Non-Alcoholic Beer

[GreatLakesGramma]

No, they started drinking it to fit in with their social group, and learned to like it. I have tasted real beer. It does NOT taste fantastic. It tastes like stale urine smells.

[Bravus]

And what of brussels sprouts? Anchovies? Blue vein cheese? Any kind of pickles? etc. There are many things that people enjoy eating that are not immediately pleasant - and some of the things that are immediately pleasant, like sugar, are not the things that are good for us.

You're completely welcome to your dislike for beer - there are many flavours that I dislike. It's when you start judging others based on your own personal tastes that I will argue with you.

[Bravus]

Yeah, sorry dg, I should have replied to you: that response was to Gramma.

I'm delighted that you've made the choice to avoid alcohol in your life, and one of the comments I meant to make much earlier in this thread was that although I think non-alcoholic beer is fine as a general concept, if people are looking to avoid drinking real beer than drinking non-alcoholic beer may well be a source of temptation and something to be avoided. I agree with your comments in all particulars.

[GreatLakesGramma]

And what of brussels sprouts? Anchovies? Blue vein cheese? Any kind of pickles? etc. There are many things that people enjoy eating that are not immediately pleasant - and some of the things that are immediately pleasant, like sugar, are not the things that are good for us.

You're completely welcome to your dislike for beer - there are many flavours that I dislike. It's when you start judging others based on your own personal tastes that I will argue with you.

Bravus, I am not judging anyone. This whole issue is totally new to me, as I never heard of non-alcoholic beer before, and I was just feeling incredulous about the whole idea of Adventists even thinking about drinking such a thing.

And regarding the unpleasant things you mentioned, I don't like any of them either, and I don't eat any of them. I also don't like olives and peppers, and don't eat them either. Those things are all just too gross, and there are plenty of other good tasting things to eat that provide just as much nutrition as they do. Except brussels sprouts are OK raw with dip, unless you get a woody one.

But I also can't stand the taste of sugar. The excessively sweetened processed foods most people think are so good may be an acquired taste too. Everybody just got started on them so young, being taught that desserts were a special treat, that nobody remembers not liking them. I was brought up to eat ridiculously excessive quantities of sugar, but after I became an Adventist, started eating more healthfully, got my system cleared of all that, now I can't stand the things I used to like. Example: a stack of leaf lettuce leaves with a layer of white sugar between the leaves, adding even more sugar to already mostly sugar kids' cereals (lots more), tomato slices covered with a thick layer of sugar, a heap of cottage cheese pile with sugar. These are the things I was taught to like when I was little. Now I don't even eat sugar on grapefruit. And I find most desserts at potlucks nauseatingly sweet.

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

I can see your point but if you are in public why not

just drink fruit juice than non alcoholic beer of non

alcoholic wine?

If I like the taste of beer, why not drink a non-alcoholic brew?

[Dr. Shane]

Well what if the person, like Shane, is new to the religion and he has been drinking beer all his life? It is not going to be easy to stop. So what if he just starts to drink non-alcoholic beer instead? Would that be okay?

No, I don't think that would be good. An alcoholic trying to break the habit should stay away from bars and anything that resembles alcohol. I didn't start drinking non-alcoholic beer until I had been dry and sober for a number of years. If today I had the urge to get drunk, I would certainly not drink non-alcoholic beer to deal with that. That would be very ill-advised. Those struggling to stop drinking need to work a program of recovery that includes prayer, confession, repentance and restitution.

[phkrause]

dgrimm that must have been a good job! Just kidding.

pk

[GreatLakesGramma]

Shane, are you ever tempted by alcohol any more? I've heard that you must always consider yourself an alcoholic, no matter how many years you've been sober.

[Dr. Shane]

I am still an alcoholic in the sense that I cannot drink alcohol like a moderate or social drinker can. A moderate or social drinker can sip on a beer for an hour and when it is warm toss the half he or she didn't drink away and open another cold one. A cold beer never gets the chance to warm up if I am the one drinking it. A moderate drinker is like a cat playing with a mouse. I don't play with my food or my beer. It's down the hatch. One is too many for me and a thousand is never enough.

Now I used the term "recovered" to describe myself because I have recovered from a hopeless state of mind and body. When I was drinking I was hopeless. When arrested for being truant I had hair down past my shoulders, I hadn't bathed in weeks or brushed my teeth in months. I had been wearing the same clothing (including underwear) for days. I lived to drink and drank to live. I have recovered from that. A man that gets shot by a gun must go through a process of recovery but there comes a day when he will be recovered - but he will never be bulletproof. I am recovered but I still cannot drink safely.

Do I have have temptations to drink? Well, the thought still crosses my mind but I wouldn't characterize it as a temptation. I am in good enough spiritual condition that by the grace of God I never actually consider taking that drink. Recently when I had to lay off my secretary, one of my first thoughts was how good it would be to get drunk. I never for a moment actually considered drinking - but the drinking thought came to mind. Like a man recoiling from a hot flame, the first thing I did when I had the thought was to call an AA friend and talk to him about what was going on. So yes I still have thoughts every blue moon but I wouldn't characterize them as temptations. I took my last drink on September 7, 1985.

[Cosmin M.]

Wow.