Religion and alcohol

[dawbs]

That's what this entire FORUM does to me.

I mean, I knew I had some things that were unusual, and a lot of my "differences" with my peers and how I was treated by their parents for my home 'situation' is why i have a real problem with some of these people we snark on, and why I really like FJ. But then I realize that what seemed 'normal' to me is not at all 'normal' and i may have been striving for a false sense of 'normalcy'

or something.

That makes sense to me.

It's hard to put into words sometimes.

I mean, I was asked about my 'church background' recently at church (appropriate question--they're trying to be helpful when I get stumped by episcopal wording, etc)... explaining background without sounding condemning or martyr-ish or "too much information" is challenging. But how do you really condense "we travelled, so for 6-8 weeks per year, we went to a different protestant church every Sunday. You name it, I've seen it" and "fudndie moderate", vacationed at heritage USA a into something that makes sense to someone who didn't grow up immersed in it?

[alchemy]

I'm not a fan of the Mars Hill bunch, but they do have a liberal policy towards alcohol and this sermon offers some history and explanation on other groups acceptance or aversion to drink.

marshill.com/media/proverbs/good-wine-glad-hearts

[2xx1xy1JD]

My family was and many still are teetotalers. My generation less so than the last several. I know in my family, my mother's side was Lutheran, which would not automatically be against alcohol, however, apparently a great great grandfather in "the old country" was an alcoholic to the point the kids (in this very cold country) had no shoes (per the story I heard) His children passed their aversion to drunkenness/drink down through the line.

My father's side was also teetotalers, and I think much of that was related to the temperance union, women's rights and suffrage. There is a book An Army of Women: Gender and Politics in Gilded Age Kansas ( that touches on an anti alcohol stance of women in those movements. Not just the abuse of wives by drunk husbands, and the poverty of families of drunk husbands, but to defeat one specific argument against women voting--election days were known as drunken festivals "unfit" for women to see or participate in--by pulling booze out of the mix, that argument was nullified. That side of the family was also Methodist, which is a non drinking denomination, (traditionally, we were told Wesley saw a lot of alcoholism in his initial church, and viewed abstinence/temperance as beneficial, but people are told a lot of things.)

When I was a kid and went often to Methodist church, they were comparatively liberal, and none of the churches I attended were ever "evangelical" by any stretch of the imagination.

Cheers!

Yes, we sometimes forget just how linked the Women's Temperance movement was to the campaign for women's suffrage. I wonder if they believed that women would be more likely to vote for Prohibition?

[RosyDaisy]

There is nothing wrong with drinking in moderation. It is drunkenness the Bible warns of.