C A R L B. G A R N E R

ALCOHOL: THE REASON FOR THE SEASON?

Authorities are predicting that the next two weeks will see a near 50% increase in alcohol consumption. People are stocking up on booze, and New Year¹s Eve will see new records in sales and consumption. One newsman said, "It appears beer has replaced Jesus as the reason for the season." Well, the truth is, Jesus was never really the "reason for the season," but the newsman may be right about beer.

The following material will be a bit different from what you usually see here. It will be a series of quotes or statistics on the subject of alcoholic beverages and its effect on humans. Some are more current than others, but all are true representations of the subject, originating out of legitimate, objective sources. When considered from the perspective of facts, cold hard facts, there is no justification for anyone to expect alcohol to solve their personal or family problems.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXCERPTS
€ "Alcohol can exert nearly satanic power: it ruins lives, destroys families, kills thousands on the highway. It can cause brain and heart damage, gastritis, pancreatitis, malnutrition and anxiety, and can depress the immune system. Heavy drinkers show a higher incidence of throat cancers. Depression is more often the result of heavy drinking than its cause.....

"A pregnant woman takes a drink. Within minutes her baby has the same drink. Alcohol is one of the leading known causes of mental retardation in the Western world.... Fetal Alcohol Syndrome brings into the world skinny and retarded babies...you don't have to be an alcoholic to harm your baby; you just have to be drinking and pregnant.... Alcohol may help somewhat in fighting arteriosclerosis, but the bad effects of drinking overwhelm any good effect" (February 1992).

NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON ALCOHOL ABUSE REPORTS IN USA TODAY
€ 38% of those who drink alcohol are "problem drinkers" or alcoholics.
€ 15 million in the USA are either alcohol abusers or alcoholics.
€ Estimated costs to the U.S. economy from alcohol: $70 billion in 1985, $85 billion in 1988 (increasing over 22% annually).
€ Attributed to alcohol:
ˆ 83% of fire deaths
ˆ 72% of aggravated assaults
ˆ 70% of sexual abuse, rape, incest
ˆ 69% of drownings
ˆ 54% of violent crimes
ˆ 50% of murders
ˆ 50% of spousal abuse

WHAT ABOUT PROHIBITION?
"During the first 10 years of national prohibition, the death rate from alcoholism decreased 42% as compared with the previous decade under legalized liquor. During this same period, insanity due to alcohol decreased 66%. Drunkenness declined 70%. There was 54% less crime during this period. According to the U.S. Census Report 108,000 fewer persons died. Following repeal, however, police records from 266 cities reveal that in the first year after repeal automobile accidents increased from 60-1400% as compared with the first two years of prohibition. Arrests for drunkenness increased from 55-1000% compared with the first two years of prohibition."
— Guy N. Woods

READERS DIGEST REPORTS
"Alcoholic beverage sales in the USA in 1983 provided $12.2 billion in taxes, but alcohol-related problems in productivity, lost employment, health care, loss of property and crime cost the government $89.5 billion. In other words, we spend $7.33 for every dollar we receive in taxes on the sale of alcoholic beverages."

NEWSWEEK REPORTS
"Alcohol is responsible for 50% of all automobile fatalities, 60% of all child abuse, 80% of all home violence, and 30% of all suicides."

AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN
"Nationwide, 18,000,000 adults – about the number of people living in New York State –are problem drinkers. In Texas alone, there are more than 1,000,000 problem drinkers, and the cost of alcohol-related problems is $629 per person per year. That is enough to build and maintain 2,500 schools.....About 50,000 babies are born every year with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, a disease causing retardation, deformity and genetic disorders....Evidence shows that even casual "social drinking" causes birth defects, Alcoholic Organic Brain Syndrome, peptic ulcers and muscle damage. The changes tend to be enduring (permanent) even from so-called "casual drinking"....Beverage alcohol goes directly into the blood stream when it is consumed....It damages the liver, the kidneys, the heart and the brain. It is the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer, and it often contributes to these other two." (1989)

All of the previous material comes from secular sources. But the use of alcohol is more dangerous than many think. Solomon said, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise," Proverbs 20:1. There are eternal consequences. Many will be deceived by strong drink this month, thinking "I can drink just a little, and that's all right." But Christ demands that Christians be "sober," (from nepho, meaning "free from the influence of intoxicants" or "to abstain from wine;" W.E. Vine and J.H. Thayer), 1 Thessalonians 5:6, 8; 1 Peter 5:8. Man has set certain standards for drunkenness based on the level of alcohol in the blood, but God says we should "abstain from every form of evil," 1 Thessalonians 5:22. You are drunk when that first drop of that first drink of alcohol enters your body and begins to "influence" you, diminishes your ability to reason and render wise judgment. When that happens, you are drunk - by God¹s standard. (See Galatians 5:21, Romans 13:13.) Even if the worldly are deceived by this damnable practice, Christians must "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" 1 Peter 5:8. Don't you be deceived!