"Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess" wrote St. Paul to the Christians in Ephesus. The Bible is pretty unambiguous about the evils of drunkenness. It caused Lot to commit incest and the book of Proverbs points out that it leads to poverty. So am I upset that it looks likely that Government plans to scrap its plan for a minimum price for alcohol? No I am not, and for several good reasons:-
Firstly, admonition is one thing, but the state stepping in to enforce this admonition is quite another. The Bible teaches that man is a responsible individual, capable of making rational decisions. Nanny-state actions such as setting a minimum price for alcohol stem from a mentality that somehow ordinary people are no longer capable of acting responsibility and so our ever-responsible and superior political class must make theirdecisions for them.
Are politicians so superior to the rest of us? We've just seen one former MP sentenced to eight months in prison for perverting the course of justice. We had the MPs' expenses scandal a couple of years ago. Yes, we need government, and should pray for our government, as 1 Timothy 2 reminds us, "that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty". However, that does not mean that government should micro-manage our lives. Politicians have already proved conclusively that they are not up to the job.
Furthermore, upping the price of alcohol is unlikely to solve the problem it purports to address. The alcoholic will continue to drink himself (or herself) paralytic, while moderate drinkers will have to pay more. If the government really wants to do something which would be a more effective deterrent, it should look for a free market solution rather than a big-statist know-it-all solution: privatise healthcare with premiums set, like any other form of insurance, at an appropriate level of risk for the individual concerned.
I have another concern about these "sin taxes". Once a given activity is deemed undesirable - not sufficiently wrong to be made illegal, but naughty enough to be subject to taxation over and above what would normally be taken purely for revenue purposes - where do you stop? If it's drinking and smoking today, what will tomorrow's favourite sin be? Eating meat? Travelling by air? One thing is for sure, for this government, in spite of the cost to the taxpayer and the health problems it causes, it won't be one type of behaviour where the Bible supports strong state intervention - sodomy.
Firstly, admonition is one thing, but the state stepping in to enforce this admonition is quite another. The Bible teaches that man is a responsible individual, capable of making rational decisions. Nanny-state actions such as setting a minimum price for alcohol stem from a mentality that somehow ordinary people are no longer capable of acting responsibility and so our ever-responsible and superior political class must make theirdecisions for them.
Are politicians so superior to the rest of us? We've just seen one former MP sentenced to eight months in prison for perverting the course of justice. We had the MPs' expenses scandal a couple of years ago. Yes, we need government, and should pray for our government, as 1 Timothy 2 reminds us, "that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty". However, that does not mean that government should micro-manage our lives. Politicians have already proved conclusively that they are not up to the job.
Furthermore, upping the price of alcohol is unlikely to solve the problem it purports to address. The alcoholic will continue to drink himself (or herself) paralytic, while moderate drinkers will have to pay more. If the government really wants to do something which would be a more effective deterrent, it should look for a free market solution rather than a big-statist know-it-all solution: privatise healthcare with premiums set, like any other form of insurance, at an appropriate level of risk for the individual concerned.
I have another concern about these "sin taxes". Once a given activity is deemed undesirable - not sufficiently wrong to be made illegal, but naughty enough to be subject to taxation over and above what would normally be taken purely for revenue purposes - where do you stop? If it's drinking and smoking today, what will tomorrow's favourite sin be? Eating meat? Travelling by air? One thing is for sure, for this government, in spite of the cost to the taxpayer and the health problems it causes, it won't be one type of behaviour where the Bible supports strong state intervention - sodomy.