Ennazus

So much wisdom is dispensed at the lunch tables at work...

A coworker of mine said today, "If people would just go to church every week, the liquor, porn and gambling industries would crumble."

Does church attendance guard against liquor, porn and gambling? Wondering if anybody else has ever heard such a claim. It was a new one for me and reminded me of a "fstdt" quote from Winace's site.

trendkill

I would think it would depend on the church. Maybe if the church referred to were LDS, there might be some truth to it.

Ennazus

No, she goes to a Baptist church.

BDS

I'm sure Jesus turning water into wine didn't do much for the wine industry in Cannae, although it didn't prevent drinking, either.

Toto

My cousin used to remark (we were Methodists) "Methodists don't drink - together."

Biff the unclean

If people didn't go to church drinking, gambling and sex would cease to be (considered) problems. Plus they would have more time to enjoy them

Starboy

I have heard many claims about the moral rejuvenating power of church. When I was in Quebec some time ago I had noticed that the girly bars were very frequently right across the street from the churches. It thought it was odd but then I realized that they had an economy going, they were sending each other business!

Starboy

MysteryProf

Well, one of my Xtrian pals recently got caught porngazing. Twice. By his MOM.

On the other hand, one of my conservative Xtian friends got angry at me today because I recommended that she read The Milagro Beanfield War, which she told me was "crude." That book is an American classic! (She used the same excuse when I lent her another fantastic book, The Name of the Rose.) I don't know how she's going to live her life if she can't handle great literature that just happens to reflect the real world.

~MysteryProf

lpetrich

Fundies sometimes squirm and claim that Jesus Christ had turned that water into unfermented grape juice; I once saw a lengthy and contrived argument to the effect that "good wine" had been boiled, making it non-alcoholic. But I find that unconvincing, because the alcohol in wine acts as a preservative, keeping it from spoiling.

Also, I wonder how church bingo fits in. And William Bennett's expending $8 million on gambling. Yes, Mr. Virtue himself.

As to porn, read the Song of Solomon. It might be fun to circulate a carefully-disguised version to see what people think. Especially fundies.

Coragyps

I've been in rather surreal conversations where that sort of stuff was being said. It's a little tough on those who say "wine" = "Welch's grape juice" to point out the passage in Acts where the disciples are thought to be "drunk on new wine."

And unfermented grape juice was invented in 1869, after Mr. Pasteur's experiments on killing germs were publicized. But it still is almost never available in goatskins.