Wine, Dope, Jesus and Free Speech

Jesusbong
The extent of the State’s ability to control speech doesn’t often touch on the issue of wine or alcohol. Yet today I think it does. At least today’s Supreme Court ruling in the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case reminds me of the ways by which substances such as wine and alcohol are treated by the state.

The 5-4 ruling today tells us that a school has the right to censor speech at school events that might be construed as advocating drug use against the schools stated policy.

At the school my children go to here in Sonoma Valley, they are prohibited from wearing any clothing that contains the image of alcohol or a pro-alcohol message. For example, if I get a T-Shirt from Ravenswood that says "No Wimpy Wines" and give it to my boy, he may not wear it to school because it promotes alcohol consumption. If found wearing it he will be given a large, bright orange T-shirt to wear over it for the day that reads, "Tomorrow I will dress for success".

There are other clothing prohibitions in place at the school, most of which have to do with gang apparel and scanty clothing.

My point is that wine and other types of alcohol are lumped with gangs, drugs and promiscuity at myJesuswine
children’s school and likely at other schools across the nation. This will not come as news to most people. Nor do I think it’s necessarily a situation that demands some sort of community uprising. (The fact is it would take a heck of a lot more than banning a wine t-shirt at school to get most wine communities to rise up.)

So while I don’t know how Jesus would have felt about bong hits, I do wonder what the school’s reaction would be to this t-shirt:

"JESUS LIKED WINE MORE THAN WATER!"

Maybe one day the Supreme Court will even tell us if this is a subversive message.

Posted In: Culture and Wine

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29 Responses

  1. Dane Cellars - June 25, 2007

    You know what amazes me about the schools is that they never mind getting donations from the winerys and vineyards…

  2. Dee Dee - June 25, 2007

    With the current political climate, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Supreme Court did exactly that.

  3. Anneliese - June 25, 2007

    hahaha, hilarious. I don’t remember how I found out about your blog, but it’s been a couple weeks of fun reading.
    p.s. Wouldn’t it be great if kids could be educated about the creativity in making wine? Embrace the arts & crafts of winemaking, rather than shun it? Oh well, like sex, I guess that’s better left for teaching about at home. Oh wait, they do have sex education in the school. Hmm, interesting.

  4. Strycher - Gen X in 2K - June 25, 2007

    Fermentation: Wine, Dope, Jesus and Free Speech

    Give credit where credit is due. I have recently started paying attention to Tom Warks blog called Fermentation. Todays post is devoted to free speech, or the seeming lack thereof.
    I have to say, Tom makes some excellent points. While …

  5. Randy - June 26, 2007

    Yeah, I’m deeply conflicted by that Supreme Court ruling. Both the circumstances that lead to the principal suspending the student, and the subsequent conclusion of the banner “advocating drug use.”
    It appears to me that the banner was clearly satire, just that in the usual tight-wad mentality that goes all the way back to the Puritan roots of this country, those in power inflict their lack of tolerance on those who are in a position of weakness or vulnerability (e.g. the typical principal/student dynamic)
    I just recall a joke from my high school days that went something like:
    NUKE THE UNBORN GAY BABY WHALES FOR JESUS
    This occurs to me to be about as satirical as “BONG HITS FOR JESUS”, and while a banner saying that *might* not have been yanked by the principal (because it doesn’t involve certain B-word drug paraphernalia), it’s certainly in the same vein of sense-of-humor.
    At least, that’s how I see it.
    Pity the Supreme Court has charted such a radically different course in the last year.

  6. Jerry Murray - June 26, 2007

    Randy,
    The difference is that the right wing religous right, while intensley fearing anyone partaking in a ‘victimless crime’, are complety behind any measure that advocates Nuking anything. The fact that it is gay AND and endangered species just makes thier mouthwater in much the same way mine does when thinking about german rieslings. I think we should get bumperstickers that read ” They can have my Pinot when they pry it from my cold dead hands” it worked for the NRA!

  7. Wineguy - June 27, 2007

    Hmmm… “Bong Rips for Jesus”, huh? While I’m not a fan of showing up on the “Bush/Cheney grid”, I felt compelled to chime in… I have made some of the very best blends under the influence of Bong Rips and consequently (with a smile) sold these wines to hard-core Christian Righers. If only they knew;)

  8. Dr. Debs - June 27, 2007

    Tom: check out this link to a banner made by high school kids regarding the decision. Made my day. http://tinyurl.com/ytfcwh

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