.I. sold tea and coffee, and tobacco, and other things possibly that Latter-day Saints ought not to use; and at the drug store, Z.C.M.I. kept liquors of various kinds for medicinal purposes. It was terribly shocking to some of the Latter-day Saints.

Has it ever injured me, in any sense of the word, because Z.C.M.I. drug store kept liquor for sale? Has it made me a drunkard? Have I been under the necessity of guzzling liquid poison? Have I made myself a sot because liquor was kept for sale by Z.C.M.I.?

I am not the worse for it, thank the Lord. And who else is? No one, except those pious Mormons who in open day or under the cover of night would go into the drug store and buy liquor to drink. It does not matter to me how much tea and coffee Z.C.M.I. sells, so long as I do not buy it. If I do not drink it, am I not all right?

– Joseph F. Smith (April 1898)

Cite Keepa

Regrettably, meanies have stolen content from Keepa in the past! I'm confident you will choose honesty and cite this page like this:

MLA: Parshall, Ardis E. ""Have I been under the necessity of guzzling liquid poison?"." Keepapitchin.org, 09 Jan 2019, https://keepapitchinin.org/2019/01/09/have-i-been-under-the-necessity-of-guzzling-liquid-poison/.

APA: Parshall, A. (2019, Jan 09). "Have I been under the necessity of guzzling liquid poison?". Keepapitchinin.org. https://keepapitchinin.org/2019/01/09/have-i-been-under-the-necessity-of-guzzling-liquid-poison/

HTML: <a target="_new" href="https://keepapitchinin.org/2019/01/09/have-i-been-under-the-necessity-of-guzzling-liquid-poison/">"Have I been under the necessity of guzzling liquid poison?"</a>

4 thoughts on ““Have I been under the necessity of guzzling liquid poison?””

  3. Fascinating. At one time, IIRC, it was policy to deny temple recommends to people who worked in the gambling industry; these questions of personal economic entanglement with questionable moral practices is such an interesting one.

  4. MH, I’m from Las Vegas (lived in Reno, too, where I first heard about this from my ward clerk father), and can confirm that a generation ago members who worked in gaming not only couldn’t hold recommends, they weren’t allowed to pay tithing. Er, that is, if they worked as dealers or croupiers or whatever in the casino itself. If they worked in the executive suite upstairs, no problem — accountants and real estate managers, etc., whose sole employer was that casino corporation were fully acceptable. That still bothers me, and I’m glad it changed.

Comments are closed.