It's been proven what the dangers of alcohol are. Practically the only benefits are monetary for the seller.

I don't drink much these days but I think that's taking it a little far. You could make the same argument about fatty foods and many other things.

There are non-drink culinary uses for it too. The wholesale banning of alcohol misses the point a lot of the time. I had a friend who taught cake decorating and it's common to mix high concentration alcohol with coloured dust to paint on sugar flowers because it's a great solvent, evaporates quickly, and doesn't soak into the sugar. No one eats this part of the cake. But in some countries with Islamic students they were so unwilling to be anywhere near alcohol they used water. Perhaps I'm mistaken but I thought the original intent of those commands was regarding intoxication (which I don't fully disagree with) so this seems odd to me.

Correct, it's mainly to avoid intoxication and the ramifications that come out of it. However, I agree with what those students did. They have principles and they stuck to them. The alcohol could have mixed with the food for instance, even though it wasn't meant to be consumed directly. Secondly, someone could unknowingly consume it thinking it was edible.

As to your first point, highly processed foods are definitely something to watch out for. However, the effects of alcohol are immediate, and can be seen in a single sitting. Countless instances of rape, drunk driving, and homicides that come out of it. You won't see someone consume a couple of meals at a fast food place then lose his decision making ability for instance.