Depends on what you mean by drinking alchohol.
Did the person know he was getting drunk? Was it intentional? Drinking to get drunk is a sin. Drinking to “make merry” is not.
Morally wrong on whose part?
OK, I gotcha. I think the driver would be morally culpable if s/he is consciously enabling the passengers to get drunk. For example, if some friends call the driver up and say, “Hey, let’s all go for a drive tonight,” and the driver thinks that the friends are going to get drunk in his/her car, then the driver should do whatever s/he can to prevent that. It may mean saying, “No, I’m not interested, because last time you got drunk.” Or it may mean not letting them in the car if they are bringing alcohol along. Or it may mean driving them back home if they’re in the car already and start drinking too much.
Define drinking to “merriness”
You cannot deal with the morality without dealing with the legality. What is illegal (assuming that the law is not contrary to the law of God) is, by definition, immoral, since obedience to the laws of the land is part of Christian morality. Therefore, in those jurisdictions where having an open container of an alcoholic beverage in the car is illegal, for the passenger to drink would be illegal, and therefore also immoral.
It will vary from person to person.Will depend upon how long the drinking is going on. Drunkenness is clearly a sin but we are told we can drink and make merry to celebrate. For me more than one drink is pushing on toward drunkenness that’s how my body reacts to alcohol. For others several drinks over a few hours is not a problem. I guess making merry doesn’t go beyond feeling relaxed maybe a little flushed, warm, easy to laugh and make jokes- that kind of thing. Talking loudly, losing some judgment, lowered physical performance means you have drank too much.
As would allowing underage people to drink in your car.
Okay, thanks.
It is a sin because by Catholic teaching we are required to obey any laws which are not in conflict with our morals. for instance, we are not required to obey laws that require us to contracept or abort children, or to participate in the contraception or abortion of children. We are, however, required to obey the speed limit and laws about street crossings since those are intended for not only our own safety but the safety of others.
Whoops, that’s what I was getting in my post above. Thanks for elaborating on it!
QFT
Just out of curiosity, is this dogmatic teaching? Like, is this in the Catechism or something?