Okay, I’m mainly looking for preist types (I’m closer to cristian in religion if that helps) but all comments and opinions are welcome. I asked many people if smoking was a sin, and the only two responses I got were “Well of course it is” and “Well of course it’s not”. I see this from two ways, smoking is concidered suicide because it contains chemicals that kill you. But it’s not really suicide because it’s not a sure thing. Anyway, people eat those McDonalds cheese burgers all the time and they’ll eventually give you a heart attack. Then again they give you some benifitial crap as well as the chloresteral. So you see, I can’t figure it out.
I thought of going to a preist, but if he thought I was kidding and got pissed off… well god doesn’t seem to like me too much right now and I don’t think I can afford to piss off a preist. So I’m calling all takers on this, show me your power of persuation.
Yes, that is why I switched to chewing tobacco.
Would any Rastafarians care to speak on this matter?
IANAPriest, but…
In my mind, there’s a distinct difference between ‘unhealthy’ food and smoking, in fact I’d venture to say that there’s no such thing as unhealthy food, only unhealthy diets (you could eat an ounce or two of pure butter every Saturday morning as part of a completely balanced diet overall). I was going to say that smoking is not beneficial in any way, but somebody would probably find some way to correct me.
In any case, Most of the people in religious authority that I know would say that they don’t think smoking is a good idea, but that it’s very much down to the decision of the individual’s conscience before God. Nobody can point at a bible verse as being definitively anti or pro-smoking; if you believe in God, you could try asking him directly…
I’m not a priest either, but I suspect that, as usual, Mangetout is talking sense here…
I’d just add this: sin is a matter of the will, so, if you’re not actually planning to smoke yourself to death (or cheeseburger yourself to death), then, no, you’re not guilty of attempted suicide. Are you guilty of some other sin? I don’t think it’s my place to judge that. You might be placing the love of cigarettes before the love of God, or you might just be indulging in a pleasure (and God made the pleasures, after all). OK, so smoking is not a harmless pleasure… but I don’t think that necessarily makes it sinful.
I think perhaps there are two Mangetouts?
My favorite comment on Smoking And Sin:
Seriously though, my own opinion is that nicotine/tobacco is an addictive drug, and as such should be treated with caution. In addition, it is likely to kill you if you use it as the producers intend you to, another reason to keep well clear. Thirdly, the only biblical reference that might be apposite is the refernce to the body as a “temple of the Holy Spirit”, and as such, worthy of respect and good management. Inhaling carcinogenic substances couldn’t be condidered to be “good management” (neither could drinking enough alcohol to make you lose your memory, eating so much that you are confined to bed or not washing while fungus grows under your arms for that matter…).
Gp
Oh dear. (:: looks down at own bloated, flabby, blotchy body) Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…
(:: brightens up suddenly) I know! I’ll lie on my back, and pretend I’m St. Paul’s Cathedral! Thank you, Sir Christopher Wren!
So THAT’s why cathedrals have domes!!! (rather than spires…)
The problem with this is that Caffeine and Theobromine (in chocolate) are also addictive drugs (less so than nicotine I believe) - there’s no ‘black and white’ here, so any line we draw is arbitrary (unless we are draw the line at abstention from all such substances - think about that for a moment; no more chocolate, <shudder> )
**
Fair point, the same can’t be said of coffee, chocolate or greasy hamburgers.
This makes sense at first glance, but I think this verse gets abused a great deal (by people who want to justify abstention[sup]1[/sup] from all kinds of things) and many Christians are captives as a result, Although he was respectful towards the temple, Christ was very critical of those for whom the temple had become more important than the God who lived there.
[sup]1 They don’t necessarily want to abstain from the things themselves, but they expect others to[/sup]
Or can it?; I suppose it could be argued that Nestle would like you to drink seventeen gallons of their coffee daily, Cadbury’s would have you eat half a ton of chocolate and McD’s would be delighted if your diet consisted of wheelbarrows full of their hamburgers.
Sheesh, I still say if you believe in God, accept his instruction on the matter, treat anyone else’s advice (inlcuding mine) as interference.
Are these the two Mangetout that you were refering to earlier? 
I’d consider gallons coffee, tonnes of burgers, etc as abuse of those substances, whereas simply smoking a reasonable abount of tobacco each day will greatly increase your change of dying from a lung/throat-related disease. Alcohol is an addictive substance, but there is no restiction (in Christianity at least) against its consumption. Abuse of alcohol, on the other hand, is strongly advised against.
Gp
I suppose.
You might have guessed by now that I’m a Christian, you might not have guessed that I’m an ex-smoker (and in fact I now can’t stand to be in the same room as someone smoking), I felt a strong desire to give up shortly after my conversion and I found giving up quite easy as a result, but it was a matter of personal conscience to me, not something that I felt obliged to do because of anything in the bible or because of pressure from leaders etc.
What if it’s incense though? You know, frankincense, myrrh, tobacco, cannabis?
Welcome, Hippy144. General Questions, the forum where you posted this, is for questions with a factual answer, which this is not. It’s much better suited for our Great Debates forum, so I’m moving it there.
For the record, some denominations of Christianity DO frown on ANY consumption on alcohol.
At least, all of the Southern Baptist churches in my area do, and so do all the Churches of Christ.
FTR, here is the Catholic catechism cite, in context:
the division of Christianity I belong to frowns on smoking, alchohol et al. In fact it frowns on using any material substance as a crutch for living through God. (In some individual’s estimation this does include coffee and chocolate. Its an individual interpretation issue.)
Is it a sin? shrug if it pulls you from your study of God and Truth, than probably it could be treated as one. I’d prefer to focus on being nice to others and compassion as personal goals first, and clean up the little stuff later. (I don’t smoke, nor have I. For those that care.)
The commission of any act in which you know causes harm
(to others, yourself, God, etc.) is a sin.
Do you know you’re harming yourself when you smoke?