I settled down in my train seat, free newspaper in hand, all geared up for the early morning commute to work. Being free of charge, it’s quite a challenge finding anything of substance amongst the pages of tabloid gossip, cheap flight promotions and stories of cats in trees. This particular morning though, I found two stories of the compare-and-contrast variety, both to do with alcohol. The first was a Japanese study which concluded that moderate social drinking reduces the risk of heart disease, as opposed to drinking in isolation which has less effect. All well and good, but this naturally leads to the question: does this study have more to do with alcohol or with social interaction? Replace alcohol with, say, grapes or broccoli, and the findings will no doubt be the same…plus you wouldn’t have to deal with all the harmful side effects. Not sure that the idea of social broccoli eating will take off anytime soon though. Seedless grapes might have a chance though .

So much for that. The next article highlighted the consequences of the growing binge drinking culture across Britain. 

An ambulance for drunks will run all year in London to cope with the growing scourge of binge drinking.

Today London Ambulance Service announced its “booze bus” will operate every week to relieve pressure on other crews of medics and to save thousands of pounds…

Since starting four years ago, the service has only operated during periods of high demand such as weekends in December, New Year’s Eve, and the 2006 World Cup. But now a paramedic crew will trawl the West End each week in the Central London Alternative Response Vehicle, treating drunken revellers.

Among the more obvious repercussions of binge culture, to add to the growing list of medical crises related in some way to alcohol, is the dramatic rise in demand for liver transplants. Problem is, there is also a major shortage of liver donors. What’s more, the liver guardians (frequently a family member of the deceased donor) have the final say in who receives the organ – and quite often they will decide against donating the liver to an alcohol abuser, lest the person ends up going back to the bottle post-operation. One can’t help but feel sympathy for all parties concerned: the patient who requires urgent medical care, the doctors who are trying to help him, and the donor who feels priority ought to be given to someone who hasn’t “brought it upon themselves” and will genuinely treasure the second chance.

When people ask me why I’m a non-drinker, the question goes something like this: “Is it because of your religion?” My answer is a hesitant yes. Yes because my religion forbids me to drink. Hesitant because by giving a one-word answer, the practical and philosophical reasons get lost. The topic often changes immediately, and I’m surreptitiously cast into the pile of inhibited fellows whose religion “forces them to do it”, when actually this is far from the truth. I follow the law because firstly, it makes practical sense, and secondly because I believe in the Personage who brought the teaching, and believe he knows what is best, not only for us but for general society too.

Sitting in on a Ruhi class one day, in the presence of a warm, thoughtful group of people investigating the teachings of the Baha’i Faith, the topic of alcohol prohibition arose. Surely, pointed out one participant, the fact that there are millions of people out there who drink responsibly should be considered and that they should be afforded their dues. Another participant responded that the line between drinking responsibly and overstepping the mark was very fine indeed, thereby we always ran the risk of irreperably harming our own physical/spiritual selves and the lives of those around us. 

This conversation went back and forth for a while, but ultimately it came down to one question, one that all the participants were engaged in by attending the class: Was Baha’u'llah really who He claimed to be? Was he really the Divine Educator for this day and age? If the answer is affirmative, and each individual is free to decide that for themselves, then one has absolutely no grounds to argue against the laws He has revealed. For how can we, the puny and unintelligent beings that we are, argue against the perfect wisdom of the Divine? How can we with our limited comprehension argue against that which is limitless?

Regardless of what one ends up believing, if the truth really is enshrined within Baha’u'llah’s laws and teachings, then what is certain is that the wisdom behind them would become ever more apparent as time goes by. In other words, society is in a state of constant flux, and conditions would evolve in a way that only reinforces the rationale behind these laws.

The UK government has poured millions of pounds into failed drink reduction policies, and they certainly aren’t the only government battling the epidemic. The latest proposal by the UK’s Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, is to raise the minimum price of alcohol in an effort to prevent young people from being able to afford it. In the comments section below the article, paulaxed from East Yorkshire is not impressed: “Its a cultural / attitude thing and playing with prices will not change it.”

Point taken, but to the cultural/attitude thing I would hasten to add the moral/spiritual thing. Because until we teach a deeper appreciation of our true selves, the reasons behind our existence and the heights to which we must strive, such scourges won’t be disappearing any time soon.

22. O SON OF SPIRIT!
Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.

(Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)

Imagine that there existed a single substance in the world that was behind:

• 75% of violent crimes
• 50% of rape cases
• 30% of child abuse cases
• 25% of suicides
• 33% of fatal traffic accidents

Wouldn’t you hope that society — it’s leaders, politicians and scientists — would do everything in their power to control it, perhaps even to eliminate it?

The unfortunate truth is that there is, and it goes under the name of Alcohol. Deeply rooted in many cultures as an essential feature in social gatherings – and in some households a part of everyday life – I believe that people’s view on its role in tragedy, crime and illness has become clouded.

Within health care, patients with diseases caused by alcohol can be found in almost every division: gastrointestinal diseases, brain-damage, cancers, blood pressure, mental disorders etc. Many people have heard of the scientific studies that have shown that alcohol (red wine) in limited amounts can decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. While this may be true, alcohol has other effects on the heart that reduce the benefits.

What is also clear is that whenever the “positive” findings are put against the negative effects of alcohol, the negative effects outweigh the positive.

In addition, the inherent quality of alcohol as an addictive substance — not unlike other addictive drugs — makes it difficult for many people to consume it in limited quantities. Thus, the argument that it has benefits when used in a defined amount is a theoretical one, and not always applicable to reality.

Yet, the physical damage caused by alcohol is not as striking to me as the social and spiritual harm. Apart from enjoying the taste, many people drink moderately because they want to relax and enjoy the moment — possibly a harmless motivation. However, the consequences of a free alcohol trade and its social acceptance are far from harmless. In my medical work, almost on a daily basis, I meet children that are in crisis, youth that get in trouble and jeopardize their future, families that split up, and individuals that cry in regret of how they have wasted their lives because of the addiction. And I can’t help but wonder: is it really worth it?

Baha’u’llah, the Divine Physician, tells us that society today would benefit from eliminating the use of alcohol as it is the cause of much harm. He has described human beings as spiritual beings endowed with the gift of reason and the ability to acquire noble qualities. Anything that distances us from that nobility is harmful for us, and thus for society as whole. In the Hidden Words, He tells us:

O Son of Spirit!

I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.