Supplying underage drinkers and using Fake IDs

[F_Marturana]

I’m in my late 40’s. I was carded recently buying liquor filled chocolates.

 

[Convert3]

All it takes is one immature kid to drink too much, get into a car and kill someone else on the highway. You will be held liable legally and at a minimum be sued for more than you probably have. You will have to live with the fact that you contributed to ruining a couple of lives for some alcohol. One day you’ll also face Jesus.

 

[Beryllos]

I think you’re blowing it out of proportion.

I think you’re ignoring the risks.

Says a follower of Jesus - whose first miracle was to produce 120 gallons of wine

Excuses. I doubt that alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver were common in those days, and I suspect very few people died as a result of drunk driving of wagons and chariots.

I grant both of you that Jesus did not prohibit smoking either. That legal activity kills more people (in the US) today than drugs, alcohol, guns, and motor vehicles combined. Would the OP or any of you share a smoke with a minor, help a minor to get cigarettes, say I’m blowing it out of proportion, or minimize the danger to personal and public health? I hope not. I call that grave matter as well.

A 20 year old, who perhaps has a family, a house, votes, serves in the armed forces,

I salute that person.

Even he or she will not regret waiting until age 21.

I suspect the majority of underage drinkers are not so responsible. What do you think?

 

[edward_george1]

Here’s my standard response to the standard “is it a mortal sin,” aka “how much can I get away with?” type of question:

Why is it good? What’s the virtue to buying underage people alcohol, or to using a fake ID? How does it edify you or those around you?

If you can instruct me as to the goodness and virtue of doing these things, then I’ll say “well, have at it!” But honestly, to ask “is it a mortal sin?” has at heart the question of “how much can I get away with I’ve terms of offending God before it’s the worst kind of offense?” Why offend God at all? Is it really worth it? Would you ask the same kind of question about your loved ones? “How much can I offend my mother or my wife before I get kicked out?” Is it worth it?

I think if people really understood the nature of sin, they wouldn’t play chicken with their souls and try to find a loophole or an out. To all those debating the relative merits of alcohol use and civil law or whatever, that’s not really the question here. The real issue is what sin is, and how sin is never worth it. Only the love of God is worth it.

-Fr ACEGC

 

[Sbee0]

Hello, I am curious if buying alcohol for underagers and using fake IDs at the bars are mortal sins?

I am of age, however is it a mortal sin to take my underage friends with me to the bars if they use fake IDs?

Fake ID and buying alcohol for underagers and not yourself imo is a form of lying and there’s a commandment against that.

 

[TheLittleLady]

We are bound under pain of sin to obey the just laws.

You’d be hard pressed to find a moral theologian who would argue that drinking age and forgery laws are “unjust”.

 

[twf]

Maybe in Europe where drinking has less of a stigma and drinking ages are far more relaxed… I could see some Europeans saying that, yeah, it’s pretty unjust to deny a working, responsible 20 year old adult a glass of wine / beer at dinner .

America and Saudi Arabia…both exercises in absurdity when it comes to alcohol. Definitely not influenced by Catholicism…the Protestant heritage comes through.

 

[TheLittleLady]

America is so influenced by Protestant Prohibition (which had distinct anti-Catholic roots) it is crazy.

 

[LawyersGunsAndMoney]

I salute that person.

Even he or she will not regret waiting until age 21.

I realize this is very much a tangential issue, but for what it’s worth, very, very few under 21 year olds in the military wait until they’re legal to drink. Just like their peers living in college dorms, on a Friday night the barracks will flow with cheap beer.

 

[Joe_5859]

Suppose you are able to make a strong moral/theological case that the legal drinking age in the U.S. is an unjust law that does not need to be morally obeyed. Thus you can supply drinks to 18 year olds without having committed a sin.

Even if that were the case, that argument isn’t going to fly in court. I certainly wouldn’t risk fines and/or jail time simply to buy booze for 18 year olds. It’s definitely not worth the risk.

 

[Hoosier-Daddy]

The moral gauge of behavior that isn’t sinful is not what goes on in dorms or barracks.

As a law I think 21 is an odd age to have for alchohol. Is it unjust? Nope not in the slightest. I also dont think the speed limit on the road I’m on should be 35 when I’m more than capable of driving 85… it doesnt matter, I should obey the law. I suspect if the OP asked about fake ids and smuggling handguns to 19 year olds the answer would be a tad different on here.