{"id":42248,"date":"2022-01-20T15:45:19","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T21:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=42248"},"modified":"2022-01-20T15:45:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T21:45:19","slug":"the-cost-of-drinking-alcohol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-cost-of-drinking-alcohol\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cost of Drinking Alcohol"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Dennis Abernathy<\/p>\n

\"\"I recently read that alcoholism is costing our society around twenty-five billion dollars annually, including millions yearly just to arrest, try, and jail drinkers. Furthermore, alcohol is to blame for nearly half of all traffic fatalities and homicides, and a fourth of all suicides in the state of Texas. By the way, just one ounce of alcohol retard’s muscular reaction17%. It increases the time required to make a decision by 9% and increases errors due to lack of attention by 35%. For example, tests show that after drinking three bottles of beer, there is an average net memory loss of 13%. Trained typists, for instance, were tested and their errors increased 40% after taking only small quantities of alcohol. Those who claim to be only “social drinkers,” who drink “responsibly” need to pay attention. Alcohol consumption causes one to act irresponsibly. Others who say they can exercise self-control when drinking alcohol need to understand that imbibing alcohol causes one to lose self-control!<\/p>\n

Sir William Osler, a Canadian physician, was lecturing one day on alcohol, and a student asked: “Is it true that alcohol makes people able to do things better?” “No,” replied Osler, “It just makes them less ashamed of doing them badly.”<\/p>\n

The Bible says, “Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink arouses brawling, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise<\/em>” (Proverbs 20: 1). Proverbs 23:29-35 paints an accurate portrait of what drinking alcohol will do to a person, and it is not a pretty picture. The ruined lives of millions of people are a continuing testimony of what alcohol consumption will do. It is a terrible monster that ruins lives, destroys families, and opposes the good of the community. The alcohol commercials advertise alcohol’s relation with the good life and are very enticing, but in the end, it “bites like a poisonous snake,” <\/em>\u00a0and leads to addiction, shame, and disaster.<\/p>\n

Think on these things.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Dennis Abernathy I recently read that alcoholism is costing our society around twenty-five billion dollars annually, including millions yearly just to arrest, try, and jail drinkers. Furthermore, alcohol is to blame for nearly half of all traffic fatalities and homicides, and a fourth of all suicides in the state of Texas. By the way,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[371,1104],"class_list":["post-42248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-alcohol","tag-drunkenness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47748,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/flaws-found-in-moderate-drinking-studies\/","url_meta":{"origin":42248,"position":0},"title":"Flaws Found in Moderate Drinking Studies","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: Alice Walton, \"Moderate Drinking May Not Be as Healthy as We Thought,\" Forbes, 2016-03-23 In reviewing past studies that seemed to indicate that moderate drinking had some health benefits, researchers found that former drinkers were being included in the categories of \"abstainers\" or \"occasional drinkers.\" The problem is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40186,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-alcohol\/","url_meta":{"origin":42248,"position":1},"title":"Notes on Alcohol","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Based on a list by Dave Hart There is more Scripture condemning the use of alcoholic beverages than will be found on the subjects of lying, adultery, swearing, cheating, hypocrisy, pride, or even blasphemy. Genesis 9:20-27 - Noah became drunk; the result was immorality and family trouble. Genesis 19:30-38 -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88696,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/alcohol-and-the-risk-of-cancer\/","url_meta":{"origin":42248,"position":2},"title":"Alcohol and the Risk of Cancer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Source:\u00a0\"Alcohol and Cancer Risk: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory,\" 2025. \"This advisory highlights alcohol use as a leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, contributing to nearly 100,000 cancer cases and about 20,000 cancer deaths each year.\" \"Alcohol use is very common-in 2019-2020, 72% of U.S. adults reported\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25182,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/social-drinking\/","url_meta":{"origin":42248,"position":3},"title":"Social Drinking (Spears)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley Ross Spears We live in a world where social drinking is accepted by over two-thirds of our entire population.\u00a0 That segment also accepts just about any other kind of drinking.\u00a0 But social drinking has been elevated a few steps above ordinary honkey-tonk or bar room drinking.\u00a0 No matter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/social-drinking-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":94695,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/alcohol-is-a-thief\/","url_meta":{"origin":42248,"position":4},"title":"Alcohol Is a Thief","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jarrod M. Jacobs We might not think about alcohol in terms of \"a thief,\" but I would suggest that it is. Solomon said long ago, \"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise\" (Proverbs 20:1). Notice how absolute these words are.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54062,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/not-what-they-told-you-alcohol\/","url_meta":{"origin":42248,"position":5},"title":"Not What They Told You – Alcohol","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Galatians 5:16-24 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are many factors that led to the downfall of Israel, but one reoccurring theme was the greed of its leaders. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They were in it for the money - Isaiah 56:11 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They dealt falsely for money - Jeremiah 6:13 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Everyone was after\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42248\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}