[RubberMallet]

i personally don't mind it. i used to drink all the time....but my wife asked that i never do it again, its not something i was entirely attached to so i had no problem abstaining. she knows my stance and i know her stance.

i agree with superjons "rules" or whatever so to speak..

however, when you really think about it, nothing good comes from it. there is no benefit whatsoever from consuming alcohol. all the studies you read don't tell you that there are alternatives....i'd also never want it to hurt my witness...

[givemethemic]

So I guess from my perspective as long as you are in a foreign country and/or not dating my daughter, it is fine with me.

GMTM read this post and promptly passed out.......

Just like in the commercial Miller Lite got me threw it

[adam42381]

however, when you really think about it, nothing good comes from it. there is no benefit whatsoever from consuming alcohol. all the studies you read don't tell you that there are alternatives....i'd also never want it to hurt my witness...

I disagree. My grandmother was ordered by her heart doctor to have one glass of red wine per day. It is very good for the heart, in moderation.

[Purple Haize]

Let me just state the, for the record, I'm surprised this has gone 8 posts without starting a fight, and I hope it stays that way.

IT would have been funnier if you had said a "drunken brawl" LOL

[flameshaw]

however, when you really think about it, nothing good comes from it. there is no benefit whatsoever from consuming alcohol. all the studies you read don't tell you that there are alternatives....i'd also never want it to hurt my witness...

I disagree. My grandmother was ordered by her heart doctor to have one glass of red wine per day. It is very good for the heart, in moderation.

My doctor told me "you are a fool if you drink before you are 40 and a d--n fool if you don't drink after your 40". Don't know, but I always do what my doctor says.

[RubberMallet]

however, when you really think about it, nothing good comes from it. there is no benefit whatsoever from consuming alcohol. all the studies you read don't tell you that there are alternatives....i'd also never want it to hurt my witness...

I disagree. My grandmother was ordered by her heart doctor to have one glass of red wine per day. It is very good for the heart, in moderation.

studies have shown that red grape juice does nearly the exact same thing....it has very little to do with the alcohol...

and how old are you? are you over 50 years old?

[Sly Fox]

I am pleased to see this discussion has maintained some civility. This is clearly a matter where there can be a healthy difference of opinion.

Personally my opinions on the subject have evolved back & forth over the years. I can tell you that my wife & I have pledged to not drink as a standard principle of our marriage. Both of us had experienced the negative aspects of alcoholic consumption and decided it would be a positive step for us to make the decision.

At the same time we fully respect the opinions of others who don't hold the same convictions that we possess.

I also believe there are some people who have a predisposition to alcoholism and even a slight taste can begin a terrible cycle of destruction. Since we don't know who those people are in advance, playing it safe seems like a wise call. Then again it is tough to deny the medicinal values of some wine consumption. But I wonder if too often those limited assets are used as a crutch for the true motivations for drinking.

[adam42381]

studies have shown that red grape juice does nearly the exact same thing....it has very little to do with the alcohol...

and how old are you? are you over 50 years old?

Good point, that is true that there is research that supports that. No, I'm not over 50 years old, I was just saying that there are some good things that can come from drinking alcohol.

[belcherboy]

studies have shown that red grape juice does nearly the exact same thing....it has very little to do with the alcohol...

and how old are you? are you over 50 years old?

Good point, that is true that there is research that supports that. No, I'm not over 50 years old, I was just saying that there are some good things that can come from drinking alcohol.

Well the good can be achieved without the alcohol.

[RubberMallet]

sure...there are benefits during older age, but as i said, there are also non alcoholic alternatives....most heart doctors i know (2) are wino's so i can understand why they'd order it.

i just don't like when people say "its the only thing i can do" (not saying you said this)

[adam42381]

There are also many herbal remedies that could replace many medications but people are still popping pills left and right. There are many options. Alcohol is a drug just like any other. I know that. Caffeine is far more addictive than alcohol or tobacco for most people. Moderation is key in nearly everything you do in life.

[belcherboy]

There are also many herbal remedies that could replace many medications but people are still popping pills left and right. There are many options. Alcohol is a drug just like any other. I know that. Caffeine is far more addictive than alcohol or tobacco for most people. Moderation is key in nearly everything you do in life.

We definitely have a "drug" dependent society. I just find it humorous when Christians claim they drink because they "like the taste", "for their health (my friend mentioned that last week)", or for some other "noble" reason. Alcohol is a drug and I believe that is why the vast majority of people consume it. If we are debating whether alcohol is right or wrong, than that should be a part of the discussion. I just think it is FAR more harmful socially and physically (well tobacco would be considered more harmful physically) than tobacco/caffeine/etc. If a Christian can moderately consume it without harming his testimony, I don't see what the problem is.

[JDUB]

i don't see any positive reason to drink alcohol.
however, i don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with it. i think in moderation its no worse than anything else. i think too much caffeine is bad for you, so is too much alcohol, and too much of anything else. moderation is important.

but like i said, i can't see anything positive in alcohol. A lot of people look down on it, and for me that is enough reason to not do it.

[RagingTireFire]

There has never been, nor will there ever be, a truly intelligent discussion about alcohol among Christians. I'll just leave it at this.

• Reason to drink: I love how vodka tastes and how it makes everything else taste better.
  
  Reason not to drink: I'm a mean drunk.

[4everfsu]

Coffee maybe addictied, but I don't remember anyone drinking coffee getting behind the wheel of their car and killing people or taking a gun and killing someone. That would be enough reason for me not to drink alcohol. I would hate to wake up in jail and be told I wiped out an entire family and cannot remember anything because I was in a drunken stupor.

[LUconn]

vodka makes everything taste better? I think it's pretty obvious that God made everybody different. On our honeymoon, my wife and I had free booze. For the first half of the week we were just trying different things, islandy type drinks since we were in the carribean. A few days into it one of us had the idea to order a virgin whatever it was we wanted. (which is ironic since we were on our honeymoon, but that's for that other thread) Anyway, all of the drinks tasted infinantly better to me without whatever kind of alcohol they were putting in there.

[blwall1416]

Coffee maybe addictied, but I don't remember anyone drinking coffee getting behind the wheel of their car and killing people or taking a gun and killing someone. That would be enough reason for me not to drink alcohol. I would hate to wake up in jail and be told I wiped out an entire family and cannot remember anything because I was in a drunken stupor.

Here, the sin was consuming too much, then making a terrible decision to drive. Look at my previous post...there are many verses in the Bible that deal with the QUANTITY of wine.

I can see NO reason for ever getting drunk. However, when I was growing up, we had a few families in our church that made their own peach or apple brandy. They used it for medicine...especially if someone had a bad cough. These families couldn't afford insurance, so they didn't go to the doctor or hospital unless it was a last resort.

Like I said previously, there are verses the show uses for alcohol. In 1 Tim. 5:23, why did Timothy say to "use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments" when grape juice was readily available?

[blwall1416]

A few days into it one of us had the idea to order a virgin whatever it was we wanted. (which is ironic since we were on our honeymoon, but that's for that other thread)

[RubberMallet]

vodka makes everything taste better? I think it's pretty obvious that God made everybody different. On our honeymoon, my wife and I had free booze. For the first half of the week we were just trying different things, islandy type drinks since we were in the carribean. A few days into it one of us had the idea to order a virgin whatever it was we wanted. (which is ironic since we were on our honeymoon, but that's for that other thread) Anyway, all of the drinks tasted infinantly better to me without whatever kind of alcohol they were putting in there.

for some people the taste of anything with alcohol in it is terrible...these people are like "what is all the fuss about this stuff"....me? i personally used to (i don't know if i do or not) enjoy beer and some scotch/wiskeys.

i keep a few beers around the house strictly for cooking purposes (beer battered stuff) well one night i cracked open a budweiser and my wife took a sip and basically complained the entire night about how bad it tasted....she didn't like wine coolers or wine when she had tried it a while back...she likeyou thinks virgin drinks are a zillion times better than alcoholic drinks...

[PAmedic]

Caffeine is far more addictive than alcohol or tobacco for most people. Moderation is key in nearly everything you do in life.

best post yet.

I can tell you that my doc is FAR more concerned about my Wawa coffee habit (6-8 cups/day) than he is my 3-4 Yuenglings/week.

I enjoy a beer, esp with a good barbeque (or tailgate, as some would say) and find it a nice way to unwind at home after a brutal tour. I don't drink and drive, and if out for dinner, limit it to one or two and MrsPA takes the wheel for the trip home (which puts us in more danger)

[PAmedic]

vodka makes everything taste better? I think it's pretty obvious that God made everybody different. On our honeymoon, my wife and I had free booze. For the first half of the week we were just trying different things, islandy type drinks since we were in the carribean. A few days into it one of us had the idea to order a virgin whatever it was we wanted. (which is ironic since we were on our honeymoon, but that's for that other thread) Anyway, all of the drinks tasted infinantly better to me without whatever kind of alcohol they were putting in there.

everything in the Caribbean has RUM in it. I guarantee thats what you were tasting. I don't care for it, myself.

Good vodka is tasteless in and of itself.

[RubberMallet]

3-4 Yuenglings/week.

"Calling for Al.....Al Coholic? Is there an Al Coholic here?"

[Hold My Own]

Sambuca Baby....... Oh wait.......

WOW...thats funny...i had a umm...friend try that for the first time a few weeks ago...i hear when you put coffee beans in it, it really makes it that much better....hmmmm

[Hold My Own]

Good vodka is tasteless in and of itself.

You are correct...a top shelf vodka such as Ultimate (which can run around $30 a shot) tastes like water...I found that info on google of course, I love that search engine

[BJWilliams]

Personally I have gone back and forth on this sort of thing. My personal conviction is that I never have alcohol. I had periods in my life (especially in my teens) where I thought that maybe I could see myself having a glass of wine in a social setting (when I was old enough to do so legally), but after much thought, I just decided that I would rather not open the door to any potential issue with it. Was I a fairly sheltered child? Yes, very much so. I will gladly admit that. But even so, I was taught to be able to make decisions for myself, because my parents knew that I would be on my own eventually and if mommy and daddy did all the thinking for me, by the time I actually got into the world, if at all, I would probably go completely off the deep end.