Athens residents voted 3,727 to 3,496 Sept. 9 to allow alcohol sales within city limits, even though the city sits inside Limestone County — one of 26 dry counties in Alabama.
While Baptists and other concerned citizens fought to defeat the referendum, their late start worked against the group, said Mike Westmoreland, chairman of the Athens/Limestone for Quality of Life Committee.
“Our opponents were well organized and well financed and had been working on this issue for a year and a half,” said Westmoreland, who is pastor of the independent Madison Street Baptist Church, Athens. “By the time we organized, we only had about 28 days to work, too late to hold voter registration drives in the churches.”
Surprised by the results
Limestone Association director of missions Robert Fullerton, who chaired the finance committee of the Athens/Limestone for Quality of Life Committee, said, “I was a little surprised. I thought the vote might be close, but close in our favor.”
Another factor in the defeat, according to Westmoreland, was apathy.
“A similar referendum had been defeated at least three times in recent history in the area, but it had been 10 years since the last push,” he said. “It worked to the opposition’s advantage that this had been out of the people’s minds for 10 years. This [issue] was lost through 10 years of compromise.”
Dan Ireland, executive director of Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP), agreed with Westmoreland. “I don’t think the church community realized how serious this issue was,” Ireland said.
“In general, as a church community, we are letting our moral compass get out of order. As conservative as the Athens area is, this never should have happened,” he continued.
Westmoreland urged pastors in dry areas to prepare for these battles well in advance. “I would say to any dry community that whether you have a referendum coming up or not, get a committee started to deal with quality of life issues. They will be coming.”
The vote in Athens will send shockwaves through the dry counties of Alabama, Westmoreland added.
Even though Athens will now allow alcohol sales, committee members said their work is not done.
The next step is to have a say in the ordinances governing the sale of alcohol, Fullerton said. “We can’t sit silent. It has passed, and there’s nothing we can do about that. But we can speak up on things like Sunday sales.”
Ireland praised the work of the Athens leaders and urged them to stay vocal. “The leadership did an excellent job,” he said. “They were organized and did their research. They can hold their heads high in spite of the results. What they must do now is get good distance laws, keeping the alcohol sales away from churches, schools, playgrounds and nursing homes. There will be negative results that area pastors will have to deal with, because studies show that the more available alcohol is, the more consumption there is.”
Westmoreland said the committee will not disband but will prepare for upcoming battles. “We are planning on making our voice heard on ordinances. We know there is a provision for Sunday alcohol sales in the early drafts that will be presented to the city council.”
Anticipating a move to make all of Limestone County wet, Westmoreland said, “As a matter of principle, we Christians should be concerned about the spread of sin.”
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