Having just returned from France on a tasting tour through Champagne, Bordeaux and Cognac regions, this being a Sunday, it is a good time to analyze why some religions prohibit the imbibition of alcohol, while others use it ceremoniously. After all, monks invented champagne. The surprise I got was that Christianity might be the reason why we drink wine today, and how California, particularly, benefited. Read on.
The term used for religion is psychotropic, known by most of us as high or drunk or something in between or worse. Sin, of course, is thus sometimes associated with this forbidden liquid.
So let me review the practice of a few religions:
- Bah'ai'i Faith
- spread by Iranian prophet Bahullah only in 1863, the emphasis is on the unity of people, rejecting racism and nationalism
- well, poor start, as they prohibit anything associated with alcohol, including avoiding jobs linked to this forbidden temptation
- Christianity
- for the first 1800 years, the fruit of the vine, wine, was central to rite and even life
- however, too much was a vice...sort of like today
- around the mid 19th century, Methodists and Evangelical groups began to advocated abstentionism and led the temperance movement (anti-alcohol)
- Catholics have always considered Eucharistic wine to be the Blood of Jesus Christ, same for Lutherans, while Trappists also brewed beer for this purpose
- early on only the clergy drank this wine
- the wine is usually red, relating to Jesus' blood, but white is sometimes used to minimize stains on the altar cloths
- sharing of wine and bread in the sacramental process mostly came in the 20th century
- pasteurized grape juice is now favored for children, with exceptions
- historically, the wine was sweetish
- the Vitus vinifera grape is used
- wine goes back to at least 6000 BC
- the problem is that there are up to 10,000 varieties of this grape
- in fact this pretty much means the wine can be anything from Cabernet Sauvignon to Sauvignon Blanc to Concord
- in the USA
- when the Pilgrims arrived in 1620, they grew grapes for wine, and this was in Massachusetts (there are 55 wineries in this state)
- German churches in the Midwest also spread wine
- Jesuit priests brought winemaking to California
- Father Junipero Serra is called the "Father of California Wine"
- while he was America's first Hispanic saint, American Indians believe he helped destroy the native culture
- Christianity brought wine to America
- Amazingly enough, in the enaction of Prohibition from 1920, Conservative Protestants protested, and legislation eventually allowed only churches to have wines
- Roman Catholic wine purchases increased by 700% in California, both saving the wine-making industry and increasing membership
- however, churches had a tough time dealing with robbers, leading to the loss of priest lives
- while today only 0.5% of wines is sacramental, the Roman Catholic church is singularly responsible for the American wine industry
- that child sexual abuse scandal disrupting the Church is exacerbated by the high incidence of priest alcoholism
- Indian religions
- Buddhists avoid alcohol for it disrupts mindfulness and impedes progress toward Enlightenment
- Hindus recommend wine for kapha body types, which in the Ayurveda healing system are those with certain characteristics leading to health problems
- Sikhs cannot use any intoxicants
- Islam prohibits alcohol consumption because it weakens the conscience of the believer
- but major pockets of Muslim countries drink a variety of alcoholic beverages as part of their culture
- in fact, Muhammad probably drank alcohol, meaning that prohibition came later from the founding
- Judaism
- wine is a substance of import, and incorporated in ceremonies
- general consumption is also permitted
- inebriation is discouraged
- Kosher wine
- must have been kept free from contact with grains, etc.
- is under strict rabbinical supervision
- dates back to biblical times
- Jewish immigrants brought Concord grape vines with them to New York
- this led to Manischewitz and Mogen David
- however, dry Kosher wine of high quality is produced in Napa and Bordeaux
- I grew up with Mogen David, love the Concord grape taste, but couldn't find this specific wine for twenty years...until a few months ago in Tamura's, and proudly brought it to my Sunday night table at 15 Craigside
- The Bible, incidentally, says Wine gladdens human hearts (Psalms 104:15), but also, Be not among Drunkards or among gluttonous eater of meat...hmm, that's sometime me
- Mormons are now dead set against liquor, coffee, tea, and tobacco, but early history supported the contrary.
- Shinto uses sake in purification rituals, and I detested that spot of sake on New Year's morning, something I now love.
- Ancient religions in Egypt, Babylonia and China all used wine and beer, of course, in moderation.
- Religious drinking in Italy, like Bacchanalia, were popular, but later outlawed by the Roman Senate.
- Scandinavian religions all utilized ales and meads during festivals.
Well, this is Sunday, the most temperate day for alcohol imbibition. However, I have my Sunday night table tonight, and we have no theological limits to our decadence.
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