This is a great thread...I’ve often debated this topic. I’m in agreement with a lot of the others here in that consuming alcohol in moderation isn’t a sin, but drunkenness is. I had an easier time with this topic when I lived in the Northeast surrounded by Catholics, then when I moved to the south and was surrounded by Southern Baptists.
The hypocricy made me laugh. They condemned any use of alcohol whatsoever, regardless of context...but boy, you should see the gluttonous way they’d lay into church buffets...lol. Then there’s the rank idolatry of college basketball, but that’s another topic for another time.
I enjoy the company of my Lutheran and Presbyterian friends who aren’t so closed-minded to the issue.