Growing up in a pretty conservative home, drinking was frowned upon to say the least, and the views I have held in respect of honoring and obeying my parents tend to continue well past the boundaries of the house in which I grew up.
Like just about everything else that your parent's teach you, it can be for better or worse.
[Life has it's pendulum swings - your parents do one thing this way that you really don't want to do so you go off the other deep end and your kids don't like the way you do it so they go back closer to your parent's extreme and back again - a pendulum swing. When I raise my kids, I'll teach them differently about drinking - I'm trying to figure out just what I'll teach them though.]
There are reasons I'm glad my parents instilled in me a dislike for alcohol, but as we all - me especially - tend to live in extremes, and being completely turned off and morally opposed to something that may not be wrong in others' eyes can cause some issues. Now, I don't think drinking is wrong either - but the problem is that I still have these ideals stuck in my head that I better not touch the stuff and I better not associate with anyone who does. I mean, how do you transform views you've had for 22 years into your own view? God knows it can't be done overnight and you're probably going to step on some toes as you go.
But this is the best part - when we're patient with people who have those extreme views and are trying to find a better balanced view; or when we're humble enough to un-grasp our firm beliefs in light of guilt-tripping someone who has less extreme views - you find reconciliation. Allowing yourself to change for the sake of someone else (not changing to please them) but allowing yourself to humbly look at their perspective without freaking out that what your good, respectable, Christian parents taught you might have been a little extreme - oh man - when met with patience and respect - there you find love.
I know I might not explained that perfectly clear (it is 1 in the morning) but it's almost one of those things you have to experience to fully understand - just remember - don't go to bed angry with someone you're in a relationship with, allow your "set in stone" beliefs to be broken sometimes (but not without a lot of thought and caution), and don't be selfish, even when you "know" you're "right".
