You appear to describing an “evolutionary process” that occurs that converts grapes into wine.

Surely you know that religious folks who read this are quite concerned that you are trying to insert the concept of “evolution” into this discussion.

As all of them know, the concept of evolution is the Work of The Devil…so, anything that is produced via an “evolutionary process” must also be the Work of The Devil…and, therefore, that is why wine and other similar alcoholic-containing beverages are considered to be Drinks of The Devil.

What to you say you leave the husband at home one night, and go out with a REAL male…

A WHITE male voter, that is?

There are plenty of white male voters to satisfy you.

Religious scholars should not comment on science. A quick read of people trying to disprove the use of alcohol demonstrates their lack of knowledge and the use of half-truths.

An example is This guy who suggests that yeast is the same thing as gluten. Gluten is a protein in wheat, barely and rye, which aids in leavening bread. He goes on to suggest that this means it produces the CO2 that causes the bread to rise.

This is a very basic misunderstanding of what is happening. Gluten makes the dough springy and therefore more able to hold in the CO2 released by the yeast (a fungus). He bases his entire diatribe on this misunderstanding. Much like many evolution deniers use a fundamental misunderstanding of thermodynamics as a means of “disproving” evolution.

The fact is that grape juice will start fermenting immediately and will show obvious signs of fermentation 24 hours later (unless refrigerated). How many refrigerators did they have in biblical times? How many people went to the vineyard and picked grapes only minutes before consuming it? All grape juice is alcoholic to some degree from the moment it is pressed, unless treated with heat (and sealed before it is cooled) or preservatives.

I am an official MADD member!

And ask her if she drinks on Sundays.

http://www.caic.org.au/biblebase/rci/pdrink.htm

Jim Beck of the Georgia Christian Coalition chose to draw a line in the sand on this issue. He promised to remember each legislators’ vote, which suggests retaliation. Beck, Fields etc. have intensified this issue to a fervor level.

It seems to me, rather than suggesting individual retaliation, they would have used this as a rallying cry to get out the vote. Do they not have confidence in their community to do the right thing? I do.

Among other reasons, I suspect this issue is being used by some for political self promotion.

Clearly, you haven’t had any good wine. Try the stuff that comes in a bottle instead of a box. I bet with one glass I could change your whole perception on the grape issue.

Oh wait, I can’t get the wine I want you to sample, because I don’t have a distributor’s license and as a result can’t legally ship wine to Georgia from California.

As long as we are changing Georgia’s archaic alcohol laws, can we fix this one too?

I say let the local communities have the say. If the heathens in Atlanta want to drink themselves silly on Sunday, great. If the South Georgia folks want to keep alcohol out of their community on Sunday (or any other day of the week) great.

And the religious right bring it on themselves. If they would stop using the power of government to push their religious belief onto others, few people would have trouble with them.

The fact that the Blue Laws are STILL on the books over 4 years into the party of “small government” coming to power highlights a larger struggle that the GOP is facing…and the religious right is a large, large part of the problem. Not the solution.

I see it differently: The GOP is debating removing this law which Democrats put in place a long time ago. Some Republicans want to change it, some don’t. I don’t think the fact that some want to keep the law means the GOP is suddenly a big government party. Other actions by some might cause one to think so, but not this issue. This issue merely allows some to bash the religious right.

This isn’t a religious blog so I don’t want to get into a theological debate but it seems to me you’re using scripture to justify what you want to do while accusing others of doing the same.

Erick, you are officially on notice. Watch it with your talk of grapes. I’ve warned you once, I shan’t do it again.

Erick,
You are flat out wrong. Being a sinner does not make you a hypocrite. Excusing your own sins and persecuting those sins in others is being a hypocrite. Setting a goal that is too lofty to reach on every occasion is a commendable practice. Proclaiming that you have reached perfect compliance to that goal by ignoring your own personal failures and then applying that standard with little tolerance in others is not.

Will,
Well stated. I support your arguments completely.