Ok, here's the deal. I'm 16 years old and i have mixed feelings about drinking (as in alcohol). I'm a christian and so i've been taught that drinking is wrong. but nowhere in the bible does it say that. it just says not to get drunk. either way it's still illegal for me to drink because i'm underage. my parents drink a little bit. you know a glass of wine occasionally when they get home from work, or a beer with grandpa and the uncles over thanksgiving weekend. sometimes when my family is with my grandparents and we have a toast or something on special occasions, they pour me and my brother(18) and sister (20) a glass of champaigne or wine too. i don't prefer the taste, but i drink a little bit anyway. the adults (my parents and grandparents) told us that as long as we were with them drinking a little wine we were okay, but to never do it anywhere where they aren't around (i haven't and i never will). but is it still okay when i'm with them. is it still a sin or "illegal". please help?
2007-08-24 10:54:26 · 52 answers · asked by :) 3 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Adolescent
No, it's not wrong. The Bible says you can drink but DO NOT GET DRUNK. And if your parents say its fine to drink a little bit in their presence, then I think that is also fine.
It's good that you are showing your parents such respect by following their rules about not drinking when they aren't around. You sound like a very upstanding person, and I applaud you for that!
All the best!
2007-08-24 11:01:51 · answer #1 · answered by Mama2Mara 3 · 4⤊ 2⤋
It is still illegal, there are parents in jail for allowing this, but the reality is they get caught when the child wrecks a car or something....
it sounds like that is never going to happen under your parent's watch, so you will never get caught.
In most Western European nations children have some alcohol at times. They have lower rates of alcoholism than we do in the US.
I would not worry about it being a sin. You are right about the Bible saying "Don't be drunk". No age for drinking is in the Bible.
If it makes you uncomfortable, I don't think you should have to do it. The Bible talks about not asking others to drink and eat things that make them feel bad. (They are talking about food sacrificed to idols but I think the idea is the same.)
In my house, my kids (15 and 12) get Sparkling Grape juice on special occasions. We both have alcoholism in our families so we don't want to expose our kids, although we drink in small amounts. The grape juice looks like wine, and is special, and the bottle looks like wine, and they drink it out of a wine glass-so they get everything but the booze!
I commend you for thinking about this. You are mature for your age!
wuwt20-It's the SEVEN deadly sins, and they do not appear as a list in the Bible....
2007-08-24 11:03:55 · answer #2 · answered by starrystarrynight 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your main question involves many smaller questions. First, 16 is 16, and unless it is legal in your state, it is illegal for you to drink and for parents to serve or allow minors to drink in their home...period.
You say that being a Christian you were taught that drinking is wrong, the Bible says to do nothing in excess, and "It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall."
If you have any questions about should you or should you not drink....don`t! Sometimes we acquire a taste for things, good or bad, and can`t stop. I have a 22 year old son. He has pretty much limited his drinking to one day on the weekend, and he gets plastered. He was far from being raised this way, but has chosen to do this. Now we notice that it seems it`s a habit, and altho he recently lost his job (not for that), and doesn`t 'party' because he doesn`t have the $, he will still go to someones house and get plastered 1x on the weekend.... WHY!!!?? A bad habit that he now can`t stop.
So my question to you (and my son) WHY DRINK AT ALL IN THE FIRST PLACE!? You`ll find you have enough problems in life without adding one more to your list!
Trust me, life doesn`t get better....it just gets different!
2007-08-24 11:27:17 · answer #3 · answered by stephbbear 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Drinking under age 21 is illegal no matter whom you are with. If your parents said it was OK for you to beat or molest someone, wouldn't that still be illegal??? Of course it would. Now, having answered your question, let me say that your parents sound like reasonable people. They are not drunks and they are showing you that they trust you to try a little alcohol in their presence. It won't hurt you. But if you are concerned with the legality...well, then say no thank you. As to the sinning aspect, I do not believe in any of that, so I can't respond. Just be a reasonable person, a good and kind person and never ever drink and drive. In your parent's presence, if YOU want a few sips, have them. If you don't, then do not feel you need to have any! Say, NO THANK YOU!" I, personally, do not give my teen aged son any alcohol and he is 3 years older than you. When i was 18, that was the drinking age. But in 2007 you have to be 21. So I respect that law and tell him he cannot drink. No parent can control what their kids do when not at home, but I can let him know how I feel. Do what YOU think is right in your gut, always, in everything in life!
2007-08-24 11:06:21 · answer #4 · answered by dana0693 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Yes, It is Illegal!! Just because you are with them Does Not make it legal. You and your parents could wind up in a heap of trouble if for some reason cops stop by while this is happening and you are drinking! Don't do it!! Especially if you don't like the taste..what is the point?? If your parents are pressuring you to drink then go tell an adult that you trust (not your 20 yr old sister or 18 yr old brother either)..go to like a teacher or someone at your church. Please do not drink until you are 21..no matter where you are!
2007-08-24 11:06:13 · answer #5 · answered by gemittarrius 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Here's how I see it, Jesus made water into wine also he served wine as his blood at the last supper so I don't think it's wrong once in awhile to drink the Bible does say not to drink to a stuper. Also, it wasn't God that put the "age" on drinking it was law makers because of irresponsible drinkers. I don't find anything wrong with your parents giving you and your siblings some wine or champaigne on special occasions, now if you were chugging beer after beer then it would be a different story and they would be contributing to minors. This is a bit different it is technically illegal but the church is allowed to serve minors wine for communion. I don't think it is a sin though.
2007-08-24 11:04:03 · answer #6 · answered by kella l 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The laws in the US are restrictive and inconsistent in history. If you lived in many Euro countries you can have a drink if you had the money for it... just walk down after school and have a cup of beer.
I just turned 21 but I've been a causal drinker since I was 17. Funny, I never got carded a the few times I did buy at the store but now that I'm 21 they ask for ID.
The US expects you to go to war at 18 but you can't have alcohol. I hope this changes. Read about the US history and alcohol and you won't feel so bad about breaking the law of today that will gone tomorrow.
2007-08-24 12:17:13 · answer #7 · answered by Placido 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Maybe it's illegal but what the heh! Your people want to acquaint you with social mores and in this case it involves a bit of wine. You seem level headed. Just accept it as an appropriate thing in the setting you describe. What about communion wine in church? There are settings where a sip of wine is ok.
A few hours later: The mental conditioning and timidity of so many of you answering here is scary for the sake of family and country. How did you get that way? What planet are you from? Not Earth for sure. You all say in your own ways, "Bring on the police state. Bring on the cameras. Bring on Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Anything is better than freedom in your own home." If this kid is going to be corrupted, it's more through the transmission of such reasoning and senselessness as presented to her here.
2007-08-24 11:05:30 · answer #8 · answered by Madmunk 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your parents cannot give you permission to break the law...you are under 21 so if you drink you are breaking the law if you drink even one drop of alcohol...and so are your parents or any adult that provides you with alcohol.
You will be a minor in possession/consumption of alcohol a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail, 2 years probation, fines and cost and a HUGE pain in the butt.
The adult...contributing to the deliquincy of a minor...same punishment.
That is the legal side.....YES IT IS ILLEGAL your parents are not allowed to give you permission for that anymore than you can kill someone and tell the judge your mom said you could.
Ok so it is Thanksgiving and you all have a little toast...no one is drunk but you, your brother and your sister decide to go to a movie and you get rear ended by a car....NOT your fault....
Accept the officer who comes to help you smells the alcohol.....does a PBT and you each blow even a .001 (legal drunk for an adult is .08)....you are POPPED...ZERO tolerance and so is whoever provided it to you.
From a Christian standpoint, the Bible says to respect the law, submit to proper authority, and to render to the government that which is the governments.
You need to decide for yourself if breaking the law is being a good Christian, because drinking under 21 is breaking the law.....
Also, the Bible says if you cause your brother to sin by doing something you are sinning....you breaking the law and drinking is condoning it and saying it is ok to drink and break the law...how are you going to feel if one of your friends turns out to be an alcoholic and you were drinking with them?????
By the way, you are right, it is not a sin to drink, just to get drunk...but you are not of age to drink.
2007-08-24 11:08:43 · answer #9 · answered by jm1970 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hey, just wanted to throw in my two cents! No it is not illegal to drink as long as your parents are around. Technically grandparents don't count but I doubt cops are going to crash your family holidays anyway.
As far as the sin issue goes. I believe drinking is a personal choice. I think if you are responsible about it there is nothing wrong with it.Drinking isn't a sin unless you take it to far (i.e getting drunk like you said) I mean jesus drank wine, right?? Besides in the Bible gluttony is one of the 10 deadly sins but people don't bat an eye when someone is downing a 350 calorie burger...Just be responsible about it.
2007-08-24 11:08:06 · answer #10 · answered by wuwt20 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Depends on what part of the world you live in ... if you're in the U.S. - the legal drinking age is 21.
Your parents are breaking the law by giving alcohol to a minor.
Granted - MOST people wouldn't press these charges with the glass of wine or champagne on a special occassion with the family... but that doesn't make it "legal"
Just like lots of people drive above the speed-limit... just because they're not caught - doesn't make it LEGAL.
2007-08-24 11:03:35 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋