Jude 2

OK, I'll admit it. I watch commercials! Frequently they are more entertaining than the shows they sponsor. However, the recent trend in marketing alcoholic beverages bothers me. The trend now is to make alcohol taste like everything except alcohol. Lemonade flavored beer, hard lemonade, beer with a twist of lime, beer that is somehow better because it's colder, even honey in whiskey. They stress the great flavors and low calories of these beverages without ever mentioning the alcohol percentage. Yes, they will flash a disclaimer on the screen that states the product contains alcohol, but if you blink you'll miss it.

Having struggled for years with alcoholism I find this marketing trend to be dangerous as it clearly targets those people that don't drink because of the taste of alcohol, and/or the high calorie count of beer. But alas, I gave up on American marketing firms long ago. They seek only to get you to buy the product, even if if could result in harming you.

I am of the opinion that anything that can't be sold to a minor should not be allowed to advertise on TV.

While we're on the subject of commercials I also think that ads for prescription medicine should not be allowed. Your doctor should be informed enough about all meds to prescribe for you without you having to ask for a certain medication because you saw it advertised on TV or in a magazine.

We continue to decline as a nation. I remember when feminine product commercials were so veiled that some people wouldn't even know what was being advertised. I also remember when they didn't advertise baby formula because they wanted mothers to breastfeed if possible.

As we decline morally and ethically, so will our bids to human fraility.......

First, let me agree with you 100%, TW. I don't like it at all. As you all may or may not know, the convenience store business my family is in has, since September, 2010, sold beer and wine. I hate it. I despise it. I'm not alone in it, and my say-so is the least of "say-sos" and the minority say-so. In fact, every one of us involved in the business voted against legalizing sales in our town, but it passed and we determined as a matter of business necessity that we had no choice but to sell them. We are now the #6 retailer of beer in north Alabama in less than 1 year. We sell more than Wal-Mart. And, do you know who is most responsible for the operational side of that in the family business?

You guessed it.

I see it, handle it, smell it, sell it, tape 'em up, put 'em up, stack 'em, stock 'em, and pretty much handle the inventory control of all the beer and wine coolers that come into the store. And, let me reiterate that it is a bunch.

There was a time when I would carry the argument here about the lack of a Biblical abstinence-only view of alcohol consumption. I'm not carrying that argument anymore because I'm so completely and utterly sick of booze. I detest it. Not only do I absolutely not so much as taste it now and then, I am done...with....it. That has been a blessing, Here's why.

I've always thought it was a poor excuse for argument that we could look to the abuses of alcohol and the fallout of alcoholism as a point in favor of an abstinence only view of alcohol, biblically speaking. I'm still of that mind -- that we can't rely on THAT truth to constitute a biblical truth that simply is not expressed in the bible. HOWEVER, there are many particular forms of evil that have no exact example in the Bible. For instance, there is no instance of an HIV positive man raping a six month old child as I read about this weekend, but the bible thoroughly and pointedly makes that an abomination (adultery, harming a child, hatred-as-murder, perversion, etc.).

Here's why I bring that instance up: I have learned in the last 9 months that more people drink way more than I ever knew. I'm 44 years old now. My hair is graying fast, lines are taking over my forehead and eyes. I grew up in an alcohol-ridden home. I should have known better but didn't. I had sequestered myself much more than I ever knew, as an adult, away from the booze culture. My dalliances in it were too brief to open my eyes to what is actually happening. Now, they're wide open. Alcohol is, just like the illegal drugs that infect our society, a beast and a monster that devours people and spits them out. They are enamored with the thing that destroys them. As I read the Bible, and as I view now through lenses of experience that I've never had, I can say without equivocation that alcohol -- like all other substances people use illicitly, whether legal or not -- is an idol of the people. For that, the Bible is crystal clear that there shall be NO other gods before Him. If that is not an abstinence position, I do not know what is.

If a Christian can manage to drink alcohol without the slightest encroachment of idolatry into the heart while committing or defending the act, then praise God for the grace of God that fills that person's heart. I haven't seen that, and I cannot do it myself, even with no more of it than I would allow myself to consume. As I reflect on it, giving myself the greatest benefit of the doubt in the matter in the past, the most generous view of my actions would amount (in my view) to failing to abstain from drinking blood or from meats sacrificed to idols in a culture where failing to abstain would harm the witness of Christ and reduce Him in the eyes of the lost or of the weaker believer to an object no different from an idol.

So, with all that in mind, and agreeing with you, TW 100% (and, by the way, great to hear from you again!!), I am just laying it out there that I have a changed heart and mind and renewed and improved understanding of the Scriptures on this issue.

wow Dolfan, thank you for that testimony....

dolfan wrote:...Alcohol is, just like the illegal drugs that infect our society, a beast and a monster that devours people and spits them out. They are enamored with the thing that destroys them. As I read the Bible, and as I view now through lenses of experience that I've never had, I can say without equivocation that alcohol -- like all other substances people use illicitly, whether legal or not -- is an idol of the people. For that, the Bible is crystal clear that there shall be NO other gods before Him. If that is not an abstinence position, I do not know what is...

2Co 6:16-18; 7:1

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

TW wrote:OK, I'll admit it. I watch commercials! Frequently they are more entertaining than the shows they sponsor. However, the recent trend in marketing alcoholic beverages bothers me. The trend now is to make alcohol taste like everything except alcohol. Lemonade flavored beer, hard lemonade, beer with a twist of lime, beer that is somehow better because it's colder, even honey in whiskey. They stress the great flavors and low calories of these beverages without ever mentioning the alcohol percentage. Yes, they will flash a disclaimer on the screen that states the product contains alcohol, but if you blink you'll miss it.

Having struggled for years with alcoholism I find this marketing trend to be dangerous as it clearly targets those people that don't drink because of the taste of alcohol, and/or the high calorie count of beer. But alas, I gave up on American marketing firms long ago. They seek only to get you to buy the product, even if if could result in harming you.

Don't know if you've seen them or not (I have only seen in one place), but they now have wine coolers, basically, in the little silver plastic squeezable bags. They remind me of the little apple sauce squeezers (my term) my daughter likes, except very large. They are pegged and hang on a rack or peg-board display. The display I saw in a convenience store was a stand alone rack filled with these bottles. It actually caught my eye because I first thought it WAS a fruit juice display and my first thought went to "Hey, my daughter will like --- oh, wait."

I've seen those...almost look like the Capri Suns...already targeting kids...

that may be the best point i have ever heard for total abstinence from alcohol that is found in the Bible. awesome.

dawgs10 wrote:that may be the best point i have ever heard for total abstinence from alcohol that is found in the Bible. awesome.

Thank YOU for the nice comment! I recently have shared what God has been doing in the lives of my family, and this is a part of that. We're preparing to minister to people who are substance addicted because that's what we sense God is leading us to do and is putting in our hearts to do. We've gotten so enamored with the idea of ministering -- again, finally, after too many years -- that it is practically all we talk about anymore. And, we are well aware --- an awareness through professional experience --- that addicts would be especially unreachable without the Holy Spirit doing His work in their lives. I read Rev. 9:21 and think about the substance abuse implications of that whole passage and consider just how monumentally tenacious substance abuse is when it has its claws in a person. Pray for us, bro. We need it.

dolfan, you are in my prayers. Having spent 5+ years in a substance abuse ministry I can relate. You will have the advantage that your program is Christ centered, we had to deal with an AA program. May God Bless you in this work.


TW

dolfan wrote:

TW wrote:OK, I'll admit it. I watch commercials! Frequently they are more entertaining than the shows they sponsor. However, the recent trend in marketing alcoholic beverages bothers me. The trend now is to make alcohol taste like everything except alcohol. Lemonade flavored beer, hard lemonade, beer with a twist of lime, beer that is somehow better because it's colder, even honey in whiskey. They stress the great flavors and low calories of these beverages without ever mentioning the alcohol percentage. Yes, they will flash a disclaimer on the screen that states the product contains alcohol, but if you blink you'll miss it.

Having struggled for years with alcoholism I find this marketing trend to be dangerous as it clearly targets those people that don't drink because of the taste of alcohol, and/or the high calorie count of beer. But alas, I gave up on American marketing firms long ago. They seek only to get you to buy the product, even if if could result in harming you.

Don't know if you've seen them or not (I have only seen in one place), but they now have wine coolers, basically, in the little silver plastic squeezable bags. They remind me of the little apple sauce squeezers (my term) my daughter likes, except very large. They are pegged and hang on a rack or peg-board display. The display I saw in a convenience store was a stand alone rack filled with these bottles. It actually caught my eye because I first thought it WAS a fruit juice display and my first thought went to "Hey, my daughter will like --- oh, wait."

Is that the ones that states it contains alcohol, printed on the front?

Matter of fact, Pastor P, it is. I was back in there yesterday or day before after I'd posted that. So, yeah, at least it does say that in big bold print.

dolfan wrote:Matter of fact, Pastor P, it is. I was back in there yesterday or day before after I'd posted that. So, yeah, at least it does say that in big bold print.

I think it is something that should not be tolerated, to be displayed so casually so that anyone might purchase it without realizing that it is indeed an alcoholic beverage. I wonder if identification is required for its purchase, as with other alcoholic beverages?

PastorP wrote:

dolfan wrote:Matter of fact, Pastor P, it is. I was back in there yesterday or day before after I'd posted that. So, yeah, at least it does say that in big bold print.

I think it is something that should not be tolerated, to be displayed so casually so that anyone might purchase it without realizing that it is indeed an alcoholic beverage. I wonder if identification is required for its purchase, as with other alcoholic beverages?

As a Certified Responsible Vendor Trainer, I can assure you that ID is required the same as with any other alcohol purchase. In Alabama, even "near beer" like O'Doul's and Busch N/A are considered booze, and you'd have to drink a full case of them to equal the alcohol of a single beer. So, yes -- ID req'd.