It seems to me that Methodists rarely file suit against markets over having to stock alcohol on grocery shelves.

Perhaps I'm wrong about that.

Admittedly, passions ran higher among temperance true believers on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. See Nation, Carrie, and the entire American temperance movement which went so far as to bring us a law that in turn begat the Mafia (speaking of unintended consequences).

As far as England is concerned, one of Jill Paton Walsh's Lord Peter/Harriet Vane mysteries is set in WW II, and makes the point that a small country town's main bomb shelter is under the pub, but the town's Methodists do not want to look at the barrels of wine stored underneath, and so they have a separate bomb shelter of their own.

Back to this side of the Atlantic:

(1) Are Mormons in Utah given special permission not to have to handle liquor if they work in casinos?

(2) How about Mormons in Utah itself?

The most absurd example I've ever seen of Islam stubbornness on the issue of alcohol has to do with a friend who was a nurse telling me that Muslim visitors refused to use hand sanitizers in the the areas of the hospital that required it. After all—it contains alcohol. (Where in the Koran does it forbid topical application of alcohol to kill germs?)

Seriously: Muslims must not get any concessions on this issue that devout Methodists do not. And given the fact that there have been Methodists in Britain for a long time, there have to be legal precedents that can be applied here.

Please do not bring all Mark Steyn's nightmares come true.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 07:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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