Jainism and Animal Issues 1997

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 39

Jainism and Animal Issues
so than the drunk driver. The drunk driver often slows down and creeps along. The moderate drinker believes his perception is sharpened and his reaction time is intact. He feels self-confident. This illusion may cause him to drive faster and be less cautious.
This comes from John A. Scharffenberg, M.D., M.P.H., who has given excellent dietary/health info at many vegetarian conventions in the past:
AND YOUR BEHAVIOR
"Alcohol is a major factor in going back to smoking. Alcohol affects first the frontal lobes, the judgment center of the brain. Will power and discernment are affected, and lighting up a cigarette is more apt to occur."
"There is truth in wine," so the old saying goes: "one tells the truth when drunk." But which truth? We live at various levels of existence and consciousness; and there are some parts of our inner, more primitive and impulsive side that are held in check by the surface veneer of civilization and the exercise of conscience. In some extreme cases, (as in drink-till-you-drop college-frat initiations) death has occurred from a drinking bout. But Nature usually guards best the functions most vitally needed for immediate survival, such as blood circulation and breathing. "The first one to come is the last one to go": traits most recently acquired (the art and culture; the conscious reasoning; a sense of duty, altruism and compassion; in short, so much of what we like to think makes us so superior to various simpler forms of life) all may go long before one loses all mobility and consciousness, let alone heartbeat and respiration. We are especially concerned to see almost universally (in expert views on alcohol), that even small amounts affect the extremely valuable (and vulnerable) parts of the brain involved in judgment, morality, and reason. Anger, hatred, lust, greed, or any emotion reasonably controlled under normal circumstances may find free rein when one is "under the influence." The most brutal forms of violence (formerly restrained) may surface. Don't take my word for it: you can read all about it in your daily paper, or see it on the evening TV news.
One or two drinks are all it takes to make the difference between safe driving and an accident, perhaps the difference between life and death."
That alcohol is a behavior-modifying drug, that inebriated people will do what they would not otherwise do if in full control, can be seen in so many clichés such as "going on a drunken
binge/orgy/spree," "spending money like a drunken sailor," etc. Or conversely, strict temperance, if one must be relied on for wise and fair decisions, hence: "sober as a judge."
We will readily recognize the underlying truth in this passage (from the translation of a German novel, allowing for some exaggeration for humor's sake):
"Inspector Kirsten of the Gilgenrode constabulary... had long recognized that an alarming increase in criminal activities and acts of violence in particular, occurred during the hours of darkness preceding every Sabbath. Though not exactly low on other days, Gilgenrode's consumption of alcohol rose by more than 100% on
Saturdays, which inevitably led to arguments, insults and, ultimately, clashes of a physical nature. Injuries, even severe ones, were not uncommon, but fatalities seldom occurred."
Anger, hatred, lust, greed, or any emotion reasonably controlled under normal circumstances may find free rein when one is "under the influence". How can you tell what a man will do when he's drunk?
It is widely and readily understood that alcohol can fuel
(but not excuse) violence. We may cite a telling example from an old movie, where a man is shot dead by a woman claiming self-defense from rape. A friend wonders, "Was he the type of man who could do such a thing?" The reply says worlds: "How can you tell what a man will do when he's drunk?"
Whether examined in the light of clear harm to health, or assault on conscience and reasoning faculties with the green light given to violence, on every count alcohol indulgence fails to measure up as anything desirable or worthwhile, to say the least. A serious devotee of ethical behavior, especially a Jain, should easily see the practice as inimical to the higher aspirations of Ahimsa, or doing the least harm and the most good. That is to say, acting as mature and responsible, ethical and moral human beings. Alcohol is just not for the Jains.
Jay Dinshah ("American Vegan Society")
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