Moral Maladies
179
Its influence is to excite and strengthen the lower passions, and has
a tendency to deaden the moral powers.... The less feverish the diet,
the more easily can the passions be controlled.—
Testimonies for the
Church 2:352
.
928. You place upon your tables butter, eggs, and meat, and your
children partake of them. They are fed with the very things that will
excite their animal passions, and then you come to meeting and ask
God to bless and save your children.—
Testimonies for the Church
2:362
.
929. The very food they place before their children is such as to
irritate the tender coats of the stomach. This excitement is communi-
cated, through the nerves, to the brain, and the result is that the animal
passions are aroused, and control the moral powers.—
Testimonies for
the Church 4:140
.
930. By indulging in a wrong course of eating and drinking,
thousands upon thousands are ruining their health, and not only is
their health ruined, but their morals are corrupted, because diseased
[218]
blood flows through their veins.—
Unpublished Testimonies, August
30, 1896
.
Idleness
931. To relieve the young from healthful labor is the worst possible
course a parent can pursue. Their life is then aimless, the mind and
hands unoccupied, the imagination active, and left free to indulge in
thoughts that are not pure and healthful. In this condition they are
inclined to indulge still more freely in that vice which is the foundation
of all their complaints.... Some mothers with their own hands open the
door and virtually invite the devil in, by permitting their children to
remain in idleness.—
A Solemn Appeal, 58
.
Wicked Associates
932. Children who are experienced in this vice seem to be be-
witched by the devil until they can impart their vile knowledge to
others.—
A Solemn Appeal, 54
.
933. Neighbors may permit their children to come to your house,
to spend the evening and the night with your children. Here is a trial,
and a choice for you, to run the risk of offending your neighbors by