In regards to the recent controversy on the liquor prohibition act, I feel whether the act continues or not will have little or no impact on alcohol consumption or misuse in our society. But the point is let the people of the state not be confused with all these write-ups on the issue by the various so called moral keepers. The zealousness of the NBCC is appreciated but than again zealousness not based on knowledge is dangerous and can do more harm than good. If the prohibition act has failed, the church should cheer up and be encouraged to know that God also tried to enforce ‘The Law’ (act) in the first covenant but men failed to keep up to it. To continue to forcefully (even to the point of physically) arm twist the government to continue the act doesn’t seems to sound right somewhere. To press on to appease ones guilty conscience (i.e. to have a sense that, to not oppose would be seen as tacit support to the lifting of the act) would be a lame excuse. Where there ia a law, there is always a guilty conscience. I believe Christianity is not about who drinks or not, but about who has received Christ into his heart. Its all about a change of heart like the prodigal son who returned home to his father. The law would have condemned him (for his actions) forever. According to this parable (what is mostly ignored or failed to be seen), the prodigal son (the rebel, the drunkard, the womanizer....et al) would have gone to heaven but his elder brother consigned to hell because of his bitterness and unforgiving heart towards his younger brother. What an irony, the drunkard goes to heaven and the teetotaler who stays in the father’s house and tries to be “the” moral policeman goes to hell.
If the church really wants to do something good for the society, why don’t it first cleanup its house?. How about coming down with a heavy hand on any of its members/sheep’s who readily accepts money in exchange for votes? How about dealing firmly with shepherds who openly campaign for the various political parties for vested interest other than to glorify Christ during elections? Selling ones vote is selling ones right, that is selling ones self, which is also popularly known as prostitution. Because of this rampant practice corruption has set in like a concrete block in our society and there are no avenues for an honest livelihood in our state. Some people like to say that Nagas don’t know how to drink. I always disagree with them. It is not about knowing how to drink or not, but it is about the state of mind before one hits the bottle. In other parts of the world people generally pick up their glasses after a hectic day to relax themselves and have a good night sleep. But in Nagaland the people especially the youths pick up the bottle to fill up the emptiness our corrupt society offers them. To drown the guilty conscience that stems from the message of the law and not grace. That makes all the difference. A mere act cannot fill an empty heart nor cause a change in anyone’s moral lifestyle. Worst of all it throws a bad light on the gospel as it will be viewed as a legalistic and oppressive religion from those outside. What the church is doing by arm twisting the government on the prohibition act is, its actually abdicating all moral responsibilities upon the political government of the state. So we now have the classic scenario where the church is blaming the government for the failure of the act and therefore for all the drunkenness in our society.
Let the government of the day see the missus of alcohol as harmful to oneself and to the society and thereby apply its wisdom to promote a sense of responsibility. Let the church see it as a spiritual sickness that needs a spiritual solution and not a de facto eleventh commandment. For whether the “Act” is to be or not to be has little or no relevance to the ground reality.
Hokato
