100 years since Prohibition in the US

Lamb

God's Lil Lamb
Community Team
Administrator
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
31,566
Age
57
Gender
Female
Religious Affiliation
Lutheran
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
From Wiki "Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933."

Do you think Prohibition helped to better our country or did it make conditions worse? Could it happen again?
 

tango

... and you shall live ...
Valued Contributor
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
14,084
Location
Realms of chaos
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
From what I can tell it made Al Capone a rich man.

Personally I don't see value in telling responsible adults what products they may or may not consume - it just drives things underground and causes more problems than it solves. Just look at the problem with street drugs being cut or laced with all sorts of unexpected nasty stuff.
 

Josiah

simul justus et peccator
Valued Contributor
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2015
Messages
13,647
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Lutheran
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
From Wiki "Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933."

Do you think Prohibition helped to better our country or did it make conditions worse? Could it happen again?


Prohibition largely worked.


Prior to this, Americans drank FAR more booze than they do today... and much of that booze was unregulated, there was no law about reporting alcohol content, etc.... and while there were age restrictions, they were almost never enforced. Alcoholism was a much bigger problem in the USA.

Prohibition caused the great majority of Americans to stop drinking (and gave rise to "soft drinks" - all of which boomed during these years and since; also milk drinking dramatically rose during this period). When Prohibition was eliminated, drinking never returned to anywhere near the levels of before.... there were far more restrictions on the production and sale of booze... and Americans continued to enjoy milk and soft drinks (both actually ROSE after booze came back). The quality of booze also dramatically improved; if Americans drank, they now wanted good booze (or at least better).

MOVIES like to portray this period every differently than the reality. YES, there was "bathtub gin" and there were a tiny number of "speakeasies" and yes organized crime (which predates Prohibition; it wasn't created by prohibition but it did take advantage of it) but the reality was far different than what the movies convey.

Prohibition was overturned simply because Americans became less concerned about it and increasingly viewed it as unnecessary.
 

psalms 91

Well-known member
Moderator
Valued Contributor
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2015
Messages
15,205
Age
75
Location
Pa
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Charismatic
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
It helped to start NASCAR but I dont see any value in it. The government stuck its nose where it didnt bel;ong
 

Andrew

Matt 18:15
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
Messages
6,645
Age
39
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Christian
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Single
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
Was the RCC exempt?
 

Lamb

God's Lil Lamb
Community Team
Administrator
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
31,566
Age
57
Gender
Female
Religious Affiliation
Lutheran
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
Was the RCC exempt?

"But in 1922, Blair removed the ban from sacramental wine, the Yorkville Enquirer reported, allowing priests to use wine in religious services. Reports from newspapers at the time seem to suggest that even before Blair eased up the ban for priests, local officials had been allowing church leaders the use of wine in their sacraments (doctors could also prescribe it with a special prescription pad)." https://vinepair.com/articles/how-the-church-saved-the-wine-industry-during-prohibition/

"The Volstead Act included a few interesting exceptions to the ban on distributing alcohol. Sacramental wine was still permitted for religious purposes (the number of questionable rabbis and priests soon skyrocketed), "
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-should-know-about-prohibition


The 2nd link above has some good history info about Prohibition. One such thing is that it wasn't illegal to consume alcohol if you had a stash on your property.
 

Josiah

simul justus et peccator
Valued Contributor
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2015
Messages
13,647
Gender
Male
Religious Affiliation
Lutheran
Political Affiliation
Conservative
Marital Status
Married
Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
Yes
Was the RCC exempt?

as in the Eucharist?


Actually, I think the law wouldn't apply there anyway but yes, there was a provision that made it clear that the religious use of alcohol was exempt. I think it's always been exempt. BTW, churches are also permitted to "serve" minors. But the "exception" was not exclusive to just one denomination, most Christian churches use wine in the Eucharist.
 
Top Bottom