Dear Editor,

I am Rev. Jonathan R. Walker, pastor of the Perryville Church of God. I am writing at the request of the Perryville Ministerial Association about our town’s upcoming vote on the sale of alcohol.

Proverbs 20:1 (NKJV)  — “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”

Definitely wisdom to contemplate and live by. This word from Proverbs describes the root of many problems we face today.

These same problems were also faced by those before us, except that DUIs were committed at fewer miles per hour. So the issue of alcohol is an age-old one that always tends to find its way somehow into our lives.

The sides though are always the same. There are those who feel they have a right to enjoy drinking and obtain it the most convenient way. There are those who want to profit from it and provide or encourage its availability through whatever means necessary. Lastly, there are others who feel alcohol is a mind-altering substance that can destroy the futures of those who reach for it and the ones that suffer through the effects of it.

Perryville has traditionally been of the latter view and in fact was possibly the first town in the U.S. to adopt local option ordinances. Some roots of the temperance movement stem from here, which of course led to the Prohibition Act. So generations of Perryville citizens were familiar with the problems associated with the sale of alcohol, and chose not to invite it into their town.

To the best of our knowledge, there is no written proposal toward changing Perryville’s alcohol sales option law, only the idea of one. The phrase “bag of cats” comes to mind, when we think of the possible implications that passing something we cannot define may bring about. Are the profits of a few worth placing the future of our town into hands that do not want the left to know what the right is doing?

We are a community of neighbors that want what is best for our town and for our families’ future. May we decide in October for our children and those after us, as those before us once did.

Jonathan R Walker

Perryville Ministerial Association