(Matt 11:19
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look at him, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.")
This puts the teetotalers in a somewhat bad kind of light.
My answer to this is pain. If you are part of a family where alcohol turned a parent into a violent,
angry, abusive individual who knew few limits and terrorised those they knew, alcohol become like poison.
To an alcoholic any alcohol is a temptation, sometimes too strong to resist, which can kill them.
These problems used to be endemic in society, when life was short, brutal and very painful. By the age
of 20 you would have see 4 brothers/sisters die, and maybe your mum and dad. Starvation and disaster
were common. To escape this, soaking yourself after an 12 hour day, worked, but you got violent and behaved
terribly.
Today we live in the west in a kind of heaven, and alcohol takes on a different role.
I personally drink a little, maybe one bottle of wine/cider a month. I do know unfortunately people who
alcohol has killed them. So I respect its role and would give it up totally if this would help anyone.