Was Prohibition a Good Idea?

". . . the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited." On January 17, 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution became effective, many Christians viewed it as the dawning of a new era. Yet, this new "era" was destined to last only thirteen years.

Armed with the noble goal of making America a better place, Francis Willard and the Women's Christian Temperance Union set out to outlaw alcohol and to preserve Victorian values for the good of America. In combination with a myriad of other groups, their goal was fulfilled but to what effect? Alcohol was still readily consumed and even popularized by the "speak-easies." Furthermore, governmental corruption blocked any true enforcement of the Amendment. The essential failure as I see it was the attempt to legislate "protestant" values on the nation as a whole; the difficulty is deciding whose morality to legislate. It is my belief that in order to make America a moral nation, the change must come on a personal level. The only way positive social change will occur is when Christians spread the gospel to more Americans and these Americans involve themselves in the culture and government. This change must occur in the hearts of Americans and not in the legislatures or the courts.