A Spirited Debate, But Not A Spiritual Issue

If you live in Georgia and think you ought to be able to buy wine on Sunday for your communion service (or beer for your evangelistic barbecue), you can sign a petition online asking legislators to approve a bill that would allow the people in each county/city to vote on whether to allow such sales. The petition is here. It takes about 60 seconds.

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As I write this, there are 5400 signatures. That's up from about 3000 yesterday.

For some reason, our governor, lieutenant governor, several key legislators, and quite a number of evangelicals seem to think society will collapse if people can buy alcohol on Sunday afternoon. 47 other states have found otherwise.

If you were reading my blog a year ago, you know why I don't think Sunday alcohol sales is a religious issue. Rather than rehash everything, I'll just give you the link to my previous post, if you're interested.

Between Friday and Sunday

Tombs and Wombs

While at the concert last week of Bach’s St. John Passion, I had a new thought – new for me, that is. The text from the book of John says that Jesus was laid in “a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid” (John 19.41). For some reason, it struck me that this is a parallel with his birth. He was born from a virgin womb, and He was buried in (and rose from) a virgin tomb. If there’s any theological significance to this, I haven’t yet figured out what it is. But it is a nice symmetry.


News You May Have Missed: Ahmadinejad, The Press, and Easter

When the 15 British sailors were released from Iran a couple days ago, the press uniformly reported that President Ahmadinejad said he was releasing his prisoners as an Easter gift. For example, the New York Times ran this AP version: "Irans's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said he had pardoned the sailors as an Easter holiday gift to the British people.”

That caught my eye, because I wouldn’t expect the president of Iran to care much about a Christian holiday.

What did he really say? MSNBC ran a longer version of his remarks, and they’re informative:

“Ahmadinejad said he had pardoned the sailors as a gift to the British people and to mark the birthday of Islam's Prophet Muhammed and Easter. On the occasion of the birthday of the great prophet (Muhammad) ... and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people -- with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial -- forgave those 15."

“The occasion of the passing of Christ.” Would somebody please tell the press that the death of Jesus isn’t the definition of Easter?

(More about this story at GetReligion.org.)

Let My People Vote

Dear [Georgia State] Senator -

Although I do not live in your District, I’m writing to express my support for the Sunday alcohol sales bill that will be coming before the Senate Rules Committee on which you sit.

I consider myself an evangelical Christian. In fact, I am a “ruling elder” in an Atlanta-area megachurch that teaches the full inspiration of the Bible, the absolute authority of Christ, and the bad news that some people are going to end up in Hell.

Nevertheless, I do not appreciate other evangelical Christians who have loudly protested in this debate that there is something inherently sinful about alcohol sales on the Sabbath. They do not speak for me, and their arguments are nonsensical, I’m sorry to say. To wit:

• The Bible does not condemn alcohol use, simply its misuse. Alcohol is, in fact, expected for certain religious rituals and recommended for certain health ailments.


• My evangelical brothers and sisters who support the alcohol ban mistakenly think their personal conviction not to drink is somehow a command of God applicable to all people.


• These people inconsistently extend that conviction when they imply that Monday-Saturday sales are OK, but Sunday sales are not. What basis other than opinion do they have for this position?


• Those same brothers and sisters also inconsistently apply their Sabbath convictions to the question of retail channels. If they are going to oppose Sunday sales in grocery stores, they should also oppose Sunday sales in every commercial establishment.

I do believe morality should be legislated; for example, we have a law against murder. But this is not an issue of morality, but rather of preference. As such, the citizens of each community ought to be able to vote on their preferences. It would be unconscionable for the Rules Committee to decide otherwise by failing to advance the bill.

I ask you to eschew politics (in the cynical sense of the word) and, instead, to do the politic thing (in the best sense of the word). Please let the people vote.

Respectfully,