With Easter coming up, Drinking Culture is taking a theological turn. This is something I wrote a few years back look at the evidence for wine consumption in the Bible.
Wine drinking as a social custom has always fascinated me when encountering it in the Bible or in western culture . I am an Indian and there is no such universal culture of social alcohol drinking that has endured through our country . Sure different parts of the country have different subcultures that produced their own wines / toddy. But it has always been prerogative of the rich and wealthy or the poor and desperate. I don't know if other south east asian cultures outside of the subcontinent have a similar history .
"in fact there are festivals where you're actively supposed to drink" If one has been in Israel during Purim then one knows it's simply a stag party with religious justification. Also, "alcohol fine, drunkenness bad" is an underpinning of the beliefs for progressive Muslims I've met as well. Pretty common sense I suppose.
I remember going to a Hassidic seder once, it was all very serious with small amounts of kosher wine, and then they cracked out the Glenfiddich and everyone got hammered.
This Purim was 10 years ago and even then I was quickly left in the dust. I assume it would kill me now. If there's a stereotype somewhere of Jews not being able to drink, that's insanity. So of course Jesus could have packed it away in his day.
A Made up character study is interesting
Wine drinking as a social custom has always fascinated me when encountering it in the Bible or in western culture . I am an Indian and there is no such universal culture of social alcohol drinking that has endured through our country . Sure different parts of the country have different subcultures that produced their own wines / toddy. But it has always been prerogative of the rich and wealthy or the poor and desperate. I don't know if other south east asian cultures outside of the subcontinent have a similar history .
"in fact there are festivals where you're actively supposed to drink" If one has been in Israel during Purim then one knows it's simply a stag party with religious justification. Also, "alcohol fine, drunkenness bad" is an underpinning of the beliefs for progressive Muslims I've met as well. Pretty common sense I suppose.
I remember going to a Hassidic seder once, it was all very serious with small amounts of kosher wine, and then they cracked out the Glenfiddich and everyone got hammered.
This Purim was 10 years ago and even then I was quickly left in the dust. I assume it would kill me now. If there's a stereotype somewhere of Jews not being able to drink, that's insanity. So of course Jesus could have packed it away in his day.