Wine - What Would Jesus Drink?

Cross-posted from

What can wine tell us about the world? Plenty, it turns out.  It is one of civilization's oldest products.  At one time it was a necessity, when food was served rotten and water was where you washed and evacuated.  Now it is enjoying a resurgence.  It is an agricultural product, and a unique one.  You see, vineyards have kept records of temperature, yield, and ripeness-dates for centuries, giving us incredibly precise records that tell us reams about the global environment. It is also a luxury item, particularly at the top end.  As such, its sale and purchase can tell us volumes about the global economy.

Today we look at wine, religion, and politics.

Alabama Baptists sniff noses at wine trail

Alabama has all sorts of tourist trails — there's one for civil rights, another for birds and yet another for old churches. The newest one was introduced Tuesday to promote the state's wineries, but Baptists aren't joining in the toast.

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A Baptist leader in neighboring Chilton County said his group opposed plans for a winery there and doesn't like the idea of luring tourists to his home turf or anywhere else in Alabama to imbibe.

"We are on record as being opposed to any kind of alcohol-related industry," said the Rev. Robert Griffin, moderator of the Chilton Baptist Association and pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Clanton. "I would support visiting old, historic churches, but as far as visiting wineries..."

This was not religion commanding the actions of its own adherents, like when the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution urging the exclusion of Southern Baptists who drink from election to the convention’s boards, committees and entities.  No, this was religion telling OTHER people what they were allowed to do, and doing it through government action.

Four years ago, Athens, Alabama, passed an ordinance permitting the sale of beer and wine for the first time since Prohibition.  It was a tremendous success, bringing restaurants and other businesses to town.

Since legal alcohol sales began in 2004, Athens has seen an influx of restaurants — those selling alcohol and those that do not — as well as other retail businesses. Where previously downtown Athens drew only home-cooking-style restaurants and delis that served only lunch, it will have three new restaurants this year — including Giovanni’s, Oasis and LuVici’s.

That sounds great, doesn't it?  So how did some of Athen's citizens respond? How do you think they responded.  Three years later alcohol was back on the ballot, and church leaders were asking members to pray and fast in support of a ban..  They lost.  But to me, what is important is that they even tried.  

What's the big deal, you might say, about a little restaurant in a little Alabama town?  Not much.  But what about when Wal*Mart gets involved?  THEN is it a big deal?

Wal*Mart is based in a dry county in Arkansas.  However, as it moves from dry goods to grocery, from superstore to Sam's Club, it finds more and more of its profits come from the sale of yeast excrement.  And it also finds itself going head-to-head with its customer base.  

Wal-Mart has financed dozens of local elections, contributing from $5,000 to $20,000 a campaign, said Tim Reeves of Beverage Election Specialists, which supports local alcohol referendums.

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Attempts by Wal-Mart and others to allow alcohol sales in other places that remain dry — 415 counties in the South and in Kansas still prohibit such sales — are meeting fierce resistance from some church groups and religious leaders. They argue that returning to the days when liquor flowed will mean more family violence, under-age drinking, drunken driving and a general moral decay in the community.

"Hey man, this is about religion. How dare you?"  Is that what you're asking?  Isn't this about people's perception of morality, of sin?  Isn't that really up to them and their local political decision-making?  It might say "yes," if it wasn't all a bunch of hypocritical hooey.  You see, for every law, there is a way around it.

"You can't have a restaurant with a liquor license," the law says, "but you can have a private club":

Two more liquor licenses have been approved for Faulkner County restaurants.

La Huerta Mexican restaurant, 1052 Harrison Suite 8 in Conway, was approved for a private club permit this week, according to Kathy Gibson, document examiner for the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. She said the ABC received 888 signatures in support of the permit and no objections.

He said he believes he will receive the actual permit on Nov. 25 or 26, and he thinks he will be ready to start serving by that time. He plans to serve margaritas and beer. Gusano's Chicago-Style Pizzeria also received approval conditional upon health department approval for the restaurant to open.

Sometimes I think hypocrisy is America's true religion.

Alcohol is not the only are where religion flexes its political muscle. In fact, it is probably one of the least innocuous areas of all.  It is merely, for the purposes of this blog, the gateway, the introduction to the concept.  And mind you, please, the problem is not religion itself. The problem, at least from my point of view, is when you think YOUR religion should control what happens in MY life, when you think the book you read on Sunday should be the same book the courts read Monday through Friday.  

In 1979 Jerry Falwell started the Moral Majority.  Its goal, much like the goal of people who would deny alcohol sales (actually, the same people), was never the morality of its own people.  That was always presumed to be true, even if it didn't actually play out that way ( Ted Haggard, anybody?).  No, their goal was to control the actions of OTHERS, to censor the media, to outlaw abortion and homosexuality, to promote their own view of the world.  The "Moral Majority" is credited by many with Reagan's victories in 1980 and 1984.  After that, it seemed to have lost its steam.  But it came roaring back under a different name, the Christian Coalition, in the 1990s, this time under Pat Robertson, a former Presidential candidate.  Many believe we can thank them for George W. Bush's victory in 2000.  

Thanks a lot, people.

Okay, enough politics.  Now let's get to the really important question -

WWJD: What would Jesus drink?

One of the most popular stories of the Bible is the Wedding Feast at Cana, where Jesus turned water into fine wine.

As a wine lover, every time this gospel turns up in the liturgical calendar, I can't help speculating on just what kind of wine Jesus made. ...

As you might expect, many people in Italy make their own wines, and the country is dotted with thousands of small commercial wineries that make wine for local consumption. These are simple but tasty wines to go with every day meals and cost the equivalent of about $2 or $3 a liter. They are meant to be consumed as soon as they are bottled, and have absolutely no aging potential.

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Back in the time of Christ, the wines most likely were similar in style because they were made in "wineries" that were simply a series of large, open-air pits carved out of stone. ...

The wine Jesus made also would have been red, but it would have had the characteristics of one of the best vintages. I think a key factor was that because He made wine on the spot it was fresh and had lively fruit flavors, which would have really set it apart from the normally oxidized plonk of the day. But it would not have been too far removed from what was "normal" for that time and region so that it wouldn't have seemed foreign and strange to the guests.

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I don't think Jesus would have made something resembling our new world wines. It might have approximated a nice Cotes du Rhone wine such as the one I am drinking as I write this. But I would love to hear other theories on this topic.

Go read the whole thing. It's a terrific piece, and even speculates on what the Anti-Christ might do if he gets his hands on a bottle of wine. The horrors are unimagineable.

Cheers!