Alcohol Part 2

Alright, well how about bars you ask? Sorry no bars here in good Ol’ Utah. What we have is a small loophole known as private clubs. These are essentially the same thing as any ordinary bar or club except that in order to get in you need to either purchase a private membership (think cover but now your name is in a statewide database used to track and prosecute you) or be a guest of a member. Each member is allowed only one guest and they are liable for any and all actions taken by their guest. Sounds fun right? Wait until you try and go out to dinner.



At restaurants they are not allowed to advertise what kinds of drinks they have and instead have to be asked for specifically. Next up you are only allowed to have one drink in front of you at any given time and no more than one serving of alcohol can be in any one mixed drink so doubles are out the window. The crème de la crème is nice little thing that has been affectionately dubbed the ‘Zion curtain’. As a result of a law passed several year ago, no drinks can be poured in public view and instead have to be mixed behind a physical barrier. The intention being to prevent people from being tempted to drink, but in reality it simply draws more attention to the practice as a shroud of taboo and mystery is further cast around both the subject and action of alcohol consumption.

Current 'Zion Curtain' at Utah Restaurants

While various attempts are being made to normalize Utah’s policies on alcohol, an equal number of counter laws are being written to further emphasize the already extreme practices in effect. Two such laws are currently on their way up Capitol Hill that would accomplish two such things. The first would bolster the Zion Curtain already in effect by making the current glass screen a ten foot high wall that all drinks would have to be mixed and poured behind. Probably the most literal version of sweeping dirt under a rug that I have ever come across. The second is a bill that would outlaw anyone from appearing drunk in public. Really? Appearing drunk a crime? Aside from being impossible to really test for the law would be unfeasible to enforce. Since common symptoms of drunkenness include decreased motor skills, slurred speech, and inability to control the level of one’s voice. It looks like clumsy individuals, loud socialites, and anyone with a speech impediment are looking at some serious jail time.

In the end these various laws and regulation simply hold up a mirror to the contradictory nature of the church. In almost every other religion where alcohol is banned as part of the church teachings, it is banned totally and completely. While in Utah it is prevented and simply made an inconvenience due in part to the vast number of non-Mormon residents, but also the fact that there is absolutely no mention of abstinence from alcohol in the actual Book of Mormon. No hymn, parable, or verse exists that prohibits this act. It simply comes down to a Mormon Church teaching that has been brought about outside of the church’s original intention and is being forced upon a population widely not of that faith. All of which is under the disguise of ‘being what is best for them because deciding for ourselves is out of the question’. Fascism at its best.