Our positions on alcohol, tobacco, gambling and drugs are rooted in history. For more than one hundred years the people of the United Methodist Church have been passionate about temperance and public morals.
According to Robert Dean McNeil in Valiant for Truth: A Story of Prohibition and One of its Leading Advocates, early Methodists espoused "living the temperant life." The platform of temperant living was guided by "Four Pillars": integrity of business, Sabbath observance, purity of home life and sobriety of the people. In the quest to improve public morals a major focus was ridding society of alcohol and gambling. Methodists actively opposed alcohol and joined with the Anti-Saloon League in supporting pay-day laws because they witnessed the devastation among families after workers were paid and went to saloons to drink leaving families alone without basic needs, which caused all manner of destruction to the family unit. Temperance leagues sprouted all over the U.S. and thousands of Methodists joined these leagues. The early Methodists stood firmly with national groups such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union against the evils of alcohol and in particular alcohol advertising. In 1916 Methodists began their own campaign for U.S. prohibition law, which culminated in a move to Washington, D.C. They sought and gained considerable influence on public policy. Even after the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment (prohibition), Methodist men and women believed that alcohol brought destruction to people and to families and they were active in ensuring strict alcohol regulation; many of these laws are in existence even into the present day.
The contemporary United Methodist Church's positions on alcohol, tobacco, drugs, gambling, and pornography are informed by the historical events and early action on temperance. The current positions reflect and live into first that we are created by God, valued by God, and accountable to God. Jesus' commandment, "to love your neighbors as you love yourself" and Jesus promise of "abundant life" available to all of God's children are examples of God's love for us and God's desire that we live whole and abundant lives. When addiction leads to brokenness addicts can't fully experience wellness and a whole and abundant life. The Church's faithful positions are grounded in Scripture, theology, research, education, and the best practices in prevention and recovery. Our advocacy work is aimed at changing the systems that perpetuate addiction for generation after generation. This lays the groundwork for the faithful commitment of United Methodists to take action in ending addiction around the globe.
The rights and privileges a society bestows upon or withholds from those who comprise it indicate the relative esteem in which that society holds particular persons and groups of persons. We affirm all persons as equally valuable in the sight of God. We therefore work toward societies in which each person’s value is recognized, maintained, and strengthened. We support the basic rights of all persons to equal access to housing, education, communication, employment, medical care, legal redress for grievances, and physical protection. We deplore acts of hate or violence against groups or persons based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, or economic status. Our respect for the inherent dignity of all persons leads us to call for the recognition, protection, and implementation of the principles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights so that communities and individuals may claim and enjoy their universal, indivisible, and inalienable rights.
We affirm our long-standing support of abstinence from alcohol as a faithful witness to God’s liberating and redeeming love for persons. We support abstinence from the use of any illegal drugs. Since the use of illegal drugs, as well as illegal and problematic use of alcohol, is a major factor in crime, disease, death, and family dysfunction, we support educational programs as well as other prevention strategies encouraging abstinence from illegal drug use and, with regard to those who choose to consume alcoholic beverages, judicious use with deliberate and intentional restraint, with Scripture as a guide.
Millions of living human beings are testimony to the beneficial consequences of therapeutic drug use, and millions of others are testimony to the detrimental consequences of drug misuse. We encourage wise policies relating to the availability of potentially beneficial or potentially damaging prescription and over-the-counter drugs; we urge that complete information about their use and misuse be readily available to both doctor and patient. We support the strict administration of laws regulating the sale and distribution of alcohol and controlled substances. We support regulations that protect society from users of drugs of any kind, including alcohol, where it can be shown that a clear and present social danger exists. Drug-dependent persons and their family members, including those who are assessed or diagnosed as dependent on alcohol, are individuals of infinite human worth deserving of treatment, rehabilitation, and ongoing life-changing recovery. Misuse or abuse may also require intervention, in order to prevent progression into dependence. Because of the frequent interrelationship between alcohol abuse and mental illness, we call upon legislators and health care providers to make available appropriate mental illness treatment and rehabilitation for drug-dependent persons. We commit ourselves to assisting those who suffer from abuse or dependence, and their families, in finding freedom through Jesus Christ and in finding good opportunities for treatment, for ongoing counseling, and for reintegration into society.
M. Tobacco
We affirm our historic tradition of high standards of personal discipline and social responsibility. In light of the overwhelming evidence that tobacco smoking and the use of smokeless tobacco are hazardous to the health of persons of all ages, we recommend total abstinence from the use of tobacco. We urge that our educational and communication resources be utilized to support and encourage such abstinence. Further, we recognize the harmful effects of passive smoke and support the restriction of smoking in public areas and workplaces.
163 IV. The Economic Community
We claim all economic systems to be under the judgment of God no less than other facets of the created order. Therefore, we recognize the responsibility of governments to develop and implement sound fiscal and monetary policies that provide for the economic life of individuals and corporate entities and that ensure full employment and adequate incomes with a minimum of inflation. We believe private and public economic enterprises are responsible for the social costs of doing business, such as employment and environmental pollution, and that they should be held accountable for these costs. We support measures that would reduce the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. We further support efforts to revise tax structures and to eliminate governmental support programs that now benefit the wealthy at the expense of other persons.
Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, destructive of good government and good stewardship. As an act of faith and concern, Christians should abstain from gambling and should strive to minister to those victimized by the practice. Where gambling has become addictive, the Church will encourage such individuals to receive therapeutic assistance so that the individual’s energies may be redirected into positive and constructive ends. The Church acknowledges the dichotomy that can occur when opposing gambling while supporting American Indian tribal sovereignty and self-determination. Therefore, the Church’s role is to create sacred space to allow for dialogue and education that will promote a holistic understanding of the American Indians’ historic quest for survival. The Church’s prophetic call is to promote standards of justice and advocacy that would make it unnecessary and undesirable to resort to commercial gambling— including public lotteries, casinos, raffles, Internet gambling, gambling with an emerging wireless technology and other games of chance—as a recreation, as an escape, or as a means of producing public revenue or funds for support of charities or government.
Facebook
Twitter