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THE MERCER CLUSTER-FEBRUARY II, 1983PAGE3
COMMENTS
Column
From My Open Window:
Should Drinking Age-Be Raised?
" SILL'S ft LAW ‘STUDENT, HE POES
HOMEWOPfs •
Recently, there has been much
interest in the problem of drunk driving.
We see ads on television and in
magazines asking us not to drive if we
are intoxicated. We hear of free cab
services for persons under the influence
of alcohol. We have become more aware
of the dangers involved with drunk
driving. But it appears that most efforts
to stop drunk drivers are directed at
young people. Currently, the Georgia
stale legislature is considering a bill that
would raise the drinking age from 19 to
21. The state Senate has already passed
this bill, but it has not yet been
considered by the state House of
Representatives or the governor. In light
of this pending legislation, we may ask
ourselves if the drinking age in Georgia
should be raised from 19 to 21 in an
effort to curtail drunk driving.
We wonder if it is really necessary to
v have a law dictate when a person is
muture enough to drink. When are
young people considered adults? At age
, sixteen, they can drive a car. drop out of
school, or • maintain a job. At age
eighteen, they obtain the power to
choose our President and other
government officials At eighteen, they
can be drafted and fight a war for our
country. Yet this law implies that young
people cannot use their judgment well
enough to consume alcoholic beverages
until they are^Tw^nty-one. Another issue
involved is that the basic right to
freedom of choice is being violated We
can see laws controlling more and more
aspects of our lives. Who is to say the
legislature will not raise the age again
next year to twenty-five? Or sixty-five?
Why not just reinstate prohibition?
Obviously, that would solve nothing
Considering the variety of ages at w hich
young people are regarded as responsi
ble adults and the lack of freedom this
legislation implies, we see that it is
inconsistent with existing laws
We realize that this may become law^
anyway. Coujid raising the drinking age
be an effecUve solution to drunk driving?
Eliminating 19 and 20 year olds from the
drinking scene is singling out only a
smull part of our adult community and its
effects will not be felt much. The
problem does not lie entirely with young
people, and the legislature is discrimina
ting against them if they penalize the 19
and 20 year olds to stop a crime
committed bv the entire adult communi
ty. Furthermore. 19 and 20 year olds will
continue to drink regardless. J£ven high
school students are drinking, so it should
he clear to use that there is liquor
available to those who can pay the price,
regardless of age. Raising the drinking
age from 19 to 21 would just encourage
more bootlegging. In light of all this, we
see that this legislation will not solve
c. unk driving problems
('an we find u better solution to the
problem ’ Consider higher fines, a day in
jail, or a license suspension Stiffened
penalties may bring drastic results Even
if the probability of being caught is low .
stiff penalties would be so high that we
will not take the risk If we know there is
a chance of receiving a SI5.000 fine,
even a small chance, we are not willing
to gamble The stakes are loo high Also,
high fines and penalties would mean less
drunk driving and thus lower enforce
ment costs as well as more funds to
defray these costs The money would be
well spent to catch offenders This
increases the probability of being
|H a ualized and so the risk is higher still
Drunk driving will almost disappear W e
see that stiffened penalties would show
much belter results in solviflffYhe drunk
driving problem
So we return to lhc\ question of
whether this legislation should be
enacted as an effort to curtail drunk
driving After considering the issue, we
have found an answer Raising the
drinking age in Georgia from 19 to 21 is
not only inconsistent with existing laws
it will not solve drunk driving problems
as wejfrus stiffer penalties would
Sheryl V\ ilson
By Craig Higgins
A mind is a terrible thing to waste "
This statement, because of television
overuse, has become a cliche', which is
unfortunate, for there is much truth in
those words.
The human mind is very often wasted
We think immediately of the common
place ways in which this occurs. We
think of the bright youth who is so
hampered by a poor home environment
that he is hindered from learning We
think of students who ihrough the abuse
of alcohol and drugs inhibit their own
mental ability.
Minds are wasted more subtly loo We
see this so very often in higher
education, and it is far too common even
on our own campus. The focus of
ucudemic pursuits often becomes not
wisdom or knowledge but technique
College is a four-year, how-to course:
how-to keep up your GPA. how-to find
un illustrious job. how-to make more
money These things, which ure fine
when kept within their proper spheres,
become the ultimate goal of what we
rename education Thus intelligent
conversation is met with. "Don l be so
deep." or "Don't take everything so
seriously." or the ever-popular "What
are you going to do with that'.’
Education is reduced to apparatus - all
of this is to the expense of many minds
Of course, there are many who think
more deeply than that When they view
the world, with all its complexities anil
seeming absurdities, they want to know
-■ they *ant to understand Pat answers
simply will not suffice. The world's
history is filled with people like these --
the great philosophers, scientists, and
other thinkers who have shaped our
culture
Yet. often limes, these people ■ the
ones who are not satisfied with pat
answers -- refuse to look into one
explanation of the world s complexities
and seeming absurdities The explana
tion often ignored is that of biblical
Christianity. |t is ignored as just some
"religious experience" or as an
intellectual crutch
The sad thing for me is that often we
Christians contribute to the problem.
I’ve heard many — Christians and
non-Christians -- who grew up in church
talk about how they knew kind people
thefce. but how no one ever reached their
minds. Christianity to them was either
too mystical, too emotional, or too
irrational. That is simply tragic
Jesus taught that the most important
commandment was "to love the l»rd
your God with all your heart* with all
your soul, and with all your mind"
(Malt 22.271. The Bible says that in
Christ "are hidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2.3).
Christianity does not claim to be an
answer to the world's complexities and
seeming absurdities •• it claims to be the
answer Sun*, the Bible teaches that
then- are some things that are beyond
our explanation: if the Bible is true we
ought to expect that God’s ways are
above our ways, and His thoughts above
out thoughts As Cornelius Van Til once
said. "No hurnun being can explain in
the sense of seeing through all things,
but only he who believes in God has a
right to hold that there is an explanation
at all." Christians, there is a great, great
need for intelligent articulation of
biblical Christianity
So. what about those of you who are
not Chrisliuns and are unwilling to
accept trite little pal answers? Well,
don t accept them Avoid cliches ; read
the Bible for yourself try John or
Romans The thinking there is tar deeper
(anti yet simpler tool than Plato or
Einstein Of course, no one will ever
reason you into the Christian faith, but
hopefully the Sovereign God will use an
intelligent presentation of the truth to
open an unwilling heart and mind •• tx»lh
are terrible things to waste
That's the view from my open window
by Steve
Preston