[Linux4christians] beer?

[Preston Boyington]

linux4christians-bounces at thelinuxlink.net wrote:
> I really did not intend to start a lengthy discussion about
> the matter.
> Let me explain why the question in the first place. I do not wish to
> start a discussion about whether the Bible teaches against consuming
> alcoholic beverages. I know the Bible talks many times about wine and
> strong drink in different ways under different circumstances.

I think that this discussion is fine.  These are things that Christians _should_ discuss in order to understand each other and the different ways people handle their Christianity through our various cultures.

> 
> Let me list a few of my beliefs. These are not necessarily
> based on in-
> depth research.
> - Some people are predisposed to alcoholism. For them any sort of
> consumption of alcoholic beverage would be bad.

agreed.  different people have different weakness.

> - A large majority of Christians believe drinking is bad.

true, but in the not so distant past Christians also believed that bathing was to be avoided.  this belief was prevalent in England and came from Christians seeing what went on in the public bath houses.  I think it was Queen Elizabeth that bragged she only had three baths in her life: once at birth, once before her marriage, and one more that I can't remember. (Discovery Channel)

> - The Bible does teach against drunkenness
> - I should not do anything that would cause my brother to stumble.
> 

wholeheartedly agree.  "when in doubt, do without"

> Because of these beliefs I personally stay away from alcoholic
> beverages. I also treat it as a bad thing since it seems so many in
> today's world are trapped by the destroying effects of alcoholism.
> 

I guess that different people have different focuses.  I worry less about alcoholism and focus more on pornography.  It is amazing how many men are enslaved by this and it is truly a problem especially with the ease of accessibility porn has with the internet.  I could easily elaborate on how many church computers I have setup that were donated with porn "residue" still present on the hard drive.

> I do not want to start further discussion on the matter, nor will I
> condemn any for using the phrase "free as in beer." I have seen the
> phrase many times on other mailing list when the GPL or other open
> source licenses are being discussed. I just wanted to explain my
> reasoning for asking the questions.
> 

Please understand that it was not my intention to make anyone uncomfortable, but I hope that people in this group are willing to voice their opinions about such matters.  We DON'T have to agree on things that aren't a salvation issue.  

Agreeing on Jesus as our savior is a must, agreeing over things like drinking beer, eating pork, gross or net tithe, or working on Sunday is not necessary.

> Sorry about the legal jargon at the bottom of my emails. I
> normally only
> read email at work, and since I'm still waiting on a gmail account, I
> use my work email for everything.
> 
> Eric
> 

Not a problem, you might also want to try to put two dashes and a space under your signature or name.  most systems will ignore material after this and it would (possibly) help when people reply to you.

I would also suggest that you go to 1and1.com and sign up for a package there.  They offer a package called "Instant Mail" that gives you 5 e-mail accounts (POP3), 1 GB mailbox space, Virus and Spam protection, and a web mail access to your account for $0.99 a month.  I have several different accounts with them and have not had any problems.

anxiously waiting another good thread,
Preston
--