While driving down East Broad Street last night, I saw a very interesting sign that was held by a young man who was screaming at the top of his lungs at oncoming traffic and at pedestrians near College Square. It said “DRUNKENNESS IS A SIN.”
This, of course, is not the first time that religious nut jobs have invaded downtown Athens. They seem to flock to college towns to tell us we are all going to Hell blah blah blah and try to persuade the masses that drinking is evil, blah, blah, blah. They did it when I was in school at South Carolina and I am sure they go to every other college in the nation, too.
But see this sign coupled with a conversation I had with my best friend (who, for the record, doesn’t drink at all and never has) a few weeks ago got me thinking about beer in general.
To sum up our conversation, we were talking about the impending nuptials of a mutual friend of ours and she informed me that it would be a dry wedding. Now, as an ex-Catholic, the words “dry” and “wedding” do not often appear in the same sentence. I told her just because they wouldn’t be serving booze, didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any there. I’ve lived in the South for 10 years now; I know how to pack a cooler for a tailgate party.
Anyway, the reason for said dry wedding was because the bride’s family is uber religious and thinks alcohol is sinful blah, blah blah.
I told that the next time some tells her “alcohol is sinful,” just reply that the whole “alcohol is sinful thing” is relatively new. For many centuries (before and after Christ), beer was consumed more than water. Why you might ask? The same reason you are better off drinking beer over water in Mexico — the quality of drinking water is/was questionable. I know this because of this show on The History Channel.
“Monks themselves were allowed to drink and many of the master breweries around Europe - such as Becks - were formed by them,” the History Channel show says. And if monks were allowed to drink, I am pretty sure the rest of us can.
And if you want to go even further back, the ancient Egyptians made beer possibly as early as 6th millennium B.C.
And if there was an actual Last Supper, I am pretty sure Jesus served actual wine, not Welch’s.
But this one — this one is the kicker. “The records of the Mayflower for example state that one reason that the Pilgrim Fathers decided to land on Plymouth Rock and not further south in the West Indies, as they had intended, was because "our rations of beer were nearly spent," the History Channel show says.
THEY WERE PURITANS!!! You can’t get much more religious than that.
But here is the point. Just because you choose not to do something (be it drinking, smoking, having sex), doesn’t give you the right to tell others they can’t. You might not like it, you might downright hate it, but you don’t have the right to tell people what to do. And you especially don’t have the right to do so with historically inaccurate information.
- Ann Marie Miani's blog
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Well, as long as it is kosher...
he would probably drink anything. He may even smoke.
Afterall, these religious nut jobs have forgotten something very important...Jesus was Jewish.
WWJD? Well, he would not go to church...he would go to the synagogue on Saturdays...and he would vote for Democrats!
Well said. You are right of
Well said. You are right of course. People do have a tendency to forget those teeny little facts, don't they?
A question: would you have
A question: would you have pointed out a Planned Parenthood Rally on the street to post about? Probably not, but as an ex-Catholic, as you like to remind us all very often, you probably have some strong feelings about abortion. But why do you keep calling these people with differing opinions "nuts?" Have you not noticed that our candidate for President is reaching out to evangelicals in Kentucky? Sure, he said some folks cling to God as a safety net, but why should that be bad? Let them do that and let it be. Besides, you've given the very group you're so against another mention here, which is more attention for their cause, so you're cutting off your nose to spite your face.
For the record, there is a verse in Timothy about drunkenness being the opposite of how church leaders (and all members) should behave. Not drinking, but drunkenness. And why not? Drinking, as you point out, has a long tradition, and there's nothing wrong with it. However, when you're drunk, your faculties are inhibited, which can lead to other bad behaviors.
Finally, if your friend wants to have a dry wedding, why show her such disrespect by going against her wishes? She's the bride and this is her big day. You can go to a bar after the reception, or just don't go. It seems petty and childish to try to sneak in a cooler, not to mention classless. You're better than that.
An answer
Well personally I would call anyone a nut who was holding a sign and screaming at oncoming traffic. And I mean anyone — liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican. I just don't think that is the best way to get your point across. I thought it was equally silly for those girls who stood out on College Square a few months ago in lettuce bikinis. I didn't blog about that because I a) didn't see it personally and b) I'm not sure if my blog was up then. Regardless, I'll say it now to appease you. I thought they were wacko liberal nut jobs who are willing to demean themselves for the sake of a few cows. There. Happy?
when you're drunk, your faculties are inhibited, which can lead to other bad behaviors.
True, but becoming a blind follower of something can also lead to bad behavior. For example, 9/11, the near daily suicide bombings in the Middle East, The Olympic Park bombings in 1996, the Mason family. Would you like me to go on?
Oh and I do, like everyone
Oh and I do, like everyone else in the world, have an opinion on abortion. However, I think one should keep his or her opinion to oneself on that particular topic considering it is an extremely personal choice that most people don't come to lightly. And that is all I will say about that.
Let us all celebrate multi-cultural diversity,
Having demonstrated such a deep and profound respect for her friend's deeply held convictions, and that friend's wish to conduct a solemn ceremony in a manner consistent with those beliefs, I'm sure Ms. Miani will make a point of sneaking some chicharrones into the next Jewish event she attends. Screw those "uber religious" Jews, and their stupid dietary laws.
I suppose if one is associates the statement "Drunkenness is a sin" with being a "religious nut job", one must be of the opposite persuasion, that drunkenness is a virtue. Well, as long as we are expressing our personal unfounded prejudices based on stereotypes, that would certainly affirm my opinion of press people.
As far as historical precedents, I seem to remember that the Egyptians married their sisters and kept slaves--
Well she isn't my friend.
Well she isn't my friend. She is the woman my friend will be marrying. And man you people really take a joke. Or maybe my sarcasm doesn't translate into the written word too well. I probably wouldn't really do that. I mean it would take a lot of extra planning and shopping and making sure we got a good parking space.
Well of course it is if you think the world is just black and white? No gray areas at all. Very religious whack job thinking. Not to mention things like "sin" and "virtue" are all man-made inventions. So with the right spin, a sin could become a virtue and vice-versa. I mean the Republican machine turned a war hero into practically a war criminal and a man who never served in Vietnam into a war hero.
And didn't Southerners keep slaves, too?
Well that makes it all better
Well she isn't my friend.
Oh, O.K., I didn't understand that. As long as you are showing gross disrespect for the beliefs of someone who is just the bride of a friend at what is supposed to be the happiest day of her life, and not really a friend, then it's all o.k.
It's not like she's someone whose opinion matters, like yours does.
And didn't Southerners keep slaves, too?
Yes indeed, and they used the same kind of psuedo-historical analysis that you use to justify that practice.
Did you read the rest when I
Did you read the rest when I said I was being sarcastic? Or did you just read the first few words and draw a conclusion?
I'm easily influenced
Or did you just read the first few words and draw a conclusion?
You mean sort of like when you decided the man with the sign was a "religious nut case".
Not just a sign, they were
Not just a sign, they were also screaming at oncoming traffic and at pedestrians. I'd classify anyone doing those two things as a nut case. The religious part just comes from the fact the signs mentioned "sinners" and "hell."
As I told Annoyed Dawg, I felt the same way about the Lettuce Ladies who paraded around downtown half-naked a little while back.
P.S.
I'm actually more worried that someone (not me) might actually speak up during the "speak now or forever your peace" part. And then my hypothetical stash would come in handy for the groom now wouldn't it :)
As you'll note from previous
As you'll note from previous posts, it's a rare day when sanderlingsghost and I agree on anything. But today we do.
It's easy to be mad at people we don't agree with. It's easy to lash out or say something taunting, and it's easy to try to avert the issue to keep from dealing with it. The right thing to do isn't usually easy.
I'm not saying I'm perfect by any means, but I had a girl in one of my survey classes on psychology as a freshman at UGA call me out on something that's stuck with me for eleven years, so I'm hoping it will stick with you because I think you're a good reporter and a good person:
Being liberal doesn't mean you're open-minded. It just means you're liberal, and what's right for you isn't always right for everyone.
Back then, I was this terrible punk who would call people out as closed-minded if they didn't agree with me. I'd call them names and stick labels on them in a heartbeat. I'm still guilty of doing it, but I try to catch myself, because as much as I didn't like that "uber-religious" girl's opinions, she was right about me. Man, that was irritating, but it's made me a better arguer, and perhaps a better person overall, today because I try not to assign labels, and when friends of mine (or people who aren't my friends, even) ask for something to be a certain way and they're providing the means for the event, I try to conform to those interests. It's a set time - menial in the overall scope of life - and I can choose to be respectful or disrespectful of their wishes during their event. Whether or not I think it's "blind faith" or anything else I don't agree with is irrelevant, and I hope you'll come to the same conclusion.
Here's the thing, I don't
Here's the thing, I don't care what religion people practice. They can believe that one of the Bulldogs spread around Athens is the vessel for the second coming for all I care. Just keep it to yourself and don't try to shove it down my throat. That is all I ask. Religion, like your opinion on abortion, should be kept private unless both parties agree to a discussion.
And another think I don't like is people calling me a sinner because I like to go out and have a few drinks. It's tit for tat baby. You call me a sinner for having a beer, I'll call you a nut job for saying something without any basis.
And even if there is a passage in the Bible about drunkenness, that book was written by several fallible human beings who had their own set of values and opinions.
Everyone...Together...."We're not going to protest"
“…I would call anyone a nut who was holding a sign and screaming at oncoming traffic.”
Really? Like, say…people protesting the war. How about the people who stand along the road on the way to the prison to protest an execution? All a bunch of nuts too, huh? You mistake passion for ones beliefs as ignorance which is hardly surprising.
No amount of religious bigotry is going to make up for whoever’s distorting and forcing of beliefs on you. You are using this forum to lambaste and attack Christians because of their beliefs in a way that has no journalist value.
You should be fired for it.
Yeah and screaming protests
Yeah and screaming protests have done so much to stop the war and executions.
There is a way to go about things to try and change someone's opinion and I'm sorry but I don't think screaming does it. We live in a day and age when all we hear are the talking heads on cable news all trying to yell over each other to be heard. And where does that get them exactly? The same place as where they started only now with a sore throat.
I got an e-mail from someone about this blog and he or she wrote in a very calm manner and didn't lambaste me for the opinion I have. The writer said I would check out certain books and I explained in more detail what I meant by some of my sentences.
Now here is my question, if I had wrote the without the words nutjob would you have been so angry?
Every one that has responded
Every one that has responded to this crap has no real grasp on the way things are.(me included).You're morrons! No one should be out screaming about how drunkiness is a sin.But no-one should really care about the ignorance that it takes to care one way or the other. Lets be real, you have cops taking advantage of youths, people robbing each other,and so much more killing and so on! I now live in Vermont and check this site daily, and can't believe the crap I read. Protest the issues that matter and quit wining about the ones that don't!
You know this is something
You know this is something that I learned while working at my college newspaper and I don't know why I didn't realize until now that grownups are the same as students only older.
One week I wrote a column about a very serious and contentious issue and didn't get one (pro or con) response. The next week I wrote about something extremely silly and obviously sarcastic and got letters out the wazoo.
Seems that people will only respond to me when I say something insulting.
Arguably, Ms. Miani, we are
Arguably, Ms. Miani, we are all students until the day we die. Hopefully, the lesson you take away from this is that sarcasm is a tool best left to politicians and comedians. Irony, my dear, is a preferred tool for real writers. It is ironic that you set out to make some amusing quip at the expense of the "uber-religious", but found yourself needing to defend a poorly developed theme.
A thought; though you apparently find religion abhorent, many do not. In public presentations, one would be wise to at least feign respect for the deeply held convictions of others - even when you find those beliefs to be silly. This generally is referred to as the golden rule.
Another thought; good characters in any tale have complex motivations. For example, your "wacko religious nutjob", may also have been irrevocably affected by the drunkeness (not just drinking) of someone, or even his own personal mistakes. Perhaps this guy's effort was simply a poorly planned way to draw attention to an issue that plagues us. In any case, your apparently instinctive dismissal, and decision to defend drinking (not drunkeness) demonstrate the maturity I would expect from a student in the early stages of her journey.
Nam sine doctrina vita ist quasi mortis imago
WWJD
Wow. Having just read the feedback to this article, as usual with this paper, I found something surprisingly funny, well written, intellectual, thought provoking AND GOOD POINTS, FROM BOTH SIDES. Jesus turned water into wine. He never screamed at anyone except the charlatans in the Temple making money off of Gods house. Hmmm. He gave His life for ours. Hmm. Understandably, people mistake Christianity for "organized religion". Regretably, there are unwise, unsafe zealots. Jesus knew one, Judas? I read some very good points here. It is good that we have the freedom of the press to voice all views, yes? It is good that we have freedom to voice ANY views. Content and form - a constant work in progress. I agree that we should not force our own views on others where it is preferential - drinking, abstinence outside of marriage, etc. (views like do not comitt murder, do not steal, protecting minors and children from the predators of this world of freedom we live in, etc) I do not think we should be prejudiced against those of faiths we are offended by, or their lack thereof. I do not believe we should ever harm another and the point raised about zealouts was as valid as the one raised about war protesters or other "acceptable" protesters shouting at traffic and holding up signs. Good points all. From the freedom of being able to convey and listen to sides other than ones own is a good thing. I thank the paper for that. Do no harm and moderation come to mind. I am grateful for the freedom of the press, grateful for my personal freedom afforded in this country, to those who make that possible for us all, and to God for making that eternally possible through His Son Jesus Christ - to who ever wants to - free will. Love is that way. The invitation is to whosoever wills - not forced, not shouted, never hate or harm. It is a complex world culturally, we reflect that in America. May we value our freedom, and respect that of others. Faith is a choice. Adults make their own. Form and content - I hope to work on mine, and very much appreciate the free speech and open forum here. All views expressed - thank you, I learned from each.