Debunking, part 3: "A few who are whining..."

The truth regarding this myth is so self-evident as to almost not being worth an entire blog post. Liquor store owners (and prominent Baptist preachers) have said that "not that many people" are interested in having wine available in grocery stores. We obviously know that's not true. The Red White & Food campaign has over 25,000 members. (Almost 26,000, I now understand.) There have been 28 editorials in favor and none opposed. And there was that MTSU poll showing Tennesseans to be "enthusiastically in favor."

It's so silly I don't want to even write any more about that.

Instead I'll write about one Baptist preacher in particular who seems to made it his second mission in life to legislate Tennessee's morality. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Chuck Groover of Victory Baptist Church in Mt. Juliet. Now, I'm not Baptist and wasn't raised as such. I was raised in the Church of Christ and one of my parents was a minister until I was in college. I was not raised in a household of drinkers. Not because my parents found alcohol to be sinful (some do; mine don't), it's because they wanted to set a positive example for others and they didn't want to be seen as doing anything in the realm of leading others astray. I just wanted to put that out there so it was clear the kind of home I come from.

My parents were also reasonable enough to know that their views were not the same as others'. That was okay with them. I would go to friends' houses to eat dinner and their parents would have a glass of wine with dinner. Even while in the throes of active ministry, my parents did not try to convince other people that their method was the only right method.

Chuck Groover does not share this belief, so it seems. When he appeared at the legislative study session in December, 2009, he had a lot to say about "other people." He claimed that people pushing for this legislation were pushing a "self-centered lifestyle," and that the bill did not enjoy broad support because it was just "a few who are whining." He saw "no common sense in making wine readily available to impulse buyers." He thinks we should instead have compassion for our neighbors so they won't be tempted.

I assume Chuck Groover has not walked down the frozen pizza aisle at Kroger. Across the aisle from the pizza is almost an entire store-length of "temptation."

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," he also said.

The thing is, Mr. Groover, it is broke[n]. You can say whatever you want from your pulpit and your church's tax-exempt status is (amazingly) protected; you continue to enjoy government protection as the liquor store owners currently also do. They run a monopoly that should be disrupted. Whether you think your congregants need to run around drinking is a completely different issue.

Also I just want to remind everyone that this is the same dude who whined about having to wait in line while someone of legal age comes to scan the beer of the person in front of him because the clerk was too young to touch it. Maybe that's what this is all really about.

Remember: wine vote tomorrow! See you there, Chuck!