Praise His Name!!! Come forward you sinners and be cleansed of all your sins. Let the sweet taste of the Blood of Christ fill your body with salvation! Gulp down the sweet nectar of the Afterlife in the form of Pinot Noir! Repent! Repent!
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007Bar Knowledge: Religion and Liquor: Part IISince we were on the subject of Religion last week, I thought I’d continue with some interesting facts about the history of alcohol and religion. It can be argued that most religions don’t have any tolerance for alcohol, but it’s not always the case. Some religions — most notably Islam, Sikhism, Jainism, the Bahá’í Faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Nikaya and most Mahayana schools of Buddhism and some Protestant sects of Fundamentalist Christianity — forbid, discourage, or restrict the consumption of alcoholic beverages for various reasons. However, alcohol plays a very important (though minor) role in some other religions, specifically Christianity and Judaism. Some drinks have been invested with symbolic or religious significance suggesting the mystical use of alcohol. Going back to the Greco-Roman religion we find the ecstatic rituals of Dionysus (also called Bacchus), god of wine and revelry. Bacchus represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficial influences. He was also known as the Liberator, freeing one from one’s normal self, by madness, ecstasy, or wine. The divine mission of Dionysus was to mingle the music of the flute and to bring an end to care and worry. Though the early Greco-Roman religion is today virtually extinct, the image of Bacchus is still used commonly, especially within the wine industry.The transformation of water into wine at a wedding feast is the first of the miracles attributed to Jesus in the New Testament, and his use of wine in the Last Supper led to it becoming an essential part of the Eucharist rite in most Christian traditions. Though many churches today substitute grape juice for actual wine, the symbolism is still there as it is rooted in one of Christianity’s most recognized stories. According to the Roman Catholic Church, there is no sin in drinking itself, but drunkenness is a mortal sin. For example, there is a document dating from the Middle Ages which mentions nuns having an allowance of six pints of ale a day. Also, after the collapse of the Roman Empire, wine production in Europe appears to have been sustained chiefly by monasteries.The Jewish religion uses wine on Shabbat for Kiddush as well as in the Passover ceremony and in other religious ceremonies, including Purim, and allows the moderate use of alcohol, such as kosher wine. The Hebrew Bible also recommends giving alcoholic drinks to those who are dying or depressed, so that they can forget their misery (Proverbs 31:6-7).The Hindu Ayurvedic texts describe both the beneficent uses of alcoholic beverages and the consequences of intoxication and alcoholic diseases. Most of the peoples in India and China, have continued, throughout, to ferment a portion of their crops and nourish themselves with the alcoholic product. However, devout adherents of Buddhism, which arose in India in the 5th and 6th centuries BC and spread over southern and eastern Asia, abstain to this day, as do devout Hindus and Sikhs.According to a post-Conquest Aztec document, consumption of the local “wine” (pulque) was generally restricted to religious ceremonies, but freely allowed to those over 70 years old. In the Aztec pantheon of deities, pulque production was represented by the god of pulque, Tepoztecatl, and the gods of drunkenness, such as Macuil-Tochtli or Five Rabbit and Ometochtli or Two Rabbit, both part of the pantheon of Centzon Totochtin, the four hundred rabbit gods of drunkenness. The Aztecs rated pulque intoxication on a scale of one to 400 rabbits. A tradition in pulquerías is for drinkers to slop a small amount of the pulque in their glass on the floor as a sacrifice to Two Rabbit.Though we find reference to, and consumption of, alcoholic beverages in many different religions and over many time periods, their use in regards to religion is generally restricted to very small amounts and overconsumption, or intoxication is universally condemned.Oh, and I almost forgot to mention Presbyterians. Though technically considered Christian, they have no morals and freely consume large quantities of all types of alcohol. Rob Sinclair is Presbyterian.
