Leviticus 10:9
"Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations"
And now for an argument against the overuse of alcohol!
Let me just start by saying I have nothing against drinking. I drink maybe 3 or 4 times a year. Jesus' first miracle was a beer run for folks who had already drained their kegs. I've got no problem with a few belts for whatever reason. Our country tried the 'noble experiment' with prohibition, and it was judged a 'noble failure' (something our War on Drugs could learn a thing or two from).
What I have a problem with is just how destructive alcohol can be to people. I don't just mean a person, I mean entire groups of people, families, communities, even nations. Let me explain what I mean.
When I worked in behavioral health, I took people to attend AA meetings. I did this about once or twice a week, for 3 years. I was amazed at how normal the majority of the people in the room were. I'm not sure what I was expecting (actually, I had my pre-conceived notions of what I would see, and there were a few of them there). What I saw were a whole lot of regular, everyday people who deal with real-life issues, who are completely incapable of controlling themselves when it comes to alcohol. The drink will destroy anything they like, anyone the love, and eventually consume them like a fire burning out of control. So their only winning move is not to play.
Now let's look a things on a slightly larger scale. Remember a little institution called slavery? People believe that it was perpetuated in response to cotton, and that's partly true. If it wasn't for the success of cotton, slavery in the US would have probably been abolished 50-100 years sooner. But the original trade triangle between Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa wasn't based on King Cotton at all.
It was based on King Rum
Originally with the Dutch, but eventually adopted by the Spanish, English, and French as well, slaves were kidnapped and stolen from Africa, and transported to the Caribbean to labor on the sugar plantations. That sugar was then shipped back to Europe for processing into syrup (very tasty), molasses (also tasty, but less useful), and RUM! And for even more irony, the sugar cane wasn't even indigenous to the Caribbean. It was introduced by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage.
Finally, let us discuss the initial and continuing effects of alcohol on the Native American populations of North America. On second thought, let's not. It just gets too depressing. Let's just leave it with the fact that between alcohol and small pox, the native population of the eastern seaboard was reduced to 10% of its previous levels. I'm not saying it was reduced BY 10%, I'm saying only 1 in 10 of the previous residents survived.
So I see what alcohol can do when people are unable to control themselves, and I've decided to not give it the chance to do the same to my world. I drink around 3-4 times a year, and rarely exceed 2 drinks in a single event.
Now you may ask why I am I making an entry on this tonight? Well, its a topic that's been rattling around my head for a while now, and I only had 25 minutes or so until bath time for the boys. Hey, its my blog. If you don't like it , write your own :)
And now for an argument against the overuse of alcohol!
Let me just start by saying I have nothing against drinking. I drink maybe 3 or 4 times a year. Jesus' first miracle was a beer run for folks who had already drained their kegs. I've got no problem with a few belts for whatever reason. Our country tried the 'noble experiment' with prohibition, and it was judged a 'noble failure' (something our War on Drugs could learn a thing or two from).
What I have a problem with is just how destructive alcohol can be to people. I don't just mean a person, I mean entire groups of people, families, communities, even nations. Let me explain what I mean.
When I worked in behavioral health, I took people to attend AA meetings. I did this about once or twice a week, for 3 years. I was amazed at how normal the majority of the people in the room were. I'm not sure what I was expecting (actually, I had my pre-conceived notions of what I would see, and there were a few of them there). What I saw were a whole lot of regular, everyday people who deal with real-life issues, who are completely incapable of controlling themselves when it comes to alcohol. The drink will destroy anything they like, anyone the love, and eventually consume them like a fire burning out of control. So their only winning move is not to play.
Now let's look a things on a slightly larger scale. Remember a little institution called slavery? People believe that it was perpetuated in response to cotton, and that's partly true. If it wasn't for the success of cotton, slavery in the US would have probably been abolished 50-100 years sooner. But the original trade triangle between Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa wasn't based on King Cotton at all.
It was based on King Rum
Originally with the Dutch, but eventually adopted by the Spanish, English, and French as well, slaves were kidnapped and stolen from Africa, and transported to the Caribbean to labor on the sugar plantations. That sugar was then shipped back to Europe for processing into syrup (very tasty), molasses (also tasty, but less useful), and RUM! And for even more irony, the sugar cane wasn't even indigenous to the Caribbean. It was introduced by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage.
Finally, let us discuss the initial and continuing effects of alcohol on the Native American populations of North America. On second thought, let's not. It just gets too depressing. Let's just leave it with the fact that between alcohol and small pox, the native population of the eastern seaboard was reduced to 10% of its previous levels. I'm not saying it was reduced BY 10%, I'm saying only 1 in 10 of the previous residents survived.
So I see what alcohol can do when people are unable to control themselves, and I've decided to not give it the chance to do the same to my world. I drink around 3-4 times a year, and rarely exceed 2 drinks in a single event.
Now you may ask why I am I making an entry on this tonight? Well, its a topic that's been rattling around my head for a while now, and I only had 25 minutes or so until bath time for the boys. Hey, its my blog. If you don't like it , write your own :)
Comments