Comment by kayghar
4 years ago
What are you talking about? Which "certain" states? Iran, my old country, may be the 9th largest consumer of alcohol per capita [1,2]. There are hundreds of deaths due to wood-alcohol poisoning every year [3], mostly from people making moonshine from raisins and not being diligent enough to remove the stems, in lieu of access to safe drinking alcohol. I personally know many people who abuse alcohol just to be able to tolerate living under an oppressive theocracy, especially worsened in the last few years due to US sanctions which have made many everyday and essential goods inaccessible.
But it's very hard to find any data (let alone official data) on any of this, because nobody wants to suffer 72 lashes with 0-gague electrical cable at the hands of Iranian police for having admitted to have had a glass of wine or whatever one night.
Alcohol is an aspect of human civilization since per-historic times (as old as farming if not older) and always will be, regardless of what puritan Christians or foaming-at-the-mouth Mullahs might think of it.
Across the board (addiction, alcohol, abuse) any type of "zero-tolerance" "bring the hammer down" policy e.g. a blanket ban on alcohol has always been at best orthogonal and usually antithetical to harm reduction. As someone mentioned in the above comments, nuance is everything in providing support to the vulnerable --- ask any social worker. Religious guilt enjoys no such effectiveness.
(Sorry, two of the citations are in Persian, I couldn't find English sources. Google translate could be a workaround.)
Edit: spelling.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-features-49967036
> puritan Christians
I’ve lost track of how many people in this thread have blamed Christians. Why? Christian’s do not have a ban on alcohol. Where is this idea coming from, or are we just spreading hate?
The keyword is “puritan.” I don’t see how you can not blame a school of thought that labels most human activities as “vice.”
I’m a Christian and never have met such a “puritan” Christian. Where are these “puritans” that ban things in the name of Christianity? Have you met one or is this hearsay?
Also, in many of the comments in this thread, the word “puritan” is not used.
My comment remains, this comment existed to spread hate, nothing else.
Also what other vices? The word vice generally means bad things so you’re upset that this “group” is giving life guidance? Are you equally as intolerant of a doctor telling people not to drink?