Thursday, October 27, 2005

smoking vs fastfood

Is it strange that a lot of Christians judge smoking based on the fact that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, yet the same emphasis does not seem to be focused on unhealthy eating and lack of exercise? (I don't smoke btw just interested in what people think)

3 comments:

hg said...

interesting.

here is something i read which i mostly agree with, and is *similar*

quote "Marijuana and the Bible

I don't smoke pot. however, I don't find most of the arguments against it compelling.

One argument presented is that it is bad for your body. Your body is a temple, yadda yadda. I agree. But tylenol is bad for your body. Your body tries to filter it out through your liver just like it does any other toxin. And so is aspirin - asprin thins out your blood and can cause stomach and intestinal bleeding. And so is partially hydrogenated soybean oil, which is in just about every processed food we eat. So simply saying it is bad for you isn't enough of a reason to say "don't smoke marijuana" because that is hypocricy. We all do things that are bad for our bodies EVERY day. We drive cars that release toxic gases into the environment, for goodness sakes.

The other argument is that it is against the law. In some countries, it is not against the law. Is it morally ok to smoke marijauna in those countries? And by technicality, it is not illegal to smoke marijuana in the US. It is illegal to buy it, illegal to sell it, and illegal to possess it. To sidestep that issue, you could always smoke off of somebody else's joint; as long as you do not possess it, buy it, or sell it, you are doing nothing illegal. And how about everybody that drives 1 mile an hour over the speed limit. It looks like everybody breaks the law, yet we tell people to stop smoking marijuana, and i've never heard a sermon in church about driving too fast.

There are lots of other arguments that I find to be faulty as well. "It affects your mind." Well, so do sleeping pills. Yet we find no immorality in that. What about laughing gas at the dentist? That actually makes you high. What about high-level pain killers? Yet Christians have nothing to say about that.

Look - you can do STUPID things and have it not be sin. You can do things that could lead to DEATH, and still not have it be sin. Look at dirt-bike jockeys that do flips in the air on their bikes. I think these people are NUTS! People DIE doing that. But could I accuse them of sin, on account that they are possibily hurting their bodies? Or is it only sin when the body is *actually* hurt? Of course not... these are silly arguments.

Ultimately, I don't believe that smoking marijuana is an issue of "is it sin, or is it not sin." It's an issue of "is this wise, or is this foolish." At some point, you have to grow up and no longer do foolish or childish things. The sooner you get there, the more clearly you can see the will of God, and the more ready you will be to respond to His call. I say don't smoke marijuana on account that it's childish. It's an escape into a temporary euphoria that doesn't last, and that distracts you from doing things you need to do. All of my friends that smoke marijuana are the laziest people I've ever known. And that's just dumb."

Anonymous said...

yeah true your body is a temple but sometimes you do need things like panadol or something stronger to get you through as you laps in the time and effort that we put in for God. not everyone has 100% faith all the time that god is greater than anything. I know that for me the drugs have deffinately helped to get me through. I have also smoked in the past which came from rebellion more than anything else. Fast food is becoming more healthy and is good for the fact that it is fast especially when you are manic all the time racing between one place and the next. (althought I do prefer good home cooking!!!). So what are your thoughts about tattoo's???? Say hi to your wife and give her a big hug from me.

Sharyn said...

Yes but smoking is VERY bad for your body.

VERY BAD.

I don't think smoking is immoral, just stupid.

Plus, its mood altering isn't it?