Liquor

In 1900, a former schoolteacher named Carrie Nation walked into a bar in Kiowa, Kansas, proclaimed, “Men, I have come to save you from a drunkard’s fate,” and proceeded to hurl bricks and stones at bottles of liquor. The men, interested less in spiritual salvation and more in physical safety, fled to a corner. Nation destroyed three saloons that day, using a billiard ball when she ran out of bricks and rocks, which she called “smashers.” She eventually—and famously—switched to a hatchet, using it across years of attacks on what she considered to be the cause of society’s moral failings. The movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries—which eventually brought about Prohibition—considered alcohol to be unhealthy for women, families, and the general state of humanity.

In modern times, the Dry January challenge began in 2012 as a public health initiative. Dry January is choosing not to drink beer, wine, or spirits for one month. In a 2025 article for The Atlantic Shayla Love writes that younger generations are staying away from the booze at higher rates than previous generations, sparking the rise of a neo-temperance movement. This new drop in alcohol consumption is not about the moral tragedies of drinking (alcoholism or drunk driving), but self-improvement and wellness:

Today’s sober-curious post on Instagram about how Dry January has reduced their inflammation, sharpened their jawline, and improved their sleep score. The sanctity of the home, or the overall moral health of society — not to mention the 37 Americans who die in drunk-driving crashes every day — appears to be less of a concern […]

In a 2020 Gallup poll, 86 percent of respondents said that drinking alcohol was morally acceptable, an increase from 78 percent in 2018. By contrast, more than half of young adults surveyed in 2023 expressed concerns about the health risks of moderate drinking.

In an article in Esquire, Denzel Washington discussed his past drinking problems:

Wine is very tricky. It’s very slow. It ain’t like, boom, all of a sudden. And part of it was we built this big house in 1999 with a ten-thousand-bottle wine cellar, and I learned to drink the best. So, I’m gonna drink my ’61s and my ’82s and whatever we had. Wine was my thing, and now I was popping $4,000 bottles just because that’s what was left.

I never drank while I was working or preparing. I would clean up, go back to work—I could do both. However, many months of shooting, bang, it’s time to go. Then, boom. Three months of wine, then time to go back to work.

I’m sure at first it was easy because I was younger. Two months off and let’s go. But drinking was a fifteen-year pattern… I never got strung out on heroin. Never got strung out on coke. Never got strung out on hard drugs.

I wasn’t drinking when we filmed Flight, I know that, but I’m sure I did as soon as I finished. That was getting toward the end of the drinking, but I knew a lot about waking up and looking around, not knowing what happened… I’ve done a lot of damage to the body. We’ll see. I’ve been clean. (It will) be ten years this December. I stopped at sixty and I haven’t had a thimble’s worth since.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The Bible repeatedly warns that excessive alcohol use leads to sorrow, physical ailments, impaired judgment, addiction, and social or spiritual decline. While moderate use is not universally condemned, the scriptural emphasis is clear: alcohol, especially in excess, is hard on the human body and soul.

A father's alcohol consumption has long been overshadowed by the focus on what a mother drinks. But that could be about to change following more research.

For more than 50 years, scientists have warned about the risks of drinking alcohol in pregnancy. Recent research has found that a mother's consumption of as little as one drink a week may affect a child's brain development, cognitive function and behavior, and facial shape. For decades, public health campaigns have repeatedly said that there's no safe amount of alcohol for moms to drink while pregnant.

But as the risks of maternal alcohol consumption have become better documented, another potential contributing factor to FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder) has remained largely overlooked: how much the father drinks.

Researcher Michael Golding at Texas A&M University studies alcohol exposure and fetal development. He said, "For years now, we've been hearing stories from women who said, 'I never drank during pregnancy, but now I have an FAS kid – and my male partner was a chronic alcohol abuser." But such stories often were dismissed as mothers being forgetful, if not outright lying.

However, recent research raises an intriguing possibility: these mothers were right all along. The idea that a father's alcohol consumption before conception could have an impact on the offspring may seem far-fetched. But recent population studies have found that babies whose fathers drank are at a higher risk for various poor health outcomes.

Based on the research so far, how much alcohol is "safe" for a father to drink if he knows his partner may conceive? We don't have that data. Still, he says, "If it were my sons, I would tell them to stop drinking altogether."

While the exact impact of paternal drinking has yet to be teased out, researchers agree on one thing. “There's this enormous burden that's been placed on women. But male health is important to fetal development. There is a responsibility of both parties here to support and provide for the health of the baby.”

Every year, 2.8 million people around the globe die from alcohol abuse or misuse. The alcohol industry racks up an annual revenue of $1.5 trillion. Alcohol is also the leading cause of death globally for people age 15–49. It causes more than half of the 1.35 million traffic fatalities every year and is involved in the majority of homicides and cases of domestic violence.

Furthermore, despite the widespread belief that moderate alcohol consumption is good for your health, the only amount of alcohol consumption that doesn’t carry significant risk to your overall health is none.

Fifteen years ago, Sherry Hoppen was a mom of three, a ministry leader in her church, and a volunteer at her local pregnancy center when her younger brother was killed in a drunk driving accident. The tragedy triggered her own slow spiral into alcoholism—one that nearly destroyed her marriage and her life.

Over the next decade, Hoppen evolved from a casual drinker to an addict who barely recognized herself, always secretly drinking or causing scenes at family holidays due to her dependence. Like many who struggle, she thought she could “fix” herself and moderate her drinking, even as she daily hid vodka-filled water bottles inside her purse.

Hoppen said, “I was scared to tell anybody because I knew if I did, my drinking days were over. And I didn’t want people to see [our family] fail.”

Her husband was a church elder, she led the children’s church choir, and they were beloved business-people in their small Michigan community. She said, “I couldn’t imagine letting anybody see what was really going on. I didn’t want to go to rehab because . . . everybody knows if you go to rehab, including my kids.”

It took Hoppen four more years after recognizing her dependence to commit to sobriety. Her story as a churchgoing suburban mom concealing alcohol addiction is increasingly common. In 2023, around 9 percent of adult women in the US struggled with alcoholism—about 11.7 million women. This means that in an average church of 500 people, at least 20 women attending likely struggle with alcohol dependence as well.

Alcohol abuse is rarely discussed with or even known by a woman’s closest friends or spouse. Until recent decades, alcohol brands marketed themselves primarily to men. In the 1990s, however, the industry recognized that women were an under-tapped market. This led to the introduction of sugary drinks for “entry-level drinkers.” A decade later, “skinny” versions of premade cocktails launched for women who wanted low-calorie options. Rates of alcohol use disorder rose by 83% between 2002 and 2013, on par with the rise in feminized alcohol marketing.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Our silent shame robs others of community, solidarity, and support. Churches have an opportunity to meet women in the midst of their brokenness. People ultimately just want to belong, feel seen, and not be judged in their brokenness.

According to court documents, Sean Higgins had been working from home when he fielded an upsetting call with his mother about a personal matter. But he’d also been drinking, which according to his wife, had become a pattern as of late. So clearly there were many issues that contributed to the sense of chaos and discord in his life. But none were more destructive than his choice to get behind the wheel of his Jeep and drive, while talking on the phone, with an open container of alcohol in the car.

Later that evening, Higgins was driving down a rural road when the two vehicles in front of him slowed and veered to the left to avoid two bicyclists in the roadway. But Higgins was impatient, so he instead accelerated and tried to pass those vehicles on the right. Higgins didn’t see the two cyclists until it was too late. He drove his vehicle into them, and both cyclists were killed.

This instance of vehicular death would be a tragedy under any set of circumstances, but it just so happened that those men were Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. Johnny played hockey for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League, and he and his brother Matthew were scheduled to be groomsmen for their sister’s wedding in Philadelphia the next day. Johnny and Matt were both married; Johnny had two children and Matt’s wife was pregnant at the time of the crash.

“Johnny and Matt were incredible hockey players and students, but even more amazing human beings,” said Gloucester principal Thomas Iacovone Jr. in a statement. “Their loss will be felt forever by the entire Gloucester Catholic community and by me personally. I will continue to pray for them and their families during this unimaginable tragedy.”

Sean Higgins served in the United States Army as a second lieutenant for four years, and had earned a Bronze Star during a 15-month tour of duty in Iraq. He also served as a major in the New Jersey National Guard. During a recorded phone call from jail, Higgins admitted that he had a problem with aggressive driving.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Given Higgins’ domestic conflicts and propensity for drinking, it’s obvious he had issues adjusting to civilian life. If only he’d had the humility to ask for help sooner, he might have developed a set of healthier coping habits that could have prevented this tragedy.

The following was taken from a newsletter for a medical group, not a Christian organization:

Do you indulge in a glass of wine every now and then? You are not alone. More than 85% of adults report drinking alcohol at some point. In 2020, alcohol consumption in the U.S. spiked, with heavy drinking increasing by 41% among women.

Alcohol affects your body quickly. It is absorbed through the lining of your stomach into your bloodstream. Once there, it spreads into tissues throughout your body. Alcohol reaches your brain in only five minutes and starts to affect you within 10 minutes.

After 20 minutes, your liver starts processing alcohol. On average, the liver can metabolize 1 ounce of alcohol every hour. A blood alcohol level of 0.08, the legal limit for drinking, takes around five and a half hours to leave your system. Alcohol will stay in urine for up to 80 hours and in hair follicles for up to three months. Drivers with a BAC of 0.08 or more are 11 times more likely to be killed in a single-vehicle crash than non-drinking drivers.

During the late 18th century, Thomas Thetcher was a much-respected soldier by his fellow grenadiers in England. He was so revered that when he tragically died, his fellow soldiers commissioned a gravestone to memorialize his untimely demise. His death was not only untimely, but very bizarre, as it was not by sword, or gun, or cannon fire, but a drink that killed the soldier.

In a corner of the graveyard belonging to the Winchester Cathedral, Thetcher’s gravestone marks his final resting place. It also features this inscription:

In Memory of Thomas Thetcher a Grenadier in the North Reg. of Hants Militia, who died of a violent Fever contracted by drinking Small Beer when hot the 12 May 1764. Aged 26 Years.

Here sleeps in peace a Hampshire Grenadier,

Who caught his death by drinking cold small Beer,

Soldiers be wise from his untimely fall

And when ye’re hot drink Strong or none at all.

An Honest Soldier never is forgot

Whether he die by Musket or by Pot.

Many years later in 1918, an American soldier stationed in Winchester visited the cathedral and came across Thomas Thetcher’s grave. The soldier, Bill Wilson, was deeply affected by the inscription that even years after returning from the war, it may have saved his life.

Wilson became a successful businessman shortly after returning home, but within a few years his life was controlled by heavy drinking. His drinking was so detrimental to his health that it was believed the only way to save his life was to lock him away. Against all odds, Wilson along with a fellow group of alcoholics found a way to achieve and maintain sobriety. He eventually wrote a book about his experiences, a book that is world-renowned, Alcoholics Anonymous. Wilson would go on to co-found Alcoholics Anonymous. He considered the gravestone to be a major influence on his own recovery.

Editor’s Note: There is debate among medical professionals as to the cause of Thetcher’s death. Some medical professionals have proposed that Thetcher’s death was the result of fainting when a cold liquid is consumed on an extremely hot day. Others say that it is most likely that he passed from cholera or typhoid from a contaminated beer. Regardless of the cause, his death inspired the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous which has saved thousands of lives worldwide.

It’s no secret that many college students spend much of their four years at school drinking way more than they probably should. Now, a new study is actually putting a number on the plethora of unfortunate consequences that comes from a wild night of college drinking.

Over four years, researchers say the average college student deals with 102 alcohol-related consequences the morning after. These range from blacking out, suffering a hangover, being pressured to have sex with someone, or having to miss work or class because they drank too much the night before.

However, the team found one major factor keeps many students from overdoing it at a college party—strict, disapproving parents. Researchers say college students who thought their parents would disapprove of their alcohol-related dilemmas ended up reporting fewer negative incidents after drinking than their peers who partied harder.

Research professor Kimberly Mallet said, “Kids really look to their parents for guidance in a lot of ways even if they don’t outwardly say it. It’s empowering for parents to know that they can make a difference. We often think of peers as having an influence on drinking behaviors, but we found that parents can make a difference, even after their child has left home.”

Taylor Grant was convicted in May 2022 of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm in connection with a shooting. According to authorities, Grant was at a party at his cousin’s home when a game of UNO got heated and turned into a verbal altercation with another man.

Prosecutors say that Grant shot the man once in the bicep, and threatened to fatally wound him. The Assistant District Attorney said, “Intoxication seemed to be the catalyst. However, it was no excuse for the excessive force that Grant used.”

The victim of the shooting initially claimed his wounds were the result of a drive-by shooting, and claimed not to know the perpetrator. However, after undergoing surgery for his wounds, he revealed the truth. He said he initially misled authorities because “he did not want to get anyone in trouble.” After changing his mind, he told the police the truth, which resulted in Grant’s arrest.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Violence, especially when intoxicated, is a poor way of resolving interpersonal conflict, it only ends up with heartache and trouble. Instead, trust the LORD to bring justice in his own timing.

When Bradford Weitzel left a bar recently, he was having difficulty locating his car. Most responsible individuals might consider such a development as a potential sign of impairment and find an alternative mode of transportation--other than, y’know, driving. But Bradford Weitzel is not most people.

Which is why Weitzel stole another car so that he could drive around and search for his vehicle. Unfortunately, his plan ran into a snag. And by snag, I mean “moving train.”

According to a post on the Martin County Sheriff's Office Facebook page, the vehicle Weitzel stole stalled on some train tracks. “Within seconds, the train hit the car, catapulting it into a nearby home where the homeowners were sound asleep. Fortunately, they were not physically injured, although the explosive sound of a driverless car smashing into the side of their home was clearly jolting.”

Undeterred, Weitzel continued in his rampage, vandalizing a fruit stand and attempting to steal a forklift. In the end, authorities didn’t have to find Weitzel to arrest him--he flagged them down for help because he still couldn’t find his car. “Bradford Weitzel was arrested and charged with grand theft and criminal mischief. Additional charges are expected.”

According to Lifeway research, among Protestants with evangelical beliefs who attend church monthly or more:

74% agree Christians drinking alcohol can cause other believers to stumble

33% say they drink alcohol

29% agree the Bible bans alcohol

An article in The Atlantic claims that America is in one of "our periodic crises over drinking." Journalist Kate Julian details the crisis:

Since the turn of the millennium, alcohol consumption has risen steadily, in a reversal of its long decline throughout the 1980s and ’90s. Before the pandemic, some aspects of this shift seemed sort of fun, as long as you didn’t think about them too hard. In the 20th century, you might have been able to buy wine at the supermarket, but you couldn’t drink it in the supermarket. Now some grocery stores have wine bars, beer on tap, signs inviting you to “shop ’n’ sip,” and carts with cup holders.

Actual bars have decreased in number, but drinking is acceptable in all sorts of other places it didn’t used to be: Salons and boutiques dole out cheap cava in plastic cups. Movie theaters serve alcohol, Starbucks serves alcohol, zoos serve alcohol. Moms carry coffee mugs that say things like “This might be wine,” though for discreet day-drinking, the better move may be one of the new hard seltzers, a watered-down malt liquor dressed up—for precisely this purpose—as a natural soda.

Even before COVID-19 arrived on our shores, the consequences of all this were catching up with us. From 1999 to 2017, the number of alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. doubled, to more than 70,000 a year—making alcohol one of the leading drivers of the decline in American life expectancy. These numbers are likely to get worse: During the pandemic, frequency of drinking rose, as did sales of hard liquor. By February (2021), nearly a quarter of Americans said they’d drunk more over the past year as a means of coping with stress.

CC Sabathia was a six-time MLB All-Star and won the 2009 World Series, pitching for the New York Yankees. By outside standards, he spent those years living the dream. But inside, he was living a nightmare.

Sabathia opened up about his past in a recently published memoir entitled Till the End. He also spoke candidly with CBS This Morning about the personal struggles he endured during his career. Overwhelmed with grief from the loss of his dad and a cousin, Sabathia says he developed an addiction to alcohol during his playing years:

I would pitch, and then the next three days, I would drink. So, the day after, right after I came out of the game, I would need a drink and would drink the next three days, and I would take two days off, pitch and do it all over again. So, I kind of had a routine where I would normalize drinking for three days, like a bender, and would detox myself, be able to pitch — and do it all over again.

Apparently, his drinking became so common, he thought it was normal:

It was just part of my routine. So much so that when I went to rehab, I came out and I was thinking 'how am I going to do this without alcohol' because it had become so much a part of my routine that it was a part of my pitching.

Retired since 2019, Sabathia says he’s now been clean for six years, and is working to help others understand hidden dynamics around alcoholism and addiction in general:

I want everybody to be able to relate to it. And you can have all these things, all the money and all the stuff, but still struggle with mental health and be alcohol dependent. But you can get help. The toughest thing about dealing with alcohol dependency is reaching out and saying that you need help and that you can't fight this alone.

Possible Preaching Angle:

When we are honest with our struggles, we give others a chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus for us, just as we can in turn do for them. Addiction has the potential to rob us of our potential, but when we help others embrace wholeness and recovery, we help bring that potential into reality.

Montee Ball remembers the day he could have changed the course of his career. The Denver Broncos' running backs coach, Eric Studesville, smelled the alcohol coming from Ball during practice, then confronted him kindly, in private. Ball later said, “He pulled me to the side and asked me if I needed any help, any resources. And I told him no.”

Alcoholism cut Ball's career short soon thereafter: He fell out of the NFL after just two seasons. Then in February 2016, he was arrested on charges of a felony battery against his girlfriend at the time. Ball said,

The straw that broke the camel's back was obviously the domestic-violence situation. When I landed in jail ... in my head I'm like, “Okay, I've never done anything like this, what is going on with me?” And that pushed me over the edge in a good way to go to therapy. For the entire part of my drinking life, I wasn't being honest with myself. But by being honest with myself, but reaching out for help, by sticking with my therapy, it feels that I am the most free, that burden has been lifted off my shoulders.

Six years later, he's working to ensure that as few people as possible miss the opportunity he did back then. Ball has become a key figure in programs dedicated to recovery and social work. He also hosts a podcast called "Untapped Keg" which highlights the experiences of people overcoming addiction and other mental-health issues.

Johnny Depp says that he doesn't have a "physical need" for alcohol, but in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine he also admitted,

[Alcohol is] more my medication, my self-medication over the years just to calm the circus. Once the circus kicks in, the festivities in the brain, it can be ruthless.

I'm kind of socially inept. And [alcohol] was always a great crutch. Mingling at parties and stuff like that has always been not a nice experience for me. It's just not comfortable …. So I found I needed to drink in those situations. Just slam a couple down and go, "OK, I can muster up enough small talk to meander my way through this thing and get out the other side unscathed."

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Alcohol; Addiction; Bondage, Spiritual—Like all of us, Johnny Depp is in spiritual bondage to something that he needs to make it through life. (2) Idol; Idolatry—Depp calls alcohol his "crutch." Isn't that just like having an idol? (3) Anxiety; Fear; Worry—Notice how even someone as famous and successful as Johnny Depp struggles with anxiety and fear in social situations.

While preparing for a cookout, a Delaware man decided to use gunpowder rather than charcoal or lighter fluid to get the coals glowing in his grill. The unorthodox fire preparation method blew up on him, and he suffered burns on his hands and face.

Police said the man had been drinking.

University of Buffalo researchers surveyed the drinking habits of 2,200 Americans, and found that the younger their subjects were when they had their first drink, the more likely they were to abuse alcohol as adults.

The scientists were even able to quantify the risk: for every year earlier that an adolescent starts imbibing, the chances of becoming a problem drinker increase 12 percent.