Legalizing Alcohol Sales

The following series of articles may also be found on the website of the 

Mill Street church of Christ in London, KY

www.millstreetcoc.org

The articles also appeared in the weekly newspapers of the: 

Sentinel Echo Newspaper Article & Times-Tribune Newspaper Article

on:

Friday, November 4, 2011      &      Saturday, November 5, 2011

London, KY                                  Corbin, KY

~Another Vote for Liquor Sales Expansion?~

Will London lose its innocence…again?

 “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: 

he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.”  

– Proverbs 21:17 –

Part 3

The effort that is underway in London to “take the city’s ‘moist’ alcohol sales to ‘state liquor’ sales” is also underway in Corbin and Barbourville according to an article in last week’s Corbin News Journal.  The reasons stated in that article are the same as the reasons cited by those in support of the petition here in London.  The article said: “This effort is about replacing lost tax revenues and lost jobs.”  Indeed, it is all about money!  Therein is the truth about their motive.  Is their cause worthy?  Ought we not be concerned over lost tax revenues and lost jobs?  Certainly!  I have a deep concern for the plight of those who suffer financially and who are emotionally stressed and under great duress associated with financial depravity.  I am not against pursuing efforts to address this need.  However, to pursue a remedy for financial needs thru advocating sin is condemned in the Bible.  We read in Prov. 28:20, “A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.”  Again in Prov. 28:22, “He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.”

Expanding alcohol sales will not help an addict overcome alcohol, nor will it encourage abstinence.  No doubt it will raise revenue, but only thru sheer exploitation of those who suffer from addiction.  Those who seek to gain monetarily from this effort to expand alcohol sales do not empathize with the pain and suffering of others.  It is proof that they are desensitized to the consequence of their actions toward others.  It is not a concern for those who currently suffer from addiction to alcohol with a view to helping them overcome their addiction; it is not to encourage sober living in view of eternity by abstinence; it is simple fear due to a lack of faith in God being able to provide! 

This petition is a disguise for their love of money.  The petition that was printed in the Corbin newspaper stated that it was to keep “…the tax dollars spent on alcohol sales in neighboring areas in Corbin.”  Do they desire to benefit personally at the expense of those who suffer from alcohol addiction by making it more readily accessible?  Is their concern in keeping drunks off the roads, thereby making highway travel safer, or is it a cloak to recoup their loss of revenue due to current economic conditions?  Are they lacking in faith and trust that God can resurrect a sagging economy?  Will alcohol sales expansion achieve what God, in His infinite power and wisdom cannot? Their motives and tactics are known both to them and to God.  The Bible teaches that drunkenness is a sin!  People suffer from it and need help to overcome it.  IT CAN BE OVERCOME but not by making alcohol more readily available under a pretense of concern for loss of jobs. 

The petition states that passing a referendum would:

·         Help our community begin to recover from a more severe economic downturn by providing new jobs. 

·         Provide additional tax revenue by keeping the tax dollars spent on alcohol sales in neighboring areas in Corbin.

·         Take advantage of the multiplier effect when money is spent locally.

·         Increase our tourism by attracting more dining and entertainment establishments.

·         Change Corbin’s disadvantaged position with nearby cities like Manchester who have passed this referendum as well as London and now Barbourville who are forming a petition.

The Bible is clear about those who put their trust in “uncertain riches”.  Are the cities of London, Corbin, and Barbourville ‘disadvantaged’ because Manchester is robbing local tax dollars?  This is an insult to those in London, Corbin, and Barbourville who have a love for moral pureness and who are not covetous, but have trust in God to provide for their needs.  The Bible says:

“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” (1 Timothy 6:9)

“Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy...” (1 Timothy 6:17)

London is not at any disadvantage to Manchester due to that city already having “expanded alcohol sales”.  Those behind this petition are repeating the behavior of the Israelites in the days of the prophet Samuel, when they demanded, “Give us a king…that we may be like all the nations…” (1 Samuel 8:6, 20).  Israel wanted to be like the surrounding nations, who had an earthly king.  They were discontented with their current living conditions.   Economically, their country was impoverished as the Philistines were subjecting them to their past days of slavery.  Their future looked grim with no hope in sight.  Their fears overwhelmed them in every facet of their daily life.  However, they were in denial of the real source of their misery: their own idolatry and religious hypocrisy!  Moses had repeatedly pled with them to follow the Ten Commandments.  Yet we find Moses stating of them that they were doing “…whatsoever is right in his own eyes” (Deut. 12:8).  He cautioned them not to live that way when they got to Canaan, yet in Judges 21:25 we find Joshua saying that conditions had not changed.  He said, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”  This was the reason for their plight. 

Moses had warned them in Deut. 12:29-31, “When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them…and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods…”.

Because of spiritual blindness, they followed the path of the wicked and sought to remedy a situation thru copying the immoral ways of the majority.  They envisioned that if they had an earthly king, like the nations around them, all their problems would be solved.  The nations around them were immoral and wrong in their religion.  So Moses warned them in Deut. 12:30 to, “Take heed…that thou be not snared by following them…”

Yet we see this same sinful behavior in the pleas of those who advocate the expansion of alcohol in London.  They say, “others” (Manchester, Richmond, Danville) have it; let’s be like them!”  The article in the Corbin News Journal stated: “We should fall right in line.”  We see with this statement the proverbial “give us a king…that we might be like the nations (cities) around us”! 

I pray that those behind these petitions will see the folly of trusting in ‘uncertain’ riches and put their trust in God to provide and be content with having their needs met thru His divine providence.  Lost revenue and lost jobs can and will be handled by God.  However, spiritual blessings will only come thru faith and obedience to Jesus Christ.

to be continued…