<p>I dont and never will drink, cause I see what it does to people. But I dont judge anyone who does drugs or gets drunk because a lot of them are generally cool/nice people. Personally, I dont like gwttong into situations that have serious consequences. ButI dont judge people based on what they do in their free time. Dont judge people just because they sin differently from you</p>
<p>
If 21 year olds have so much more common sense, maybe it makes sense to change the rest of our laws so that you can’t die for your country until you’re 21, or get married until you’re 21, or sign binding documents until you’re 21.</p>
<p>Also, anyone who wants to decide their morals based off of the US laws is to put it bluntly, an idiot. We have the most screwed up legal systems for a secular country. Here’s a list of a few things that are still written into some of the various state constitutions: Blue laws, sodomy bans, bans on atheists running for office, and only men are required to enter into the draft (there are so many more that I don’t have time to type in).</p>
<p>Overall I think it’s unfair for the government to ban anyone 18+ from doing something that others can do.</p>
<p>Also, I see no reason that younger people shouldn’t be able to drink if they do so responsibly.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>“rich and bored” isnt an excuse. Thats no way to rationalize what you’re doing (The Outsiders)</p>
<p>With that said, yo don’t need a reason too do what you do, your life is your life. But being a privileged and wealthy person isnt a reason to do certain crap.</p>
<p>Again Im neutral about the whole thing. Im just tired of people saying: “Im privileged, and high class. So all I can do is xyz”. </p>
<p>Your decisions are your decisions. Your enviornment shouldnt affect thay</p>
<p>@runallday4 I’m not really sure if you can call yourself a secular country when you swear allegiance to god every morning…</p>
<p>I realise I am being unnecessarily antagonistic, which will now stop. The previous post was a sort of joke anyway :)</p>
<p>Well, the reason the drinking age is 21 is because it’s been discovered that certain parts (I believe it’s the region responsible for impulse control and moral judgment) of the brain don’t stop developing until into a person’s early twenties. Someone I know drank excessively as a teenager and has issues with their frontal lobe as a result. I don’t know if it’s necessarily because they drank excessively as a teen or because they drank excessively… period. :p</p>
<p>It can be fun in the right environment, don’t listen to all these kids who are so anti-drinking cause their parents said so. Don’t be peer pressured but drinking is really not that big of a deal. You are young, enjoy your youth.</p>
<p>Hi-just a mom with a question -what can drinking possibly do that will enhance your life in a good way? When my boys were younger, they would enjoy getting drunk at home ,where they couldn’t get into trouble . Please ,DON"T DRINK AND DRIVE .</p>
<p>First Im atheist. (I feel like that’s irrelevant)
Second when you’re over 18 your more developed and less likely to be influenced by alcohol. Brain cells are more developed and your ability to make choices better (scientifically )
Third its wrong because you put yourself in a position to throw away your future, get killed, and all of the other things drinking causes. Just add to that the fact that all if these things are /more likely/ when in highschool.
Or maybe the American government is being stupid and we ought to just go for it.
I mean really.
And it would be your choice if it were legal. But it’s not. I mean sure you could break the law.
I just don’t get how the whole illegal thing doesn’t matter? What cos it’s fun and all of the kids on tv do it it’s alright?
So just pile that onto the list of things that are negative bout this.
I have personal reasons for these strong beliefs I’m not preaching to you but it’s an open question and this is my opinion
I know kids who drink, hang out with them ect but I wouldn’t go to a situation in which everyone was drinking.
If I insulted any of you by saying that it was wrong (Dude the freakin law) I’m sorry.
I’m not condemning you to hell I’m just saying don’t drink until your older.
Maybe im holding onto the clutch that it’s illegal but I wouldn’t be here if it was. Follow the laws.
Look my cousin can’t stay out of jail, another had a kid left it with his mum got in legal trouble was sent to rehab and is now drinking again, my other cousin (Rich and privileged) was nearly killed in a car accident. Her boyfriend was driving her home from a party when another guest of the party hit into them and spun they’re car around. The other party was drunk and my cousins boyfriend as just under the legal limit (for adults). None of them were killed (thank God) but some seriously injured.
So when I’m against it maybe I’ve seen the crap it does to people. And more a crap load more.</p>
<p>^ The only way you’ve insulted me is by making me read that ridiculously poor argument. It was such a jumbled mess and didn’t respond to any of my points. For example, instead of addressing my legality =/= morality point, you said I support drinking because of the media’s influence (kids on TV)? Where did that come from? </p>
<p>Please, temper your ridiculous opinions. Drinking <em>causes</em> you to ruin your life, get killed, etc.? Perhaps drinking combined with tons of irresponsibility would cause those things, but my position this entire thread has been that drinking responsibly is OK. Drinking responsibly causes none of those things, and your inability to grasp that is simply maddening. You keep lapsing back to its legal status (“Dude the freakin law?” Honestly?), and it’s really quite infantile. Holding the law as the highest authority, moral or otherwise, is an entirely close-minded view. Think outside the system for once.</p>
<p>^^Yeah, you’re right. The government is always doing what’s best, honestly, we should follow the law no matter what. Ahem, Plessy v. Ferguson.
I’d like to see atheist you try to “condemn us to hell”. That’s just cute.</p>
<p>We’re not denying that alcohol’s been at the root of serious problems. Again, emphasis on responsibility.
Just for the record, in 2000, 400 000 deaths related to obesity, 85 000 deaths related to alcohol. Like… come on. Make chocolate illegal. </p>
<p>Also, alcohol related deaths seem to be declining. Just a little over 20 000 alcohol induced deaths in 2009. I’m not saying they don’t happen - I’m saying they won’t if you’re responsible. </p>
<p>(<a href=“http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30[/url]”>http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30</a>)</p>
<p>(please don’t make chocolate illegal)</p>
<p>You being an atheist is relevant, at least to me. It makes your reasons against it a bit weaker since you don’t believe in any real penalties for your actions outside of what humans can give or the consequences on your conscience and body. Why not do it if there are no reasons not to, given you won’t get in trouble? I don’t drink because I gain reason to act a certain way from a source that is above myself, where there is truth. There are overarching reasons that would be more complex, but if you don’t believe in objective truth from an absolute/objective source (not laterally or from humanity), then I don’t get why you wouldn’t want to have fun or do whatever you want, if you don’t believe in any lasting consequences. </p>
<p>The question then becomes if you believe in objective truth (relativity falls apart and I doubt you would choose it- at least the atheists I know claim there is objective truth). If you say being moral is objectively right, then I can’t see where you can get that from other than religion, if it would inhibit survival and has an inexplainable origin to you. If you don’t, again, why do you do anything in life if it’s not going to matter in the end? The consequences seem too negligible in that case to be a distraction from the act. If you’re an atheist, how is any choice different from the next in the end, if just by your whims and subjective feelings? To follow those to such an end seems illogical.</p>
<p>In the end, I don’t think any moral argument really matters if you don’t believe in something greater than yourself. What’s it really going to matter? Although from what I believe is truth, there are reasons against it, but I have reasons that I can point to that claim objectivity, and that I believe are objectively true. If something is true, then it’s true- I guess it all stems on where you get truth from.</p>
<p>Also, also, throwing it out there - 0 weed-related deaths. Maybe cause it’s illegal and “hard” to obtain but probably not.</p>
<p>
Can’t the same be said about driving at a young age?</p>
<p>@Alliancedude1: A lot of what you said just seemed really uninformed. I find it to be extremely annoying when religious people try to claim that atheists have no morals, when actually, atheists most likely have stronger and better thought out morals than those that get their morals from religion. On top of you asserting that because he was an atheist he has no moral values, you’re also asserting that the “objective truth” you have from your “God” told you that you can’t drink until you’re 21, and as far as I know, no religion like this exists.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>How was I rationalizing? I simply stated a cause and effect. Cause: My town is rich and bored. Effect: More underage drinking. I’m not saying it’s better for rich and bored kids to drink, that’s just silly. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Citation needed</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not all people who drink put themselves in dangerous situations. And for those who do, the benefits outweigh the risks (in their opinions, obviously not yours). </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I rarely see underage drinking on tv.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Just because the government says it’s wrong doesn’t mean it is wrong. The government has supported slavery, containment camps, and a military draft. I don’t think those things are right.</p>
<p>I don’t drink and never will. I’ve seen how it destroys and ends lives. (have been personally affected by it) I don’t really see the point of drinking. Yeah to relieve stress but there are other ways to do that.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There have been publications on this, most of them funded by MADD saying that the prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed until age 25 (don’t know why the drinking age is 21 then), and that due to this anyone under that age has a hard time thinking about consequences. However, this has been written off as a pseudoscience as it’s way more complex than that, and more areas than the small prefrontal cortex are used in decision making. Also, while there is a difference between the prefrontal cortex in an 18 year old and the prefrontal cortex of a 21 year old, the difference between the two is negligible.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I actually have heard that before. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s somewhat true.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I have heard this before too.</p>
<p>I said nothing about atheists not having morals. Everyone has a natural sense of morality and anyone can act on it- they can act on them as little or much as anyone else. </p>
<p>What I said was that I don’t get why they would- what the reasoning behind it would be. If something is more difficult and has no extrinsic value, why pursue it (as in not drinking if would be easier to do so)?We all have a sense of morality, but I was imploring what the purpose of acting on them is as an atheist?</p>
<p>I was kind of vague though and didn’t bother to differentiate if it was a personally directed or broad question. Of course I could hypothesize answers, but none would be very convincing or without holes- which is why I asked.</p>
<p>I wasnt responding to any one post.
Sorry I flipped through them and responded to the ones I saw fit.
So when you say I responded to /you/ that’s sort of not true. I’m on a phone so I can’t see the posts as I type. I just went by what I remembered from various posts.
I don’t believe the law is always correct and when it’s something like social justice it’s right to challenge the law.
If you believe that strongly that it is your right as a 15 year old to drink then by Merlin please drink. Take it to courts. Rally about it. Research it and bring it up in court. Tell your representatives about it, Fight for it then.
Just doing it illegally does nothing. It only puts yourself in a bad position.
I’m actually not angry. Mildly engaged but not enough so to bother with proper arguments. If any temper is shown I’m sorry I didn’t intend it to.
But my you do seem to be taking this personally. (Mostly cos I wasn’t responding to any one person)
If you drink. Fine. You seem to be waving off consequences but if we were having this conversation in real life-- well we wouldn’t be actually. I’m not an arse if my friend drinks fine. I’m just not going to parties with them.
Not all people who drink get drunk, not all people who drink get in car accidents, It wasn’t irresponsible of my cousins boyfriend to drive home. He was sober enough, it wasnt his irresponsibility that put their lives in danger. ***** happens to every one are you really willing to risk increasing the chances of it for some alcohol?
/-
Ok I don’t drink underage. I think it’s a bloody rotten idea. I was arguing more from a 15-17 year olds ought not to. 18-21 I’m not really sure.
I only know a little. The benefits seem to (for me) be outweighed by the increased risks.
I might come off as harsh I’m really not. The illegal ness of it is a big thing in fact it’s probably the biggest thing for me.
So it’s my argument because it seems to be ignored.
… I can’t have strong opinions cos I’m atheist. Merlin really?
I need a god to keep me in line because people are basically evil and if left to our own devices we wont have a strong moral code.
Ouch ouch and double ouch</p>