Teetotalism is the practice of never consuming alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler (US) or teetotaller (UK), or said to be teetotal. Globally, almost half of adults do not drink alcohol (excluding those who used to drink but have stopped). [1] A number of temperance organisations have been founded in order to promote teetotalism and provide spaces for non-drinkers to socialise. [2]
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary , the tee- in teetotal is the letter T, so it is actually t-total, though it was never spelled that way. [3] The word is first recorded in 1832 in a general sense in an American source, and in 1833 in England in the context of abstinence. Since at first it was used in other contexts as an emphasised form of total, the tee- is presumably a reduplication of the first letter of total, much as contemporary idiom might say "total with a capital T". [4]
The teetotalism movement first started in Preston, England, in the early 19th century. [5] The Preston Temperance Society was founded in 1833 by Joseph Livesey, who was to become a leader of the temperance movement and the author of The Pledge : "We agree to abstain from all liquors of an intoxicating quality whether ale, porter, wine, or ardent spirits, except as medicine." [6] Today, a number of temperance organisations exist that promote teetotalism as a virtue. [7]
Richard Turner, a member of the Preston Temperance Society, is credited with using the existing slang word, "teetotally", for abstinence from all intoxicating liquors. [4] One anecdote describes a meeting of the society in 1833, at which Turner in giving a speech said, "I'll be reet down out-and-out t-t-total for ever and ever." [6] [8] Walter William Skeat noted that the Turner anecdote had been recorded by temperance advocate Joseph Livesey, and posited that the term may have been inspired by the teetotum; [9] however, James B. Greenough stated that "nobody ever thought teetotum and teetotaler were etymologically connected." [10]
A variation on the above account is found on the pages of The Charleston Observer:
Teetotalers.—The origin of this convenient word, (as convenient almost, although not so general in its application as loafer,) is, we imagine, known but to few who use it. It originated, as we learn from the Landmark, with a man named Turner, a member of the Preston Temperance Society, who, having an impediment of speech, in addressing a meeting remarked, that partial abstinence from intoxicating liquors would not do; they must insist upon tee-tee-(stammering) tee total abstinence. Hence total abstainers have been called teetotalers. [11]
According to historian Daniel Walker Howe (What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848, 2007) the term was derived from the practice of American preacher and temperance advocate Lyman Beecher. He would take names at his meetings of people who pledged alcoholic temperance and noted those who pledged total abstinence with a T. Such persons became known as Teetotallers.
When at drinking establishments, teetotallers either never drink alcohol or consume non-alcoholic beverages such as water, juice, tea, coffee, non-alcoholic soft drinks, virgin drinks, mocktails, and alcohol-free beer.
Most teetotaller organisations also demand from their members that they do not promote or produce alcoholic intoxicants. [12] [13]
Some common reasons for choosing teetotalism are psychological, religious, health, [14] medical, philosophical, social, political, past alcoholism, or simply preference.
A number of Christian denominations forbid the consumption of alcohol, or recommend the non-consumption thereof, including certain Anabaptist denominations such as the Mennonites (both Old Order Mennonites and Conservative Mennonites), Church of the Brethren, Beachy Amish and New Order Amish. Many Christian groups, such as Methodists (especially those aligned with the Holiness movement) and Quakers (particularly the Conservative Friends and Holiness Friends), are often associated with teetotalism due to their traditionally strong support for temperance movements, as well as prohibition. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Seventh-day Adventists, and Holiness Pentecostals also preach abstinence from alcohol and other drugs. Many members of these Christian religious groups are also required to refrain from selling such products.
Conservative Anabaptist denominations of Christianity proscribe the use of alcohol and other drugs. [15] [16] The following teaching of the Dunkard Brethren Church is reflective of Conservative Anabaptism:
Members of the Dunkard Brethren Church shall abstain from the use of intoxicating or addictive substances, such as narcotics, nicotine, marijuana, or alcoholic beverages (except as directed by a physician). Using, raising, manufacturing, buying or selling them by Christians is inconsistent with the Christian lifestyle and testimony. Members of the Dunkard Brethren Church who do so should be counseled in love and forbearance. If they manifest an unwilling or arbitrary spirit, they subject themselves to the discipline of the church, even to expulsion in extreme cases. We implore members to accept the advice and counsel of the church and abstain from all of the above. Since members are to be examples to the world (Romans 14:20–21) indulgence in any of these activities disqualifies then for Church or Sunday School work or as delegates to District or General Conference. [15]
With respect to Methodism, the Church of the Nazarene and Wesleyan Methodist Church, both denominations in the Wesleyan-Arminian tradition, teach abstinence from alcohol. [17] [18] Members of denominations in the conservative holiness movement, such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Evangelical Wesleyan Church, practice temperance and teetotalism, thus abstaining from alcohol and other drugs. [19] The Book of Discipline of the Immanuel Missionary Church, a Methodist denomination, states: [20]
Temperance is the moderate use of that which is beneficial, and a total abstinence from that which is harmful. Therefore no member shall be permitted to use or sell intoxicating liquors, tobacco, or harmful drugs, or to be guilty of things which are only for the gratification of the depraved appetite, and are unbecoming and inconsistent with our Christian profession (I Cor. 10:31). —General Standards, Immanuel Missionary Church [20]
Uniformed members of the Salvation Army ("soldiers" and "officers") make a promise on joining the movement to observe lifelong abstinence from alcohol. This dates back to the early years of the organisation, and the missionary work among alcoholics.
With respect to Restorationist Christianity, members of certain groups within the Christian Science movement abstain from the consumption of alcohol.[ citation needed ]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rejects alcohol based upon the Word of Wisdom. [21]
Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Anglican Communion all require wine in their central religious rite of the Eucharist (Holy Communion). In contrast, churches in the Methodist tradition (which traditionally upholds teetotalism) require that "pure, unfermented juice of the grape" be used in the sacrament of Holy Communion. [22]
In the Gospel of Luke (1:13–15), the angel that announces the birth of John the Baptist foretells that "he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb". A free translation of the New Testament, the Purified Translation of the Bible (2000), translates in a way that promotes teetotalism. However, the term 'wine' (and similar terms) being consumed by God's people occurs over two hundred times in both the Old and New Testament. [23]
Some Christians choose to practice teetotalism throughout the Lent season, giving up alcoholic beverages as their Lenten sacrifice. [24] [25]
Jainism forbids the consumption of alcohol, in addition to trade in alcohol. [26] [27]
In Hinduism, the consumption of alcohol and other intoxicants, called surāpāna, is considered the second mahāpātaka, or great sin. [28] Hindus are prohibited from drinking alcohol "as it has a direct impact on the nervous system, leading to actions that a sound person normally would not." [29]
Similarly, one of the five precepts of Buddhism is abstaining from intoxicating substances that disturb the peace and self-control of the mind, but it is formulated as a training rule to be assumed voluntarily by laypeople rather than as a commandment.[ citation needed ] Buddhist monks and nuns who hold traditional vows are forbidden from consuming alcohol.[ citation needed ]
In Islam, the Arabic word "Khamr" (Arabic: خمر) refers to any intoxicant. Muslim countries have low rates of alcohol consumption, with many enforcing a policy of Prohibition. Additionally, the majority of Muslims do not drink and believe consuming alcohol is forbidden (haram). [30] [31]
Ibn Majah and al-Tirmidhi narrated an authentic Hadith that if a Muslim drinks alcohol and does not repent, he would enter Hell after death and be "made to drink from the pus of the people of Jahannum." [32]
Dominic Conroy and Richard de Visser published research in Psychology and Health that studied strategies used by college students who would like to resist peer pressure to drink alcohol in social settings. The research hinted that students are less likely to give in to peer pressure if they have strong friendships and make a decision not to drink before social interactions. [33]
A 2015 study by the Office for National Statistics showed that young Britons were more likely to be teetotallers than their parents. [34]
According to Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health, published by WHO in 2011, close to half of the world's adult population (45 percent) are lifetime abstainers. The Eastern Mediterranean Region, consisting of the Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa, is by far the lowest alcohol-consuming region in the world, both in terms of total adult per-capita consumption and prevalence of non-drinkers, i.e., 87.8 percent lifetime abstainers. [1]
This is a list of notable figures who practiced teetotalism and were public advocates for temperance, teetotalism, or both. To be included in this list, individuals must be well-known for their abstention from alcohol, their advocacy efforts, or both. Individuals whose abstention from alcohol is not a defining characteristic or feature of their notability are intentionally excluded.
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The word is also used to refer to a period of time during which such bans are enforced.
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emphasize alcohol's negative effects on people's health, personalities and family lives. Typically the movement promotes alcohol education and it also demands the passage of new laws against the sale of alcohol, either regulations on the availability of alcohol, or the complete prohibition of it.
Abstinence pledges are commitments made by people, often though not always teenagers and young adults, to practice abstinence, usually in the case of practicing teetotalism with respect to abstaining from alcohol and other drugs, or chastity, with respect to abstaining from sexual intercourse until marriage; in the case of sexual abstinence, they are sometimes also known as purity pledges or virginity pledges. They are most common in the United States among Catholic and Evangelical Christian denominations, while others are nonsectarian.
Sobriety is the condition of not having any effects from alcohol and other drugs. Sobriety is also considered to be the natural state of a human being at birth. A person in a state of sobriety is considered sober. Organizations of the temperance movement have encouraged sobriety as being normative in society.
Hope UK is a United Kingdom Christian charity based in London, England, which educates children and young people about drug and alcohol abuse. Local meetings started in 1847 and a formal organisation was established in 1855 with the name The United Kingdom Band of Hope Union.
The Friday fast is a Christian practice of variously abstaining from meat, dairy products and alcohol, on Fridays, or holding a fast on Fridays, that is found most frequently in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist traditions. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, written in the first century A.D., directed Christians to fast on both Wednesdays and Fridays. The Wednesday fast is done in remembrance of the story of the betrayal of Christ by Judas on Spy Wednesday, while the Friday fast is done in commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. As such, all Fridays of the year have been historically kept in many parts of Christendom as a day of strict fasting and abstinence from alcohol, meat and lacticinia. Abstinence from meat on Fridays is done as a sacrifice by many Christians because they believe that on Good Friday, Jesus sacrificed his flesh for humanity. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, in addition to fasting from food until sundown, the faithful are enjoined to abstain from sexual relations on Fridays as well.
Many religions have expressed positions on what is acceptable to consume as a means of intoxication for spiritual, pleasure, or medicinal purposes. Psychoactive substances may also play a significant part in the development of religion and religious views as well as in rituals.
The American Temperance Society (ATS), also known as the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance, was a society established on February 13, 1826, in Boston, Massachusetts. Within five years there were 2,220 local chapters in the U.S. with 170,000 members who had taken a pledge to abstain from drinking distilled beverages, though not including wine and beer; it permitted the medicinal use of alcohol as well. Within ten years, there were over 8,000 local groups and more than 1,250,000 members who had taken the pledge.
The United Kingdom Alliance (UKA) was a temperance movement in the United Kingdom founded in 1853 in Manchester to work for the prohibition of the trade in alcohol in the United Kingdom. This occurred in a context of support for the type of law passed by General Neal Dow in Maine, United States, in 1851, prohibiting the sale of intoxicants.
Christian views on alcohol are varied. Throughout the first 1,800 years of Church history, Christians generally consumed alcoholic beverages as a common part of everyday life and used "the fruit of the vine" in their central rite—the Eucharist or Lord's Supper. They held that both the Bible and Christian tradition taught that alcohol is a gift from God that makes life more joyous, but that over-indulgence leading to drunkenness is sinful. However, the alcoholic content of ancient alcoholic beverages was significantly lower than that of modern alcoholic beverages. The low alcoholic content was due to the limitations of fermentation and the nonexistence of distillation methods in the ancient world. Rabbinic teachers wrote acceptance criteria on consumability of ancient alcoholic beverages after significant dilution with water, and prohibited undiluted wine.
A temperance bar, also known as an alcohol-free bar, sober bar, or dry bar, is a type of bar that does not serve alcoholic beverages. An alcohol-free bar can be a business establishment or located in a non-business environment or event, such as at a wedding. Alcohol-free bars typically serve non-alcoholic beverages, such as non-alcoholic cocktails known as mocktails, alcohol-free beer or low-alcohol beer, alcohol-free wine, juice, soft drinks and water. Popular temperance drinks include cream soda, dandelion and burdock, sarsaparilla, and Vimto, among others. Various foods may also be served.
The Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America was a Catholic temperance organization active in the 19th and 20th centuries. The work of Father Mathew in promoting temperance across the U.S. led to the establishment of numerous separate and independent Catholic temperance groups. The Catholic temperance societies of Connecticut created a state union in 1871, from which a national union was formed the following year at a convention in Baltimore, Maryland. 177 such societies from 10 states and the District of Columbia, representing a total of 26,481 members, created the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America. In total, over 500,000 Catholics made the temperance of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America.
Abstinence is the practice of self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol, drugs, food, or other comforts.
Religion and alcohol have a complex history. The world's religions have had different relationships with alcohol, reflecting diverse cultural, social, and religious practices across different traditions. While some religions strictly prohibit alcohol consumption, viewing it as sinful or harmful to spiritual and physical well-being, others incorporate it into their rituals and ceremonies. Throughout history, alcohol has held significant roles in religious observances, from the use of sacramental wine in Christian sacraments to the offering and moderate drinking of omiki in Shinto purification rituals.
In the United States, the temperance movement, which sought to curb the consumption of alcohol, had a large influence on American politics and American society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, culminating in the prohibition of alcohol, through the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, from 1920 to 1933. Today, there are organizations that continue to promote the cause of temperance.
The temperance movement in the United Kingdom was a social movement that campaigned against the recreational use and sale of alcohol, and promoted total abstinence (teetotalism). In the 19th century, high levels of alcohol consumption and drunkenness were seen by social reformers as a danger to society's wellbeing, leading to social issues such as poverty, child neglect, immorality and economic decline. Temperance societies began to be formed in the 1830s to campaign against alcohol. Specific groups were created over periods of time dedicated to the different aspects of drinking. For example, in 1847, the Band of Hope was created to persuade children not to start drinking alcohol. Most of these temperance groups were aimed at the working class. Temperance was also supported by some religious groups, particularly the Nonconformist Churches. Although the temperance movement met with local success in parts of Britain, it failed to impose national prohibition, and disappeared as a significant force following the Second World War.
Catholic involvement in the temperance movement has been very strong since at least the nineteenth century, with a number of specifically Catholic societies formed to encourage moderation or total abstinence from alcohol.
Christian dietary laws vary between denominations. The general dietary restrictions specified for Christians in the New Testament are to "abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals". Some Christian denominations forbid certain foods during periods of fasting, which in some cases may cover half the year and may exclude meat, fish, dairy products, and olive oil.
A Lenten sacrifice is a spiritual practice where Christians, particularly Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Moravians and the United Protestants voluntarily renounce a pleasure or luxury during the observance of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday. The tradition of Lent has its roots in Jesus Christ praying and fasting for forty days in the desert according to the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. When Lent is over and Easter Sunday arrives, the faithful are able to indulge in what they sacrificed during the Lenten season.
This page is a list of terms related to the psychoactive drug alcohol.
The pure, unfermented juice of the grape shall be used. The "fair white linen cloth" is merely a table covering that is appropriate for this central sacrament of the church.
The dictionary definition of teetotal at Wiktionary