智慧人生篇章 第17期:酒乃穿腸毒藥

In the past, religion's contribution to this debatehas been from a moral standpoint about thequestions of poor behaviour that are encouraged bythe loss of our inhibitions. But the truth is thatChristianity has a complex relationship withalcohol, from the beautiful story in John's Gospel ofJesus turning water into rich and special wine, to thebrewing of beer by monks and the centralsacramental act of billions of Christians around theworld when we drink fortified wine from the samecup at the Eucharist. It is perhaps a sign of our timesthat this debate has been highlighted not so much by a moral anxiety as a medical one. It'sthe strain on the NHS that's the issue. We are it seems, a society less at ease with ourselvesthan we could be, for example, taking the edge off social interactions with a drink to alleviateour fear. Moralising judgements don't help here, but recognising that we medicate our miseryby taking alcohol will raise deeper questions about who we are and who we want to be."

過去，教會一直從道德層面來解釋說行為弱智是自我失控所致。但事實卻是，基督教跟酒有一種復(fù)雜的聯(lián)系，《約翰福音》中耶穌將水變成美酒的美談，到僧侶釀造啤酒，再到全世界的基督教徒舉行圣餐的時的中心活動就是從圣杯中啜飲美酒。這也許標志著，在我們這個時代，有關(guān)飲酒的辯論已不再是道德問題，而是健康問題，被NHS解釋為壓力問題?？磥恚覀兛偸菍ψ约翰粔蚍潘?，譬如，用喝酒來緩解在社交場合的緊張情緒。道德評判在這里毫無幫助，但必須意識到，用酒精來緩解痛苦只會讓我們更迷失自己，更找不著方向。