[thechat] Islam -- alcohol

[Erika Meyer]

Chris Marsh wrote:
>The thing that puzzles me is
>in an area where jobs of that type NOT involving alcohol abound why
>would anyone choose to put themselves in a position that they would
>necessarily find distasteful?

for the record, I agree with you.  But I've long ago given up second
guessing why any one would make any particular choice given his or
her professed religious or spiritual background.

for example, people like George Bush who claim to be Christian & read
the bible etc, yet participate in things like warmongering and the
active accumulation of wealth, etc.  wtf-ever.  I don't get it.

>I agree, and the [general] rigidity of organised religion is what I see
>as causing all the problems. *sigh* Why can't we all just get along...

Personally, I think rigidity interferes with true spirituality.   But
discipline can be good. I think that rigidity is not unique to
religion, for example, the workplace, schools, other institutions can
be rigid as well.

I think people who feel the need for lots of very specific rules and
guidelines are simply people who want to be told how to walk a path
correctly.  Some people start out this way and then grow more
flexible as the grow more comfortable with themselves and their place
in the world...  or vice versa.

>Depends on the context. I have spent some time in the US, but *I* still
>found things like this odd.

Did you find it odd that an 18 year old girl could strip/dance nude
(or be a prostitute for that matter) legally in Nevada but that she
was not allowed to drink, nor is she allowed within several feet of a
video poker machine?

I did.  I used to serve these little teenyboppers hotcakes after they
got off graveyard shift (they were probably under 18, for that
matter)... after dancing naked all night: "no girls, you have to sit
over here, 15 feet away from video poker -- we don't want you to be
corrupted by the presence of gambling devices..."

>  Still, horses for courses and all that...

huh?

Erika

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