What Does temperance Mean
From the Latin temperantia , temperance is related to sobriety or moderation of character . A temperate person reacts in a balanced way as they have considerable control over their emotions and are able to control their impulses.
Christianity regards temperance as one of the four cardinal virtues . It is a moral virtue that consists in the moderation of appetites and the attraction that pleasures exert from reason.
According to this religious doctrine, temperance reflects the dominance of the human will and allows limits to be set on desires (generally linked to sin ). Temperance allows the person to be balanced and to weigh his natural tendency towards the pleasures of the senses and spiritual recollection.
The Christian religion explains that the energies destined to satisfy the desires of the senses can become destructive, and that it is thanks to the virtue of temperance that people can recognize what their real needs are (those that collaborate with their development and well-being. ) and what are the needs created from the inexhaustible desires that arise by the ego and that, therefore, harm the individual.
In this sense, temperance endows human beings with freedom, since it prevents the emergence of vices or submission to impulses .
In the field of painting , temperance is the harmony and good disposition of colors . The concept, once again, appears associated with balance .
Movement for temperance
It is known by the name of Movement for temperance or for temperance a social movement against alcohol consumption, which spread in Anglo-Saxon countries, such as the United States, England, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia and Canada. Among its objectives, it was to end alcoholism, and it sought it through campaigns to promote abstinence, as well as by supporting bills that would oppose the consumption of alcoholic beverages in excess.
At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, the first associations or leagues for temperance saw the light of day on North American soil, more precisely in New York, Virginia and Connecticut. They moved based on the damage , both physical and psychological, that alcohol produces. Over time they were extended: before the year 1830, the initiative was reflected in another eight states.
Specifically in 1826 the North American Society for Temperance was born , which enjoyed great popularity thanks to the respect that North American society felt for morals and religious precepts at that time. In little more than a decade it managed to surpass 8,000 local offices and a million and a half associates, and it was not long before they managed to publish their ideas on paper in almost two dozen print media.
Its members found a strong relationship between the excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages and gender violence against women, for which they frequently collaborated with organizations in favor of women's rights. One character who undoubtedly stood out among the movement's followers was Carrie Nation, a woman who left indelible marks through her "unexpected visits" to bars and taverns with an ax, which she used to smash bottles.
Some of the religions that supported the development of this movement, both directly and indirectly, are Methodism and Mormonism. It lived its best thanks to Prohibition , although the town soon concluded that the prohibition generated more problems than freedom.