EonBlue

Source

A trade association and a tourism group came up with the Alabama Wine Trail to lure visitors to the state’s eight wineries, which produce everything from fruity muscadine and peach wines to more traditional varieties such as merlot and chardonnay.

A Baptist leader in neighboring Chilton County said his group opposed plans for a winery there and doesn’t like the idea of luring tourists to his home turf or anywhere else in Alabama to imbibe.

“We are on record as being opposed to any kind of alcohol-related industry,” said the Rev. Robert Griffin, moderator of the Chilton Baptist Association and pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Clanton. “I would support visiting old, historic churches, but as far as visiting wineries…”

Alabama law limits home wine production to five gallons at a time, and Beadles said his Alabama Wineries and Grape Growers Association hasn’t been able to get much support for increasing the cap for hobbyists.

“We have such a Bible Belt population that when you say you’re going to increase production … in this state they think there will be a drunk in every house,” Beadles said. “There are a lot of people in this state with wine in their closets.”

I love wine (not a fan of muscadine, though - too sweet for me). I hate the fact that I cannot have decent wine from outside the state shipped to my house. The last time I checked, wine is a legal product in the US, but in “Talibama” I cannot buy it from another state.

And now it appears I, as a citizen of this state, will have a hard time even visiting the few wineries that are trying to cultivate just a little bit of culture.

Of course, this boils down to power and money, not religion. The delusional like Robert Griffen may like to think they are obeying their version of god, but what they are really obeying is the real version of god in America: power and money. He and his ilk are nothing more than tools of the rich and powerful.

And the (mostly silent) majority suffer because of it.