Banning liquor during Christmas downright hypocrisy

Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith appears to be dabbling too much or interfering too much in matters that should be left to the government. Perhaps, he has been carried away by the media coverage that he has been getting since over 200 of his flock were butchered in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. Is he taking advantage of the media and now going overboard.

The Cardinal now wants the sale of liquor banned during Christmas and is comparing Christmas with Vesak. Christmas is certainly not Good Friday, which is a day of mourning for Christians the world over. Christmas is the occassion when the birth of Christ is celebrated.

But what is most questionable about the call by Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith for a ban on liquor sales during Christmas is that Sri Lanka is sending out the wrong message to the rest of the world that his flock would turn unruly after consuming liquor. If is feared that Christians in Sri Lanka may be deprived of celebrating Christmas the way their counterparts in other parts of the world do due to the prposed liquor ban.

Does Christianity unlike some other religion, need laws to be sustained? It must be mentioned here that Catholic liquor outlet owners do not need a law on Good Friday, which is a day of mourning; they close their liquor shops on this day of their own volition.

What will the Cardinal have to say about liquor being stocked up? Where does the problem lie? Buying liquor or consuming it?

Sri Lanka should either completely ban liquor to show the world that we are a holier-than-thou nation or stop this token bans.

Our hipocrisy is such that even a chicken slaughtered a month ago and frozen is taken off the shelf from supermarkets on Poya Days.

The solution to violent behaviour is not banning the consumption of liquor, whether it is for one day or not. The solution lies in enforcing laws. If anyone misbehaves after consuming liquor, lock him up. If he or she murders someone after consuming liquor, then charge him or her and produce them in courts and let the courts decide.

For the information of non-Christians, it must be stated here Jesus Christ, performed His first miracle in Cana, which is now Lebanon, by changing water into wine at a wedding at the request of His mother (the Virgin Mary) in order to overcome a shortage that would have caused embarrassment to the couple.

C Jude

Moratuwa