Alcohol and Legalism
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I’ve become fascinated with the era of prohibition in our country’s history. Perhaps spurred on by the over-indulgence of alcohol I keep seeing watching the back episodes of the Mad Men series, I keep coming back to the same question in my mind… “How in the world did we, as a country, pass the 18th amendment?!”
It’s one thing to raise social awareness issues or reform hopes/dreams. It’s a far different thing to take those things to the level of adding an amendment to the U.S. Constitution!
I think there are some important correlations between legalism and prohibition.
One of the more interesting facts that I’ve found as I’ve read about the Prohibition era, is that it didn’t start off all that bad. Most of the temperance movement in the early stages advocated just that - temperance. From the early European settlers to Christians in the 1800s, there was a common belief in alcohol as a “gift from God” to be enjoyed in moderation.
The political movement behind alcohol reform is what brought the temperance movement to the state of a support of total abstinence and the desire to pass legislation to solidify the abolition of alcohol completely. This movement succeeded in linking all manner of problems and crime to the consumption of alcohol to the level that many communities actually sold their jails once prohibition was established (“Why would we need jails when there’s going to be no more crime?”).
By the time that prohibition was repealed in 1933, it was easy to see that many of the chief aims of the earlier movement not only didn’t come to fruition, many became worse because of their efforts.
John D. Rockefeller, the wealthy industrialist, captured this paradox in a letter he wrote in 1932:
“When Prohibition was introduced, I hoped that it would be widely supported by public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognized. I have slowly and reluctantly come to believe that this has not been the result. Instead, drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before.”
I think legalism has many of the same effects.
As I talked about in yesterday’s post, legalism comes from two extremes. Some of our “add-on” rules to God’s Scriptural guidelines are birthed out of a real concern and desire for things that are good - perhaps in an effort to keep ourselves and others safe and out of reach of breaking His instructions to us.
The truth is: legalism only makes the issues worse, or creates new issues that were as bad as the first.
Moderation in all things (not just alcohol use) is a central principle within the Bible. When we attempt to make God’s principles ‘better’ through the addition of our own rules and limitations, we not only squelch the freedom He paid a dear price to provide to us, we actually wind up helping no one.
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Jonathan Jones shared their voice on 07.23.2009:
Legalism = religion and religion only results in two things: pride and despair.
Bucky Elliott shared their voice on 07.23.2009:
“This movement succeeded in linking all manner of problems and crime to the consumption of alcohol to the level that many communities actually sold their jails once prohibition was established (“Why would we need jails when there’s going to be no more crime?”).
By the time that prohibition was repealed in 1933, it was easy to see that many of the chief aims of the earlier movement not only didn’t come to fruition, many became worse because of their efforts.”
Two words: gun control.
Sigh…Oh, the ignorance. Clearly,the people don’t know their history.
(Excellent post, btw)
Steven Heicher shared their voice on 07.23.2009:
I’m with you on the gun control bit. I am all for responsible gun ownership. The vast majority of shootings involve illegally obtained weapons by people who likely shouldn’t have them anyway (like the Steve McNair murder). I’ve thought about taking the permit class at my church just so I can have the permit, but I really don’t feel up to purchasing a firearm, either.
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Steven Heicher shared their voice on 07.23.2009:
Aside from the evidence of Jesus’ use of wine (including one of his first miracles of turning water into wine at a wedding as well as the Last Supper), there have been arguments in Proverbs 31:6-7, suggesting the use of alcohol by the dying and depressed so they can forget their misery. A couple of verses up, you can make the argument on the contrary and say it’s not OK for leaders to drink for they forget the law and pervert justice (Proverbs 31:4-5).
What I think it says here, as well as what’s evidenced in the gospels, though, is it’s good to enjoy it in moderation, and it might even be OK to drown your sorrows a little bit (just not on a regular basis or to get drunk), but as we even see now, it cautions against the dangers of its use. For instance, there’s former TN state Rep. Rob Briley, who has had some well-publicized run-ins involving alcohol and the law. He resigned a chairmanship and opted not to run for re-election after that fiasco, because he acknowledged he had a problem with alcohol abuse.
We as a nation tend to identify a problem, and then apply a band-aid fix, thinking it will solve the issue. Along with that, we as a country have not been successful in legislating on such morality issues, such as prohibition. The problem is, it creates new issues or makes the issue that it’s targeting even worse. In the end, good, law-abiding people are hurt. Instead, it should be something between you and God, and maybe someone (or a small group) who can help you keep yourself in check with your personal issues (keyword being your, not what they think is yours).