The fact that there are many christians who do find religious reasons to oppose the consumption of alcohol invalidates what you wrote. You think there is nothing in the bible that is opposed to alcohol, but many people disagree. The existence of those people is the point.
This is your opinion: "FWIW there's nothing in the Bible about throwing people in jail for alcohol"
This is a fact: "Here in the south we [often] use [...] 3000 year old Judean religious texts when writing our [drug] laws."
I am not going to defend their beliefs to you; that is a religious discussion that I have absolutely no interest in. I am pointing out that those people do exist.
This is intellectually lazy reasoning. The existence of people who believe something does not make what they believe true.
Realize that the two statements:
"Here in the south we [often] use [...] 3000 year old Judean religious texts when writing our [drug] laws."
"...there's nothing in the Bible about throwing people in jail for alcohol"
are not necessarily contradictory. People can claim to justify what they believe based on something that doesn't in fact support their beliefs. My point that the Bible doesn't support drug prohibition/imprisonment stands.
Edit: I remain baffled how Christians supported alcohol prohibition when Jesus himself provided alcohol for a party.
You are not getting it. I am not saying they are right. I am saying that they exist.
To them, their religious text do condemn alcohol. Your personal interpretation of the religious texts cannot be taken as fact.
Whether or not they are right is something for you to argue about with other Christians. They think that they are correct just as much as you think that you are correct. Religious bickering, film at '11.
There are not. There are no people in the world, not one, who oppose alcohol because they have read the Bible and concluded that the Bible forbids alcohol consumption.
There are people who oppose alcohol for other reasons and who claim the Bible says something other than what it says, but it is nonsense to claim they got their position from the Bible.
There's plenty of evil stupid crazy shit in the Bible, but endorsement of prohibition just isn;t there.
This is your opinion: "FWIW there's nothing in the Bible about throwing people in jail for alcohol"
This is a fact: "Here in the south we [often] use [...] 3000 year old Judean religious texts when writing our [drug] laws."
I am not going to defend their beliefs to you; that is a religious discussion that I have absolutely no interest in. I am pointing out that those people do exist.