Why I Won’t Purchase Molson Canadian Anymore

Before you read this, please know that this is just where I am at in my spiritual walk. Is it possible I am wrong?  Of course it is.  I am not telling you to follow suit. I can usually tell which posts will be controversial before I write them and I have done my best to avoid that kind of controversy.  I did not see this one even being read, let alone having people attack me.  Comments are closed.

I don’t buy Moslon Canadian very often, but when I do, I do enjoy it.  Usually it is with friends while watching a hockey game, or on a very hot summers day.  It just goes down so nice.  Crisp, and I get to be patriotic when I drink it.  I am Canadian afterall.

This morning at our men’s prayer group someone brought up that Molson Canadian breaks the third commandment.  So what is the third commandment?  Well we read in Exodus 20:7:

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”

That is pretty serious, God will not hold anyone guiltless who takes his name in vain.  So what is the name of God?  Well we can look at a number of names, God, Jesus and so on, but the most common name in the Bible is one that is not even properly translated into English. Whenever we read the word “LORD” in capital letters, we know that is the name of God. In Hebrew, the word translated as LORD had four letters—YHWH—and has been pronounced Yahweh or Jehovah. The Jews revered this name so much that they would never say it, for fear of breaking the third commandment. So whenever they came to this name when reading, they pronounced the word “adonai” which means “my lord.”   And King James followed suit. Because of this, most of the English versions since the King James Version have done the same thing. They translate the proper name “Yahweh” with “LORD” in all caps.

YHWH occurs 6,828 times in the Old Testament. I didn’t count it, but more than a few reputable sources indicate this is the case. To put it in perspective, that’s more than three times as often as the generic word for “God,” either Elohim at 2,600 or El at 238. What this reveals to us is that God is not some divine being distant from us, but he desires to to be known as a specific name.  YHWH is God’s proper name.

So what about Molson Canadian?  They have not said LORD, or YHWH, or Adonai…so what is the big deal? Well we need to go to Exodus 3: 13-15 to truly understand what the name YHWH means.

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”

When Moses asks God what he should tell others what his name is, notice that God gives three answers, in verse 14 God says, “I AM WHO I AM.”  Again in verse 14 God says, “I AM has sent me to you.”  Finally, in verse 15 God says, “Yahweh . . . has sent me to you . . . this is my name for ever.”

Now, what is the slogan of Molson Canadian?

It is not “I am Canadian.,”  if it was, I would not have a problem.  The slogan?  It is, “I am.” 

So if a beer were to have a slogan like “OMG”  I know a lot of Christians would get upset.  In fact many would boycott and protest. What about a beer that uses a name that is written 3 times as many times as “god” in the old testament? I know some people will roll their eyes at this, but for me, I will not be purchasing this beer any more.

I prefer German lagers anyway…