For Group Therapy Thursday tonight I took some heat over the question. Derek is going to a party next Wednesday night and he wants to know how he can refuse drinks without sounding like a knob. Apparently the popular opinion is that he shouldn't go to the party because there will be booze. I happen to disagree... I think he should go exactly for that reason. Yes it's important to have close friends that have the same beliefs as you (ie: youth group), but it is also important to connect with those who don't. Just because he's there doesn't mean he gets hammed, he can decline and be a positive example. Not going would result in him further distancing himself from reality and promoting the "Christian bubble", which is not a good thing.
So we have differing opinions, but that's why there's chocolate and vanilla.
