Where's the moonshine?

What are your thoughts on a Christian's consumption of alcohol?
Personally, I think it's better to avoid it completely. I usually say I don't mind legal age drinking (responsibly), but I do get on a soapbox about it pretty quickly and reveal what I apparently really think about it.

Is it a sin? Well, no. The Word says as long as you don't let it (or anything else for that matter) control you, it should be okay. Anything that prevents a person from submitting to the will of God is of course, sin. I still think it's dumb to drink though, at least on a regular basis. I'm not making a question of what is right and wrong, I'm making a question of what is good and what is best. With the implications alcohol carries, a person could go either way with it, I suppose.
I've heard it argued that having a beer with some people you are witnessing to is a great way to get to know them. Okay. So, unless the both of you are not drinking to get drunk, is the person going to remember anything you say? If you get inebriated, how is that helping?
The whole point of being here on this earth is to be different...not "fitting in," like I hear in most mega-churches today. Who cares about fitting in? If you're not ticking somebody off you're probably compromising where you shouldn't be, anyway. If I hear another sermon about having the courage to go and BUY some temptation, I'm gonna flip out.
I've had at least one person take a picture of me in a bar to prove to someone else that I've actually been in one. You know what? Nearly every time I answer the question of "Why aren't you drinking with us," I notice two things - I have a chance (and responsibility) to witness if I can, AND, they are sober enough to understand me without being in an alcohol-inspired awe. One wasted fellow called me the "Jesus-Man" after I was forced to make some extremely difficult choices on a TDY. That may have been as close to thinking about God he got the whole time. Had I said something earlier, it may have been different, who knows?

I've never gone the other way and tried the drinking, but then again I'm pretty sure that if I overdo it once, then I'm going to lose my sanity. I have seen (and heard of) people who call themselves Christians participate in the revelry and I see no difference between them and someone else in a bar when they drink. I'm not making a character judgment, I'm making an observation.
Is it okay to go into a strip-club as long as I don't lust over the models? Well, if it's an emergency and I'm pulling somebody out, I'll go in. I ain't gonna sit in there though. Is it okay for a Christian guy to buy a Maxim as long as he doesn't lust? What's wrong with enjoying the beauty of a woman as long as the hormones don't kick in? Weeeell....hmm...ask your wife (or girlfriend, or for that matter, any Lord-loving female).
We have so much more to think about than our perceived "rights" as believers. Our only "right" is the privilege of dying a slow, painful and bloody death like Jesus did and most of us (in America at least) will probably never have that opportunity. We can only practice the spiritual aspects of dying to ourselves and except for a select few can die for real. Not that I'm asking for it; after all, pain is pain no matter what flavor it comes in.

Here's one more thing and I'll step off the soapbox. When the 'heathen' profane God, it's expected. If he wasn't insulted, stepped on and crucified, He wouldn't have been glorified, and we would have no Savior. I remember not being a Christian, and though I don't remember actively and intentionally "persecuting" Him, I do know that everything I did would have put Him on the Cross had he not already done it.
But what about us believers? Why do we continue to do those things for the sake of our newfound "rights"? We're (and most certainly I) am no different a lot of times, we're just forgiven and praying for change. My rambles are done for now.