The Cultural Associations Of Alcohol

A new United Kingdom Government report has warned that parents perpetuate myths to convince themselves that their children’s’ drinking is safe. This includes beliefs that children need to learn about alcohol for themselves and that drinking is a “right of passage.” Other beliefs which seem to me to encourage the drinking problems of our nation include a deep-seated cultural association of drinking alcohol with having fun, if not the very act of socialising itself. Perhaps we need to change our culture.

How does one change a culture? One can begin with the right message. In the words of Bahá’u'lláh

‘It is inadmissible that man, who hath been endowed with reason, should consume that which stealeth it away…’

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá’í World Centre, 1992 edition

Gossip- Harmless Fun or Funless Harm?

Elaine Porterfield writes in the ‘The Seattle Times’ that gossip can be ‘a malevolent force that destroys careers, decreases productivity, spawns lawsuits and damages the reputations of organizations of all stripes’. I have personally seen how harmful gossip can be, especially in the workplace where it alienates co-workers and destroys team spirit. It is also very easy to become drawn into gossip in order to cement one’s position in the group or simply to pass the time of day. At a political level gossip can be used as a weapon to undermine political opponents, and even ultimately as propaganda to dehumanise a religious or ethnic group with all the terrible results we have seen in recent history. I think that this is why Bahá’u'lláh made the avoidance of gossip and back-biting a spiritual law; after all harmony between nations starts with harmony between neighbours. In the words of Bahá’u'lláh-

‘O SON OF BEING! Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not. This is My command unto thee, do thou observe it’.

The Hidden Words of Bahá’u'lláh: US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1985 reprint

Encouraging a Different Perception of Alcohol

Today the BBC reported a move in the United Kingdom to ‘encourage a different perception of alcohol’ because of the great social problems it causes in our country. For example the number of people in the UK dying from alcohol-related problems is continuing to rise at a worrying rate. I strongly agree with the need to change our culture, because the consumption of alcohol for many British people has become synonymous with having a good time. Indeed as a number of anthropologists have commented, it has taken on a pseudo-religious, cult-like aspect. Take for example the repetitive, ritualistic quality of Friday night drinking. Is this any surprise when, amongst other things, drinking is so heavily promoted by advertising and popular television programmes? This particularly true of soaps, where the first thing a character is depicted as doing when they have problems is reaching for a bottle. How does one change a culture? Well one can begin with the right message. In the words of Bahá’u'lláh

‘It is inadmissible that man, who hath been endowed with reason, should consume that which stealeth it away…’

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá’í World Centre, 1992 edition