Alcohol

[BereanTodd]

Alcohol affects everybody differently, but regardless, it affects one's body and mind, in one way or another. It's a sedative drug that affects thinking almost immediately.

http://www.d12.com/Resources/alcohol.htm
http://www.tcada.state.tx.us/issues/danger.html
http://home.howstuffworks.com/alcohol6.htm

Alcohol is connected with millions of injuries and deaths each year, due to car accidents, heart disease, and it's the number one drug used in relation to assaults, murders and violence in general.

http://www.marininstitute.org/alcohol_policy/violence.htm
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/alerts/l/blnaa38.htm

I highly commend your desire to stop drinking. It's not medicine that's good for everybody, that is for sure.

You certainly seem to be taking an anti-drinking stand. Would you say that Jesus was wrong/sinful to drink the way that He did? What about turning water to wine for others?

 

[heron]

People who've been through rehab recognize that social development halts at the age one starts drinking heavily. Twenty years later, your family might still be calling you irresponsible and thoughtless... because it has become part of your brain patterns or emotional make-up.

If it's hard to quit drinking, that's a good sign of needing to cut back. So many other life dangers and crises fall upon people due to alcohol dependence. Save your future and family from grief now. I wouldn't put the rule-making on God, but on yourself.

 

[TooCurious]

If you think you're developing a dependency, or you find that drinking is adversely affecting your life in some way, then you should probably stop. It may not be a bad idea to find some form of social support to achieve this.

If this isn't the case, then there's nothing intrinsically wrong with drinking alcohol responsibly and in moderation.

 

[Vylo]

If alcoholism runs in your family, you may wish to avoid it all together. My father can't touch alcohol after quiting cold turkey 26 years ago. I can drink, but it is hard for me to do so without going overboard. I drink rarely as a result.

 

[fuzzymel]

If you have trouble with alchol its really good to recognise it and do something about it.

I used to get drunk when I was 18 but that was more because drinking was now legal so suddenly it was really cool. I soon realised I hated being drunk. Not being in control was a horrible feeling for me.

I now tend to have a glass of wine with my husband or a nice glass of Baileys but thats it and will only do it on the weekends. There are health benefits of having the occasional drink but too many people take that as its good to drink often when its not.

 

[marblehead]

I think if drinking and being drunk doesn't cause problems for you or anybody around you then there's nothing wrong with it. I don't see the point at drawing the line at being drunk.

 

[The Nihilist]

Listen, I don't know how long you've been drinking, but if you haven't been doing it that long, you're not going to be good at it yet. You're going to get really drunk and embarass yourself fairly often. But as you get older and get used to it, this isn't going to happen as much. You don't need to worry about it until or unless it becomes a serious impediment to where you want your life to be going.

 

[Robinsegg]

I think if drinking and being drunk doesn't cause problems for you or anybody around you then there's nothing wrong with it. I don't see the point at drawing the line at being drunk.

If the question is "when is drinking sin?", the answer is "when you get drunk".

Getting drunk by yourself, in your own home, w/o contacting anyone else isn't smart, and is still sin. But if you wanna do that, go ahead. Otoh, if you get behind the wheel of a car or bug someone because you're drunk, I'd say there's definitely a problem with it. Thus, many communities have laws against "public intoxication".

Rachel

 

[heron]

It's a tricky question, because it's not about rules. It's about looking at your life in retrospect, twenty or thirty years from now. Keeping relationships. Protecting your future kids. Staying healthy.

I don't see a particular limit, but maybe more an attitude that's dangerous. If you're in the "it could never touch me" mode, then you probably haven't faced up to a possible limit.

Talk to one of your friends some time, and ask them to give you an honest answer of how you treated them the last time you were drunk.

 

[heron]

Picture of cirrhosis of the liver:
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/alcoholism-4.jpg
http://www.healingdaily.com/conditions/cirrhosis-liver.jpg

jaundice with cirrhosis:
http://www1.linkclub.or.jp/~och-gim/fatty liver.html
http://www.siamhealth.net/Disease/picture/cirrhosis.jpg
http://www.icampus.ucl.ac.be/PEDIHEPA/document/pedihepa/ascite&circcoll.JPG

(warning: these are not pleasant)


I know that you're not at that stage, where you'd have to worry about it... but this is incentive. (-:

 

[ginkoneko]

It's ok to drink. It's probably not smart to drink to the point where you're completely out of control and easily give in to temptation or do things you're normally opposed to. As long as you use judgement it's not sinful. If you find alcohol is an addiction with you or you can't stop at moderate drinking, you should probably avoid it.

 

[TheDag]

I enjoy the money I save now that I don't drink and the freedom to go places that I didn't before because I was at the pub. Drinking for me is wrong simply because I made a promise not to drink. Having said all that. Drinking is not wrong basically. But if one starts to get drunk then it is wrong according to the bible. There are other factors to take into consideration as well. Several have been mentioned by others. If you are finding that drinking has more control than you'd like then it would be time to give up. maybe later you could start drinking again. For awhile I would go to the pub with mates from work and have three alcoholic drinks and then drink soft drink after that. One really needs to find their own answer. Also some people are more prone to getting addicted to things (alcohol, drugs, sex or whatever) and for people like hat I think they should think very carefully before drinking.

Finally the other important consideration is is drinking causing others around you to stumble? If so that is a sin.

 

[Mling]

I think it is irresponsible to drink to the point that you "feel" it. Personally I'm just very uncomfortable letting my guard down like that. If something were to happen (mugged, fire, somebody falls down the stairs, etc), and I was even a little tipsy, I might not be able to react quickly enough.

 

[heron]

Personally I'm just very uncomfortable letting my guard down like that. If something were to happen (mugged, fire, somebody falls down the stairs, etc), and I was even a little tipsy, I might not be able to react quickly enough.

That's my main reason too. I prefer caffeine. It seems the public times I'm faced with the choice to drink or not, I'm with people I seldom get to talk with. I don't want to waste the time and slur my speech. It sometimes makes them uncomfortable, but I just explain how quickly I fall asleep when I drink.