Getting a buzz from drinking

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Adamski

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When does drinking become a sin I am 6-3. 220 just worked 16 hours straight and am relaxing on my fourth and final drink in a safe environment ?
 
Drinking can be sinful when it radically impairs your ability to reason and you deliberately (consciously) work towards this end, that is, drink so that you can be blind drunk.

Getting a buzz isn’t a sin.
 
Drinking becomes a sin when it starts damaging your body, I believe. If you fear drink is taking over your life, I’d recommend you see your local GP.

Personally I have chosen to be a teetotaller, but I know many Catholics that drink.

God bless.
 
When you drink so much that you do sinful things you normally wouldn’t do.
 
jonathan_hili said:
Drinking can be sinful when it radically impairs your ability to reason and you deliberately (consciously) work towards this end, that is, drink so that you can be blind drunk.

Getting a buzz isn’t a sin.
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Getting buzzed is getting drunk. Yes, it’s a sin - not can be, but is a sin - not to mention a guaranteed conviction if you get behind the wheel and kill someone.
 
randomuser said:
Getting buzzed is getting drunk. Yes, it’s a sin - not can be, but is a sin - not to mention a guaranteed conviction if you get behind the wheel and kill someone.
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Who said anything about driving. Yes buzzed and drunk driving are the same. Buzzed and drunk in terms of personal judgement are different.
 
randomuser said:
Getting buzzed is getting drunk. Yes, it’s a sin - not can be, but is a sin - not to mention a guaranteed conviction if you get behind the wheel and kill someone.
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Hi Randomuser, while I agree that for some people getting “buzzed” might be at the stage of drunkenness, it isn’t in itself; it’s the equivalent of getting full while eating - you’re not full yet, but in the process of becoming.

He didn’t say he was going to be driving, so I didn’t take that into account.
 
jonathan_hili said:
Hi Randomuser, while I agree that for some people getting “buzzed” might be at the stage of drunkenness, it isn’t in itself; it’s the equivalent of getting full while eating - you’re not full yet, but in the process of becoming.

He didn’t say he was going to be driving, so I didn’t take that into account.
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I have seen the very same argument used to justify smoking small amounts of pot (where it is legal). You are not yet hallucinating. You are just on the way there, provided you don’t overdo it.
 
Adamski said:
When does drinking become a sin I am 6-3. 220 just worked 16 hours straight and am relaxing on my fourth and final drink in a safe environment ?
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I will answer in general – not to specifics (numbers of drinks etc)

When it is excessive. When drinking is contrary to temperance or health etc.

Examples of when drinking is grave would be - total loss of ones reason, leading to mortal sins, drunk driving etc.

(PS saw a news report not long ago that a few drinks --I think it was more than 1 or 2 -I forget exactly --as an ongoing practice is not good for you…from the health side of things)
 
randomuser said:
Getting buzzed is getting drunk. Yes, it’s a sin - not can be, but is a sin - not to mention a guaranteed conviction if you get behind the wheel and kill someone.
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What do you mean by “buzzed” do you mean a slight sensation of headiness? or do you mean something more like being smashed? Having a slight sensation of headiness from drinking is not sinful and is not the same as being drunk. Its a sign to stop drinking for a while, and, if you do continue to drink (after a while) to do so at a much slower pace so you avoid actually becoming drunk, but it itself is neither drunkenness or sinful.

As for getting behind the wheel buzzed, that is most definitely seriously sinful, as well as illegal. However, since the OP spoke of drinking in a safe place I assumed he is well aware of the dangers that come when mixing alcohol (of almost any amount) and certain activities and so has no intention of driving while buzzed, or even while not buzzed, but still over the legal limit (which is surprisingly easy to be over even without realizing it).
 
Adamski said:
When does drinking become a sin I am 6-3. 220 just worked 16 hours straight and am relaxing on my fourth and final drink in a safe environment ?
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Drinking becomes a sin when you lose control of your capacity for reason.
 
4 drinks (if they are rougly standard drinks) for a 220lb man who is not driving does not sound excessive.

Of course, anyone who is drinking more than 1 or 2 on a regular basis should considered the medical risks.
 
Adamski said:
When does drinking become a sin I am 6-3. 220 just worked 16 hours straight and am relaxing on my fourth and final drink in a safe environment ?
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I don’t think that’s a sin according to any Catholic teaching.

I have decided to adopt as my own principle the advice of George Herbert (also given by Susanna Wesley to her sons): “Drain not the third glass.” I.e., two full drinks and maybe part of a third is as far as I’m going to go. But I don’t think it’s intrinsically sinful to drink more than that. Everyone is different, biologically, psychologically, and socially. The principle is that you don’t drink to the point of “overthrowing reason” but you may drink enough to make you feel relaxed and cheerful.

I have alcoholics in my family (my paternal grandfather, for instance), and I was brought up to be a teetotaller (meaning that I don’t have a family example of moderate drinking to follow, as some folks do), so I think relatively strict limits work well for me. But I have no right to make it a universal rule.

Edwin
 
Can having four drinks be sinful? Yes.

Can one drink alcohol in a good way? Sure. As Scripture says God gave us wine to gladden the heart…

Can such be sinful? Yes …as Scripture also says…

It can be contrary to health, if coupled with driving it can be contrary ones own life and others …excess, health, safety, other sins, scandal etc

There can be drinking that is contrary to temperance in a venial way and drinking that can be gravely sinful (ie total loss of reason or leads one to commit other mortal sins etc)

What is key is: virtue

Particularly: Temperance

1809 Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion: "Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart."72 Temperance is often praised in the Old Testament: "Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites."73 In the New Testament it is called “moderation” or “sobriety.” We ought "to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world."74

scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c1a7.htm#I
 
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