Deep Bond between Idaho Mormons and the Beer Industry
Headline of the day:
The story delivers on the promise of that delicious headline, too. Behold:
The story delivers on the promise of that delicious headline, too. Behold:
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo might seem like an unlikely person to be pushing a bill to cut federal taxes on small beer-makers: A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he abstains from alcohol.But Crapo's effort, with senators from Oregon, Massachusetts and Maine, illustrates the deep bond between Idaho Mormons and the beer industry.
A few more, each offered without context for maximum comic effect:
- Church founder Joseph Smith offered this revelation in 1833, "Strong spirits are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies."
- "I've often wondered about the correctness of doing it," said Scott Brown, president of the Idaho Grain Producers Association and a Mormon who grows barley on 5,000 acres near Soda Springs. "But somebody is going to grow it, whether members of the LDS church do."
- "People will look at me and say, 'You're a Mormon, why do you grow barley?' " he said. "I just don't have a problem with it. I don't think people who drink beer are bad."