OUR READERS’ VIEWPOINT

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 66, Issue 5604, 12 April 1943, Page 3

OUR READERS’ VIEWPOINT

“ STRONG DRINK ” Sir, —The choosing of a text from i the Bible indiscriminately for the pur- 1 pose of illustrating a certain subject has a habit of producing funny repercussions. The other day, as reported I in the Courier, a speaker on the sub- | ject Of “ Strong Drink ” selected as j his text Ezekiel chapter 22, verse 30, | which refers to the search for a man , to stand in the gap. Now, this par-

ticular text has nothing to do with I strong drink, but was* simply a hap- ■ hazard method of providing a con- 1 venient peg to hang a hat on—other- , wise, to gain an object. Suppose a , speaker is lecturing on the subject oi j Judas Iscariot; he might as consist- ■ ently take for his text Luke, chapter • 10, verse 37: “ Go and do thou like- i wise,” and, we all know that Judas j went and hanged himself. An applic- ' able text might have been selected , from Proverbs; “ Wine is a mocker i strong drink is raging,” and this could < have formed the foundation of a good ; lecture in opposition to wine and i strong drink; but again the selection ■ might have been from Psalms, “ Wjne maketh glad the heart of man ” and ! this would have been in favour of ; strong drink, which proves that the Bible is not a suitable book to use on this particular question. As it so happens, we have the very man who stood in the gap, but unfortunately this man filled the gap by ; providing abundant extra supplies or stronp- drink instead of curtailing the j supply. The reference is, of course. | to the marriage feast in Cana of Gali- j lee. as described in the Gospel of j John. For some reason, most prob- : ably as referred to by the ruler of the | feast, “when men had well drunk”' the original supplies of wine had dis- ! appeared, when the Virgin Mary, who I also was among the guests, drew the | attention of Jesus to the circum- i stances, and at first He did not seem ■ to be willing to do anything about it, ' as He reproved her for doing sc. ! Evidently Mary understood her Son. j so she told them to do exactly just ' what He ordered, with the result that ■ Jesus made eighteen firkins of good . strong wine from water for guests I who already'had drunk quite enough. ! This miracle is usually quoted with ! pride in the belief that it enhances i the power of Jesus and started Him 1 off on his mission in triumph. There is no evidence that Jesus was a prohibitionist or ever preached Against strong drink or wine. During the time of Jesus it was the custom of most religions to get gloriously drunk in order that the worshippers got into the proper frame of mind to carry out their devotions. Denuncia- : tion of the custom is made in strong terms in the Epistles, not by Paul, but someone speaking in his name after his time. The fact is that we are really a sober nation compared with any period in the past,, and we might go a long way yet if guided in the right direction, but this is another subject.—l am, etc., ARGOSY. i Sir.—Although I .suspect that the ' Rev Forde Carlisle often allows his tongue to run away with itself, a ! speech of his is seldom without inter- * est. His “forceful denunciation” of • the liquor question is no exception to 1 the rule. He wants a “strong man to stand in the gap” and demands the removal of the menace. I beg to state, however, that any man strong, weak or middling, may “stand in the gap” and demand till he is blue in the face and no notice will be taken of him. No, not while any profit is to be made out of liquor will his demand be .met. We may rant against it in pulpit or Rationalist lecture room, on highway or byway, until profit goes liquor stays. The cure is, I believe, State Control. Prohibition was tried and failed in America. The bootlegger made a profit and crime increased immensely. During the last war a plan was tried out in a Weigh mining tawn. It was such a success that vested interests promptly squashed it. As the plan would run in New Zealand it is briefly this: The State take over all breweries ,hotels, etc., and instal managers on a fixed salary. Soft drinks, food, lodging, etc., on commission extra to his salary. This would dneourage him to push the sales of these and increase his earnings. Liquor would thus become of secondary importance to him. Sly grogging by a publican would be of no advantage as he would lose a good position, if caught, and his livelihood would be independent of the liouor he sold. Space forbids me from going into the psychological reasons why men drink, but T believe that if this plan were carried out a telling blow would be struck at the menace.—T am. etc., “ICARNUS.”