Published Sunday, October 05, 2008

Some Baptists now speak to one another in the liquor store

Growing up in the era of religious taboos -- don't do this, don't do that -- I can remember that strong drink got the most critical castigation, even though it was obvious that few were practicing what they were preaching.

We always knew somebody's grandfather had a jug of moonshine stashed away somewhere in his barn. The difference then and now was that they did their drinking in private and didn't take to the road where they could have done bodily harm to somebody in their pickup truck.

The objective was not to get caught and not to drink in front of one another. It's an old story, but its significance remains intact. "The Baptists," the story goes, "are getting very liberal in my hometown. They are speaking to one another in the liquor stores."

As anybody with any affiliation with traditional Baptists knows, there has been a long time Baptist antipathy for Catholics. Some of that has to do with the fact that word got out some time back that the Catholics used real wine at communion. In the Baptist environment in which I grew up, most Baptists, who communed with Welch's grape juice, thought that Catholics drinking wine in church were going to be charter members in Hell.

Years ago, I recall an evening with a priest who really enjoyed the pouring of wine. When he learned I was Baptist, he reminded me that the first miracle of the New Testament was when, at the marriage feast of Canna, water was turned into wine. The more he drank, the funnier he became, all of which convinced me that Catholics "who took a drink" had more of a sense of humor than those who spoke out against drinking. Unless, you drank where nobody could see you which was as traditional in my community as Christmas trees in December, you were considered Satan's partner if you were caught with a cup in your hands.

We all know the evils of drinking. The curse of drunk driving may be the worst curse of all. Throw the book at anybody who is guilty of getting behind the wheel when they have had too much to drink. The hard facts are that people are going to drink, and there are laws to handle misconduct and drinking to excess. For those who drink responsibly, I say, "Let them have their fun." That would include priests, preachers and judges.

I have a friend, who has a close friend who is a Baptist preacher, one who is not so rigid when it comes to drinking. My friend has experienced an expansive travel log. He has seen the pyramids and cruised the Nile. He has dipped a toe in all the Oceans of the world, except the waters of the Arctic. He has walked the Great Wall of China; he has felt the mist from the spray of Victoria Falls.

He has had his photo taken at Red Square in Moscow. He has sat back stage at the Grand Ole Opry. He has played the Old Course at St. Andrews and has sailed the fjords of Norway.

When it comes to sports, he has attended the World Series, the Super Bowl, the Rose Bowl, Wimbledon, the Masters, U. S. Open, British Open and the PGA championship.

What then, I asked, was your greatest thrill?

He replied, "Buying a Baptist preacher a drink."