Corning, IA (KCCI) - Forty days of beer might sound like the ultimate frat party. But for one man, it's a religious experience. The editor of the Adams County Free Press in Corning, Iowa, J.Wilson, is going all out: beer and water only...It's a special, carb-filled recipe. "I'll come to work and have my pint of breakfast," he says. But before you ask 'what kind of mockery is he making of faith,' listen. "It's not a cavalier silly stunt thing," Wilson says. "I'm genuinely curious about the monks and that kind of thing." Getting drunk is not on the agenda..."I want to educate beer people about God and I want to educate God people about beer," he says.
And the Season of Lent enters with a bang. Normally I hear about all these seasonally religious people giving up things like drinking, or cheese, or shaving. Never heard of anyone going the complete opposite direction and promising to only drink, and to that I tip my cap. And I love how he's using the religious season to bring people together, for far too long beer people and God people have looked down on eachother spitefully. There's no reason to believe we can't all just get along.
I'll be honest I've never really been on board with Lent to this point, just seems so contrived. Like "oh look at me, I'm being pious for Jesus, but only for 40 days because my priest told me to." You're either pious year round or you're a heathen. You can't make up for it by not watching porn for 40 days or abstaining from chew tobacco, I honestly don't think Baby Jesus was to concerned with your oral hygeine.
And don't even get me started on the whole "no meat on Fridays" thing. First of all fish is a meat, and I know this because vegans and vegetarians don't eat fish, otherwise they wouldn't be vegans and vegetarians. So let's just clear that up right now. If I'm aloud to fry some fish then I'm going to assume it's ok to enjoy a few tender veal cutlets as well. People were always offering up baby cow sacrifices in the Bible, I figure eating one as a delicious meal is just me doing my part to honor the word of the Lord.
And secondly, I'm just going to step out on a ledge and assume God has a few more things to worry about than what kind of toppings I want on my pizza tonight. I think flooding, genocide, and diseases take precedent, I'm not positive, but it seems that would be the case, plus now he's got his handsful with that whole mess going on in Japan today, I think I can sneak it by him.
