I can see half a point in the policy. Jesus partook more freely and openly of the fermented blood of the grape (any other kind would not have been practicable except for a few weeks out of the year) than these people would have their staff do. If you’ve got a significant ministry to alcoholic people, this kind of restraint makes sense. No need that an activity not explicitly banned by the faith should be allowed to act as a stumbling block to the weak. But just to be doing it to say you’re specially clean... pfah, bs, baloney. Anyhow, how common is it to recognize someone in a restaurant? I’d feel a policy that you should never be obviously drunk (for an objective measure, too drunk to legally drive, even if you don’t drive or are a passenger) in public, and should avoid distilled liquors in public, would make more sense. And that when ministering to alcoholics, you should stay totally dry.
“I’d feel a policy that you should never be obviously drunk (for an objective measure, too drunk to legally drive, even if you don’t drive or are a passenger) in public, and should avoid distilled liquors in public, would make more sense”
I can agree with that. Also though, I try and be very tolerant of positions more conservative of my own. The political spectrum is like the air temperature. The temperature of air molecules is distributed on a bell curve. Some are 100s of degrees. This is observed in Brownian motion. But on average, the temperature is good. If you continually cut out the high energy ones because they are too hot, the temperature just goes more and more to the left.
It’s like the political left. Most of them don’t want babies killed after they’re born. But they tolerate stuff like that being out there, as it makes us fight them WAY inside their comfort zone. Even if we win that, they still have pretty much everything they want.
You know what they say . . . Church of God don't recognize infant baptisms, Catholics don't recognize Mormon baptisms, and Baptists don't recognize each other at the liquor store . . . .