Herm Edwards Beer Commercial

Herm Edward's Beer Commercial

Stunned to see Herm Edwards help take the “sin“ out of beer drinking! Herm (former NFL Jets and Chiefs head coach) surprised me by appearing in a Coors Light Silver Bullet commercial during the Colts vs. Giants football game.

After having personally lived upon the beautiful Monterey California peninsula, I know of Herb’s positive influence in the community. Herb is vocal about his Christianity and doesn’t waste many opportunities to refer to his version of the deity. He certainly didn’t mention Jesus during the commercial.

All of this begs a question, “Is drinking alcohol wrong for a Christian?”

Breweries, wineries and distillers have lost countless revenues for the misperception that the scriptures deny saints the freedom to sip. The short version of consistent Biblical exegesis would be that drinking isn’t wise…but it is a stretch to say that it is sinful unless you get drunk. Not that this would stop Fundamentalists from demanding abstinence though. Hebrews 6 states that drunkards will be not be inheriting the kingdom of heaven...so be careful if you toe the line!

Wine flowed during Prohibition

On an interesting side note, the last time my wife and I took the Napa Valley Beringer Vineyard tour, the tour guide expressed that during the period of Prohibition in the US (1920-1933) they were one of two wineries allowed by the US government to continue winemaking privileges. The reason? The church had a hand in the equation and needed someone to supply the clergy's demand for wine. I wasn't certain if the tourguides' last sentence was "tongue-in-cheek" or not?

Confession here (in case you didn’t know), I’m a fan of progressive Christianity. I just didn’t expect Herb Edwards to be it’s messenger. Hopefully, Herb didn’t profit for appearing in the commercial and made some sort of deal where the money goes towards something like MADD (Mother’s Against Drunk Driving) or Alcoholic’s Anonymous. My intention here isn’t to cause Herb a problem…please understand without Scriptural support there isn’t anything wrong with drinking! If any of those wonderful little old ladies accost you Herb…I have suggested a PR solution to resolve the issue.

Common Good Problem Solving 101

The second big point I want to make is for both theists and non-theists alike to view alcoholic consumption through the common good perspective. Christians are wrong to twist the Scriptures to deny a pleasure. This leads to intellectual rebellion that ultimately hurts your faith! Just as in sexual matters, I question whether alcoholic suppression attempts drive up consumption demands within the church? Common good Christians should address the issue!

I would love to see non-theists start channelling some of that pent-up energy (anger) used towards “proving the Scriptures/Faithful wrong or inadequate” into constructive roles to resolve important societal problems like alcohol abuse. Often people losing hope turn to the bottle to “numb” the pain of life. From what I saw in Latvia, I can’t help but think that the economic downturn might elevate consumption and alcohol abuse problems here.

Some turn to Jesus to save them from the bottle, like Uldis….if so, I say its better for them to turn to Jesus if it helps them. I know this is a hard pill for non-theists to swallow (no pun intended) since sober non-theists do it without divine intervention. Religion does help some people; common good non-theists should recognize this fact and be good sports about it! Just because we disagree with the method (religion), we should recognize that our solution isn’t like Jesus' dogmatic claim (the only way). What’s your priority? Non-theism or humanity? This in essence is my beef with atheism. I’ll be happy with every “Uldis” out there who gets victory over the bottle even if it comes through Jesus! Keep in mind, I’ll still be doing my humanist thing!

Don Newcombe’s influence in my life

Personally, my paternal grandfather was a drunk and I learned to avoid my father when he started drinking (I could tell some stories). I knew from a young age the power of alcohol and wanted to alter the family tradition (all of us have that power within us!)

Life has it’s pivotal turns, I have always wanted to express my gratitude to the great Dodger pitcher, Don Newcombe for visiting a small seemingly insignificant little Junior High School in Canton, NC during my eight-grade year. The man’s substance abuse message got through to me…glad to see President Obama acknowledge “Nuke” for his great humanitarian contributions earlier this year!

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