Go your way. Eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart. For God has accepted your works. Ecc 9:7
I am a Christian with a bar in her house. (No surprise there, right?) I'm a Christian who always has a bottle of vodka in the freezer, and a well-aged Rioja on the wine rack. I celebrate big events with champagne and I chase bad days with rum. And you know what? I think God is okay with it.
It's true, ya know, what all these liberal Christians (people after my own merry heart) say: there is no direct line in the Bible where God instructs Christians not to drink. And that's pretty kind of Him, if you think about it, because just a few centuries back, during the height of Medieval times, the good, God-fearing people of what would become to be the United Kingdom, had a stark choice to make: drink beer or die of the plague. Yes, there was a time in history when beer was safer to drink than water. When drinking water could have led to all manner of parasite and certain death, distilled, sanitized beer was held in regard as being life saving nectar.
Of course they weren't sipping the mellow hops of today's commercial beers. Food historians tell us the ale they glugged was pretty foul, but it kept them alive. Let's think about that: this country that was so wrapped in religion, that put America to shame when it came to the outright belief in God and being godly and living a life in moral alignment with the Good Book. This crusade launching, missionary growing, God fearing lot lived off of beer and God didn't smite them. Didn't punish them. Didn't plague their country with ill fortune every time the tankard was raised bottoms up.
I get so pissed off when I hear people bash Christians who drink. Yet repeatedly over and over, what the Bible says is, "do not be drunk" "do not be drunk" "do not be drunk". It is the height of sheer ignorance to assume, as the popular and pedestal-elevated scaremongers at Crossroads Christians have, that drinking is on par with being drunk. It is the height of ignorance to think that a bottle of beer, a margarita or a single shot of whiskey is going to send any able-bodied and of age adult into a spiraling free fall of addiction, drunkenness and general filthy stupor. That's like saying eating one calorie-ridden doughnut is going to make the size 2 model gain 400 pounds. It's ludicrous. Yet, it's what we teach in Christianity today. It's the message that we constantly drive home to our kids, it's the mantra we browbeat each other with and it's shouted from the pulpits with the same ferocity of "God hates fags". And it's just as ridiculous.
That ridiculous article that I linked to is filled with half thought, poorly executed arguments that do nothing more than drive a wedge where a wedge shouldn't be. Take the title. "Should Christians Drink Alcohol?" Well, to be completely honest, a Christian should do what he or she feels is morally right for them and shouldn't be painted with the blanket stick of thus saith Barry Cameron. Should Christians drink alcohol? Why don't you go back and ask those believers from the Middle Ages? Better yet, why don't you consult the Bible? What does the Bible say? In Ecclesiastes 9:7, it says in fact that yes, you should. And not only should you, but you should do it with a merry heart. God's pretty big on merry hearts you know. Earlier, in Proverbs He contends that "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine but a broken spirit drieth the bones."
Dry bones, parched throats, sour-faced Christians pointing the finger and slamming one another for alcohol? Notice a trend? Barry Cameron continues to rage on in his article, doling out poorly executed and ridiculous statements like this one, "I have yet to hear from anyone who drinks how alcohol enhances anything or blesses anyone." Yup, he said that. You couldn't make this stuff up. Allow me to tackle this one from two different view points:
First off, alcohol bloody well enhances loads. Are you kidding me, Cameron? Clearly, the man has never sat down to an intricately detailed and perfectly executed meal. Clearly, the man has never heard of the occupation of a sommelier. A person trained and specialized in the pairing of wine with food. Not out of pretension, but because when paired properly, when regarded intelligently, wine can and certainly does enhance food. At the $150 bucks a plate level and at the basic home cook level, too. Cameron, here's a challenge for you: whip up a risotto without the wine. Now, whip up one as it was intended, with the rice bathed in crisp white wine.
Secondly, Cameron, I've never heard anyone make that statement about any beverage. When's the last time someone spoke a monologue on the enhancing properties and the blessing inducing nature of Coca Cola, orange juice or coconut water? The first rule of debate is not to bait your readers with absurd ploys that sound good on the surface but are as shallow as the half drunk glass of white wine next to my computer.
Other pitfalls of Cameron's article and most evangelical Christians today is this scaremongering associated with drinking. I don't believe in scaring anyone to doing anything. Much less an adult. I'm so sick of hearing the sad stories of Martha, the 65 year old drunk who ruined her children's lives with liquor. Who slept around and was indiscreet and is now a brittle boned hag with a rotting liver and a stench of bad relationships. It echoes what I said: anyone who believes a drink is going to led to addiction and alcoholism as its default modus operandi is ridiculous, stupid and needs educating.
Drinking isn't going to turn anyone who doesn't have a predisposition for alcoholism and addiction into an addict. It just won't. Some people have scientifically proven genetic markers that make them more susceptible to make drugs and alcohol or anything else for that matter an addiction. If you're wired not to be easily addicted, then you aren't going be easily addicted. End of. I'll state it again: a lack of self control, an affinity for addiction and a refusal to monitor one's habits leads to addiction.
Finally, why is it that Christians in America are constantly having this debate? Why is that Americans are hard up on the booze? Is it because of cultural differences? Is it because American Christians have been raised in churches and homes where alcohol has been treated like festering muck? Is it because it's the Christian way for someone to harp on a rule and beat it over the backs of everyone else until they're afraid to even think differently or to even look in the Bible or search for answers of their own volition?
In England, drinking is still a social activity. Enjoyed by a great majority of the population, Christians and non Christians. Vicars of churches and priests can be seen down the pub, enjoying a pint and a lively debate over theology. What is it about American Christians that makes them so anti-drink?
Furthermore, what is about American Christians that makes them so ready to accept the opinion of one man (usually their preacher) and live by it and pass it off as gold without even seeing what the only Man who matters thinks about the subject? This lack of personal education and personal debate with God has led, currently leads and will continue to lead Christians to the slaughter. These types of Christians line up dumbly behind the poorly disguised wolf, follow his every word and are then surprised when he turns around and bites them. But if only they had searched the Scriptures. If only they had been confident enough to seek out a personal relationship with God, the kind that means they could confront Him with their issues and receive answers; the kind that empowers, then things would be different.
Instead, too many Christians today leave the important stuff to their ministers. They're far too happy to be spoon fed nuggets of Pastor's Doctrine and Pastor's Personal Conviction even when it grossly and hugely conflicts with the Bible. But because none of them are taught to challenge anything and because they don't have the motivation to search for themselves, why are we shocked?
It's true, ya know, what all these liberal Christians (people after my own merry heart) say: there is no direct line in the Bible where God instructs Christians not to drink. And that's pretty kind of Him, if you think about it, because just a few centuries back, during the height of Medieval times, the good, God-fearing people of what would become to be the United Kingdom, had a stark choice to make: drink beer or die of the plague. Yes, there was a time in history when beer was safer to drink than water. When drinking water could have led to all manner of parasite and certain death, distilled, sanitized beer was held in regard as being life saving nectar.
Of course they weren't sipping the mellow hops of today's commercial beers. Food historians tell us the ale they glugged was pretty foul, but it kept them alive. Let's think about that: this country that was so wrapped in religion, that put America to shame when it came to the outright belief in God and being godly and living a life in moral alignment with the Good Book. This crusade launching, missionary growing, God fearing lot lived off of beer and God didn't smite them. Didn't punish them. Didn't plague their country with ill fortune every time the tankard was raised bottoms up.
I get so pissed off when I hear people bash Christians who drink. Yet repeatedly over and over, what the Bible says is, "do not be drunk" "do not be drunk" "do not be drunk". It is the height of sheer ignorance to assume, as the popular and pedestal-elevated scaremongers at Crossroads Christians have, that drinking is on par with being drunk. It is the height of ignorance to think that a bottle of beer, a margarita or a single shot of whiskey is going to send any able-bodied and of age adult into a spiraling free fall of addiction, drunkenness and general filthy stupor. That's like saying eating one calorie-ridden doughnut is going to make the size 2 model gain 400 pounds. It's ludicrous. Yet, it's what we teach in Christianity today. It's the message that we constantly drive home to our kids, it's the mantra we browbeat each other with and it's shouted from the pulpits with the same ferocity of "God hates fags". And it's just as ridiculous.
That ridiculous article that I linked to is filled with half thought, poorly executed arguments that do nothing more than drive a wedge where a wedge shouldn't be. Take the title. "Should Christians Drink Alcohol?" Well, to be completely honest, a Christian should do what he or she feels is morally right for them and shouldn't be painted with the blanket stick of thus saith Barry Cameron. Should Christians drink alcohol? Why don't you go back and ask those believers from the Middle Ages? Better yet, why don't you consult the Bible? What does the Bible say? In Ecclesiastes 9:7, it says in fact that yes, you should. And not only should you, but you should do it with a merry heart. God's pretty big on merry hearts you know. Earlier, in Proverbs He contends that "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine but a broken spirit drieth the bones."
Dry bones, parched throats, sour-faced Christians pointing the finger and slamming one another for alcohol? Notice a trend? Barry Cameron continues to rage on in his article, doling out poorly executed and ridiculous statements like this one, "I have yet to hear from anyone who drinks how alcohol enhances anything or blesses anyone." Yup, he said that. You couldn't make this stuff up. Allow me to tackle this one from two different view points:
First off, alcohol bloody well enhances loads. Are you kidding me, Cameron? Clearly, the man has never sat down to an intricately detailed and perfectly executed meal. Clearly, the man has never heard of the occupation of a sommelier. A person trained and specialized in the pairing of wine with food. Not out of pretension, but because when paired properly, when regarded intelligently, wine can and certainly does enhance food. At the $150 bucks a plate level and at the basic home cook level, too. Cameron, here's a challenge for you: whip up a risotto without the wine. Now, whip up one as it was intended, with the rice bathed in crisp white wine.
Secondly, Cameron, I've never heard anyone make that statement about any beverage. When's the last time someone spoke a monologue on the enhancing properties and the blessing inducing nature of Coca Cola, orange juice or coconut water? The first rule of debate is not to bait your readers with absurd ploys that sound good on the surface but are as shallow as the half drunk glass of white wine next to my computer.
Other pitfalls of Cameron's article and most evangelical Christians today is this scaremongering associated with drinking. I don't believe in scaring anyone to doing anything. Much less an adult. I'm so sick of hearing the sad stories of Martha, the 65 year old drunk who ruined her children's lives with liquor. Who slept around and was indiscreet and is now a brittle boned hag with a rotting liver and a stench of bad relationships. It echoes what I said: anyone who believes a drink is going to led to addiction and alcoholism as its default modus operandi is ridiculous, stupid and needs educating.
Drinking isn't going to turn anyone who doesn't have a predisposition for alcoholism and addiction into an addict. It just won't. Some people have scientifically proven genetic markers that make them more susceptible to make drugs and alcohol or anything else for that matter an addiction. If you're wired not to be easily addicted, then you aren't going be easily addicted. End of. I'll state it again: a lack of self control, an affinity for addiction and a refusal to monitor one's habits leads to addiction.
Finally, why is it that Christians in America are constantly having this debate? Why is that Americans are hard up on the booze? Is it because of cultural differences? Is it because American Christians have been raised in churches and homes where alcohol has been treated like festering muck? Is it because it's the Christian way for someone to harp on a rule and beat it over the backs of everyone else until they're afraid to even think differently or to even look in the Bible or search for answers of their own volition?
In England, drinking is still a social activity. Enjoyed by a great majority of the population, Christians and non Christians. Vicars of churches and priests can be seen down the pub, enjoying a pint and a lively debate over theology. What is it about American Christians that makes them so anti-drink?
Furthermore, what is about American Christians that makes them so ready to accept the opinion of one man (usually their preacher) and live by it and pass it off as gold without even seeing what the only Man who matters thinks about the subject? This lack of personal education and personal debate with God has led, currently leads and will continue to lead Christians to the slaughter. These types of Christians line up dumbly behind the poorly disguised wolf, follow his every word and are then surprised when he turns around and bites them. But if only they had searched the Scriptures. If only they had been confident enough to seek out a personal relationship with God, the kind that means they could confront Him with their issues and receive answers; the kind that empowers, then things would be different.
Instead, too many Christians today leave the important stuff to their ministers. They're far too happy to be spoon fed nuggets of Pastor's Doctrine and Pastor's Personal Conviction even when it grossly and hugely conflicts with the Bible. But because none of them are taught to challenge anything and because they don't have the motivation to search for themselves, why are we shocked?