As a past high functioning alcoholic. That line of reasoning sounds very familiar. I used to tell myself the same thing. But once you stop drinking, you start

As a past high functioning alcoholic. That line of reasoning sounds very familiar. I used to tell myself the same thing. But once you stop drinking, you start seeing that the drinking was adding to the stress, and personal relationships were not as 'meaningful' as I thought. Hanging out drinking is not as 'deep' as it appears when not drinking. Many studies do show that alcohol leads to additional stress, which then drives the need for additional drinking. EDIT Don't take me wrong. You seemed to really focus on the Religious side. I'm just saying that there are a lot of valid Health Reasons (Non-Moral, Non-religious) reasons not to drink. And, I'm not saying I don't like drinking. Just because I'm an addict doesn't mean I don't like drinking.