Oh, dear God. We gave up these things for a reason:
An Iowa man who is subsisting solely on beer for the duration of Lent says he is trying to combat the “teetotalling, neo-prohibitionist tendencies” of some elements of Christianity while also paying homage to the beer-making Bavarian monks of the Middle Ages. “I hope beer lovers learn something reasonable about Christianity, and I hope Christians learn something reasonable about beer,” J. Wilson, 38, writes in the first entry of his blog, Diary of a Part-time Monk, where he is chronicling his 46-day “journey.”
The whole un-Christian presumption that Christians have any more of a problem with beer in the USA staggers the mind. Here's the math. Three-quarters of Americans profess to be Christian. Half of Americans drink. So, somewhere between 25% and 50% of Americans are Christian drinkers. Let's say saw it off in the middle and say about as many people who vote on an off-year election night or, more to the point, about as many born again Christians who divorce.
What do such numbers mean? Nothing. I wouldn't credit any of those statistics with defining anything about anything. There is no great resonance about them because that sort of thing is not where "neo-prohibitionist tendencies" of any sort come from. They come from sects and usually just a few cranks within them. Cranks with soap boxes and a taste for publicity. Which reminds me a whole lot about a newspaper columnist who decides to teach Christians something reasonable about beer as a publicity stunt. I suspect all that will be really taught through the process is the need to provide oneself with a little fiber, a little bulk in the diet to get through a month and a half - not to mention the dry cleaning costs of thinking otherwise. Please just don't make another movie out of this sort of thing. Makes about as much sense as saying there is no American session beer or blaming "beer big" or any other source of that well worked boogieman that something is holding back good beer... something that is never quite explained given the craft beer explosion of recent years.
When I think of drunk driving, the effects on health from alcohol abuse, the connection between alcohol abuse and other societal ills deciding to co-opt someone's faith for this sort of stunt is such a wasted opportunity, a really sad way to promote a sensible approach to good beer.
Comments
Mary Sue - March 15, 2011 12:48 PM
While I have issues with many ways people misrepresent Christianity, at least this dude is a practicing, professing Christian, who as I understand it, is a member of a slightly more conservative denomination that promotes teetotaling, but aren't too pushy about it.
Even in my extremely liberal, woman-up-front-preaching, wine-in-the-communion-cup, gin-for-special-occasions church smack dab in the middle of Portland, OR, there is still a little thread of 'shh! Don't talk about drinking! Drinking is shameful and sinful!'
And the people who are most likely to look at me oddly when I'm drinking and they find out I'm a regular churchgoing Christian are those who aren't Christian.
Alan - March 15, 2011 12:58 PM
Sure and I am Canadian so can't talk to your local scene... but then to suggest a 46 day all beer diet as a means to increase common sense? As I indicated, there are a lot more worthy causes and means to present a cause that a Christian like me and you might get behind to point out what a responsible good beer relationship looks like.
Remember, too: there are clear discussions about degrees of drink in the Bible. Cheer is good, drunkenness is bad and you can forget what Noah did when he hit land. I just don't know how this process suggests anything useful and it looks like a whole lot of going off in the wrong direction to me.
Bill Night - March 15, 2011 5:34 PM
Alan, the guy never said his goal was to "increase common sense", nor even to do "anything useful". For that matter, who ever said that religion should be useful or common-sensical? That sounds very late-20th-century to me, not in a good way, and I'm not even a churchgoing person.
He says his goal is to truly do a Lenten fast, and to try it the way a group of monks did once upon a time. Stunt or not, I imagine it will be a great experience for him, a time to break out of the routine and get a new perspective on life and/or faith. Cut him some slack, OK?
Alan - March 15, 2011 5:43 PM
No.
If he had written what you are suggesting that the whole thing was a personal Lenten exploration that would be no skin off my nose but hauling in the whole slagging of the entire faith and stating "I hope Christians learn something reasonable about beer..." makes it that something else I describe above.
Alan - February 26, 2012 10:52 AM
A year later, J Wilson contemplates the personal Lenten exploration I wish he had focused on describing last year.