Comment of the day: "If your kid is influenced by what Snoop is saying or doing, you didn't raise them right." –mathew85

About to Blast

Blast, a new fruity drink with twice the amount of alcohol found in Colt 45, resembles soda in color and packaging and is drawing outrage from politicians and advocacy groups. Marketing for the drink, including an endorsement by Rapper Snoop Dogg, is adding fuel to the fire.

The story drew plenty of comments from readers the subjects of which ranged widely, from identifying the real target audience to a debate about which music genre, country music or hip hop, mentions alcohol the most.

bweeta said, "Grow up...they're marketing to women, not children. I've tended bar for 13 years and girls like sweet stuff. That's why in the last 10 years we've gone from having hard lemonade and Smirnoff Ice to about 25 different flavored malt beverages and every different sweet and tropical flavored vodka and rum they could think of, from mango to bubble gum to whipped cream. Women, not children."

chariega said, "Ya know the whole 'let's bash hip hop because it's promoting alcohol' argument is really old; last I checked COUNTRY MUSIC has its share of artists endorsing alcohol and tunes about alcohol...'I'm a lil drunk and I need you now' – wasn't that the chorus of a #1 COUNTRY song on the pop charts?"

codygaynor said, "Look, I don't drink fruity energy malt liquor, but there are legal adults who inexplicably like it. You can't tell a business not to exploit a niche because it’s likely to be criminally abused. Mike's Hard Lemonade has literally no taste of alcohol, but it’s as alcoholic as a beer."

JazzyLee said, "Kids don’t need any help encouraging them to drink. Trust me. Curious kids are going to drink regardless. And FYI – Stop blaming celebrities for "promoting" stuff."

redeemed1 said, "I hate how some black celebrities are willing to endorse products that contribute to the already existing problems that plague inner city communities where primarily black and Hispanic people live. Now that’s what I call 'sellin' out."

avoidsheep said, "These arguments are so silly...you could make booze taste like canola oil and package it in a any type of nondescript container and kids will still want to drink. Kids wanted to drink 60 years ago, 50 years and so on."

Don’t believe in the Bible? Read it anyway

Kristin Swenson, Ph.D., an associate professor of Religious Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and author of Bible Babel: Making Sense of the Most Talked About Book of All Time, says there are good, non-religious reasons to read the Bible – for example, the Bible's long history of development that reflects many voices and the influence it continues to have in our societies. Of course, you’ll have to read it first to understand those implications and influences.

Some CNN.com readers agreed, while others said they'd pass:

Eric said, "I can think of lots of other books that would give you a much better understanding of the world around you than the bible." Mark said, "The Bible: A grim fairy tale. No thanks! As Mark Twain said, 'Faith is believing in what you know ain't so.'" KinNYC said, "It should have been called a guide book so you can make your own decision. Not the bible or Law. Makes too many people crazy in its interpretation."

Vanessa said, "Great write! I agree with you that to even understand the culture we are living in we ought to do our part to understand our cultural history. The bible is alluded to in almost all of the great works of Western literature and if you don't know anything about the bible you have a limited understanding of the literary greats as well." Laura said, "I agree. I recently started reading the bible just so I could know what it said for myself instead of relying on what others say is in there."

Steve (the real one) said, "I am torn by this article. If one reads the Bible without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, there will be no spiritual understanding. Reading the Bible is a good thing but again no understanding comes if the Holy Spirit is not involved." T3chsupport said, "Might want to be careful with that... the more I read the bible, the less I believed any of it. Now I'm not a Christian at all, and it's mostly because I read the bible."

Rev. Rick said, "While I believe Dr. Swenson has a point in suggesting that we should read the Bible in order to actually know what it says, I also believe she should have gone a step further and suggested that one should also read other religious texts such as the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Te Ching, and perhaps some of the Pali Canon."

No more orange or yellow-level threats

A new terrorism warning system will provide the public with information on specific threats, replacing the color-coded alerts put in place after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the new system will take effect April 26 and has only two levels, compared to the previous system's five. CNN.com readers clearly had little faith in the previous system and are skeptical of anything new, too:

Frank456 said, "Without color coding threats, how are they going to scare the voters at election time?" random12345 said, "Great. Now I need to learn to ignore a new system." Jeryous said, "The color-coded alerts were the stupidest idea ever. I still don't know what it means, and it makes no difference to me. I always get 'randomly' selected to be frisked at airports regardless if it is green or blue or yellow or purple." And Ogrefab said, "Are they sure we Americans are ready to graduate from colors yet? Hopefully they still keep it simple, I'm thinking shapes are the next logical step."

Do you feel your views align with these commenters' thoughts? Post a comment below or sound off on video

Compiled by the CNN.com moderation staff. Some comments edited for length or clarity.