Muslims, Drinking and Halal

Quran 5:90

Quote:

O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah ], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.

Comment: Halal regards Muslim rules for eating and drinking.  For the Christian, "for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17) Yet many Muslims do drink in violation of Halal. Image source top

Update:

Quran Contradiction - Alcohol #sweden #stockholm #dortmund #pjnet https://t.co/GyPD2gl153 pic.twitter.com/I5LaeLhyDm

— Peter Townsend (@PeterTownsend7) April 14, 2017

.@drlarrymd Interesting on How Much Alcohol Can You Drink Safely?https://t.co/UVBdSiuNFa pic.twitter.com/YVThrmYQly

— James Peet (@jrpeet) May 19, 2019

Christian Views on Alcohol Consumption

Mayo Clinic: Alcohol use: If you drink, keep it moderate

Moderate alcohol use may be of most benefit only if you're an older adult or if you have existing risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol.

My best shot at absolutism about not drinkinghttps://t.co/663Z2btvYC

— James Peet (@jrpeet) July 6, 2018

Bauder on #gluttony https://t.co/OycuT0kB9i pic.twitter.com/AgC0F3Vg1A

— James Peet (@jrpeet) July 6, 2018

https://t.co/TL0XbxDr2i pic.twitter.com/SXlCi8G3uF

— James Peet (@jrpeet) November 28, 2018

.@drlarrymd Interesting on How Much Alcohol Can You Drink Safely?https://t.co/UVBdSiuNFa pic.twitter.com/YVThrmYQly

— James Peet (@jrpeet) May 19, 2019

G.K. Chesterton quote: on wine

The dipsomaniac and the abstainer are not only both mistaken, but they both make the same mistake. They both regard wine as a drug and not as a drink.

Comment: I can't verify that it is a G.K. Chesterton quote but looks like he cited it here.

Why (and How) I Drink

Excerpt:

During my formative-drinking years, when alcohol was still a relative novelty, I had something that many of my harder-drinking friends did not: parents who demonstrated a responsible relationship with alcohol. My father and sometimes my mother would crack a cold beer on hot days, and wine was regularly served at dinner on weekends and special occasions to everyone including the kids. They kept a decently stocked liquor cabinet, but usually only opened it for drop-by guests and the occasional dinner party, which were celebrated in good cheer but were seldom if ever followed by awkward phone calls the next day.

This open yet modest approach to alcohol was in contrast to the paths taken by the families of some friends and neighbors, whose habits ranged from over-indulgent to abstemious and were sometimes an odd mix of the two: it was not lost on me during my secular Bible Belt upbringing that some of my hardest-drinking friends – whose relationships with booze were often of the vomit-in-the-shrubbery, loss-of-all-personal-control variety – were from religious homes in which alcohol was seldom if ever served.

Comment: My parents drinking was like the authors: very rarely! To my Christian teetoalling brothers, I am not advocating drinking! There appears to be three Christian views on drinking: 1.) Abstinence (prevalent Baptist view); 2.) Moderation; 3.) Prohibition. My view is as follows: 1.) it is clear that drunkenness is sin (Galatians 5:21, Ephesians 5:18, and other verses! 2.) it is doubtful that Jesus turned water into grape juice (John 2) (if I am right about this, there is an application there!); 3.) The Christian should eschew activity that would cause another brother to stumble (Romans 14:21); 4.) It is possible to be a moderationist in theory but an abstainer in practice (see Romans 14:21 in previous point).

Alcohol and the Bible

Alcohol and the Bible

References to Alcohol in The Bible

Comment: A thoughtful article and a good reference (2nd link).

DUI defense: Demand the source code

Doubts arise over fate of breathalyzer source code in Minn. case

Excerpt:

An attorney for a Minnesota man accused of drunken driving says he doesn't think the manufacturer of a breathalyzer will meet a court-imposed deadline of August 17 to turn over its source code.

If that happens, his client could go free.

As CNET News.com reported earlier this week, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled late last month that source code for the Intoxilyzer 5000EN, made by a Kentucky-based company called CMI, must be handed to defense attorneys for use in a case involving charges of third-degree DUI against a man named Dale Lee Underdahl. CMI's historic resistance to such demands has led to charges being dropped in at least one case outside of Minnesota.

Comment: The Minnesota Supreme Court opened the proverbial "can of worms"!

Church Covenants and Alcohol

The World From Our Window: Church Covenants and Alcohol - Utter Ludicrousy

Comment: a good read! I personally don't agree that the "abstain clause" in Baptist church covenants is ludicrous! This article - Christianity and alcohol - provides three Christian positions:

1. Moderation
   
2. Abstention
   
3. Prohibition
   

Taking irresponsibility

Hancock's father files suit

Excerpt:

The father of Josh Hancock filed suit Thursday, claiming a restaurant provided drinks to the St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher even though he was intoxicated prior to the crash that killed him.

The suit, filed in St. Louis Circuit Court by Dean Hancock of Tupelo, Miss., does not specify damages. Mike Shannon's Restaurant, owned by the longtime Cardinals broadcaster who starred on three World Series teams in the 1960s, is a defendant in the case along with Shannon's daughter, Patricia Shannon Van Matre, the restaurant manager.

Other defendants include Eddie's Towing, the company whose flatbed tow truck was struck by Hancock's sport utility vehicle in the early hours of April 29; tow truck driver Jacob Edward Hargrove; and Justin Tolar, the driver whose stalled car on Interstate 64 was being assisted by Hargrove.

Comment: The death of any young man is a tragedy, more so in the case of Cardinals' pitcher Josh Hancock who drank himself to twice the legal level of intoxication, then sped down the freeway crashing into a tow truck on the side of the road. In sum: intoxicated, DUI, speeding, no seat belt, and talking on the cell phone. The grieving Father turns the tragedy into a pitiful melodrama of blame! See earlier post.

Al Unser Jr. on his battles with alcohol

200 Miles an Hour All the Time

Excerpt:

I had been in and out of drinking, and any time I was drinking, bad things happened, and when I wasn't drinking, good things happened. And so, why? I had had my stretch, after learning about the disease, and still trying to figure out another way around the corner, and it wasn't working, and so I dug deep inside and said, I'm an alcoholic. I cannot pick up one drink.

Comment: Good read! He has been 116 days without an alcoholic drink!