Am I sinning by smoking?

[Don_Ruggero]

I’m brand new here

The problem with asking such a question in a forum like this is that you end up with many people who will begin “I think…” but their conclusions are not those of someone who has studied moral theology. And that is essential to answering your question appropriately.

 

[RKS89]

There also brands of pipe tobacco marketed specifically for the RYO crowd (Daughters and Ryan is one, and I keep one particular blend on hand for my pipe because it’s very cheap). Pipe tobacco doesn’t contain the same junk as cigarette tobacco. Last I knew American Spirit and Winston cigarettes still contain no additives, if you aren’t into rolling your own.

 

[Jerusha]

Many smokers smell bad. I never realized it until I quit.

 

[RKS89]

I buy 90% of my tobacco online and I store it in mason jars. Sometimes a blend you didn’t like turns into a tolerable one, or even a favorite, with some age on it. I’ve also smoked blends for years and suddenly just lost my taste for them. There are quite literally hundreds, if not thousands, of blends out there that contain little to no preservatives like you might find in say Captain Black or the more common blends at a lot of brick and mortar shops. At this point I’ve got probably 40+ jars and I’ve sampled many, many more than that.

 

[RKS89]

I use a lot of tobacco. I chew it all day because I’m addicted, and I smoke pipes and cigars because I enjoy it and find it relaxing (too each their own in the leisure department). But when it comes to this question I have much larger fish to fry as far as sins and habits go. It would be nothing short of a miracle if the day arrives when my only habit/sin to conquer is tobacco. Because until then I’ve got a lot more pressing issues to sort out with God’s grace.

 

[exnihilo]

I can say, why do I have to breathe your air and get my asthma attack?

Interestingly asthma sufferers smoke more than non asthma sufferers.

 

[Reuben_J]

Reuben_J:

I can say, why do I have to breathe your air and get my asthma attack?

Interestingly asthma sufferers smoke more than non asthma sufferers.

Yup, I was one of them.

They practically smoked themselves to their painful death. It’s all the more make the senseless act senseless. I don’t know what it is, if it is not sin.

My uncle was suffering from a smoking cough. You would pity him when he wheezed until he was out of breathe. On clinical examination, he had a bad emphysema, a deficient lung function, after years of smoking cigarettes.

Later he developed cardiac condition, and the physician asked him to stop smoking because it would aggravate it.

Eventually he died, with a cigarette on his finger. He did not know better, everybody smoked, so why not.

I was a smoker but quit after got married. My wife hated smoke. I had to hide every time I smoked but deep in my heart I knew I was only deceiving myself.

It was not longer my business but very much my wife’s too.

When we were married, our bodies are no longer ours but our partner’s as well. She has every right to tell me not to abuse my body.

What about my children? Do they have to live in a smoker’s house? Do they have a choice not to, of they do not want to? What about the side effect of smoke on them?

I don’t know. It is pretty much imposing on others what they do not deserve and do not want.

 

[Reuben_J]

Many smokers smell bad. I never realized it until I quit.

Exactly. I only know how disgusting it is after I quit. Now I could smell cigarette smoke ten feet away, even in open air.

My wife and I like to eat in certain places but then unfortunately they were often frequented by smokers as well. She would want to tell them off even though they smoke a few tables away.

I said, don’t. These guys will not take too kindly if you comment on their smoke.

We have not choice but had to leave the place. We would not but for the smokers.

 

[ChunkMonk]

Why do I smoke? Because it tastes good, it feels good, and when I don’t smoke I feel horrible. The purpose is self-enjoyment. Some people golf, some people play checkers, I smoke cigarettes.

Smokers get annoyed because we are treated like filth for enjoying a cigarette and every Tom, Dick, and Harry feels like they need to badger us and take all the fun out of it. Also, somewhere around the nine thousandth drunk, or junkie, or sexually promiscuous person who tells you “you know it’s bad to smoke cigarettes” you start to wonder why none of these people can see the beams hanging out of their eyes.

But I was a bit cheeky, so I apologize. Obviously smokers should be more aware of their surroundings, and contrary to popular opinion, there are a lot of us that do try to move to secluded spots to enjoy our vice.

 

[Melodeonist]

I’d recommend switching to vaping as it is at the very least 95% safer than traditional tobacco products, thus making it practically harm free. Smoking is only a grave sin if your putting yourself in grave danger iirc, so with vaping one doesn’t need to worry about this.

 

[RKS89]

It’s nice to find a good blend that you can get pretty easily. I spent most of last year trying cheaper/bulk tobacco to try and find one or two I could enjoy daily without busting the budget. I’ve done the same thing for cigars, trying to get the humidor comfortably stocked with maduros that don’t run $10 a stick. What kind of pipe(s) do you have?

 

[RKS89]

I like straight pipes myself but a Savinelli is a great pipe. Cheers!

 

[Lara]

I know my response was an “I think” response, but I believe if there was an answer by a moral theologist, we would be willing to hear it.

One of my friends was raised in a smoking household and always had trouble with respiratory infections. Then at 29, she was diagnosed with asthma, and three weeks later she died. Of course her parents were traumatized, but you do wonder what percentage of the asthma they were responsible for. Weakened lungs may have made her more susceptible to asthma. To me, it is a sin, even if the Church doesn’t think so.

One priest told a story of going up North to visit Cree Natives. He asked them what is the greatest sin? They thought about it and came back with: leaving your doors locked. This surprised the priest, and helped him realize he was in a different territory. To the natives, it was tantamount to allowing a lost person in the cold to die.

To me smoking is like that sin. In may not be on the books, but it stands to reason.

 

[lilypadrees]

What is “fun” about smoking?

 

[lilypadrees]

Jerusha:

Many smokers smell bad. I never realized it until I quit.

Exactly. I only know how disgusting it is after I quit. Now I could smell cigarette smoke ten feet away, even in open air.

My wife and I like to eat in certain places but then unfortunately they were often frequented by smokers as well. She would want to tell them off even though they smoke a few tables away.

I said, don’t. These guys will not take too kindly if you comment on their smoke.

We have not choice but had to leave the place. We would not but for the smokers.

It’s too bad you had to leave because of the smokers. Thankfully, many restaurants now have non-smoking areas or have a “No Smoking” policy altogether.

 

[Reuben_J]

In the fifties, sixties and seventies, well, before the seventies, practically everybody smoked cigarettes. It was the norm and socially acceptable.

Today, much discovery is made about the hazardous effect of cigarettes - from simple irritant to allergy to cigarette smoke related diseases including cancer.

It’s about knowledge on what we know about cigarette smoking. Ignorance is one thing but deliberately doing it knowing fully well the consequences, is another thing altogether.

It is like purposely harming oneself and others. So it is wrong.

Unfortunately smokers are oblivious to this because smoking is an addiction. They got hooked to it and cannot find a way out, unless they are determined to do so.

I managed to quit because my motivation is high - not just for my own good but for my family.

 

[ChunkMonk]

What is fun about golf?

 

[Reuben_J]

Reuben_J:

Jerusha:

Many smokers smell bad. I never realized it until I quit.

Exactly. I only know how disgusting it is after I quit. Now I could smell cigarette smoke ten feet away, even in open air.

My wife and I like to eat in certain places but then unfortunately they were often frequented by smokers as well. She would want to tell them off even though they smoke a few tables away.

I said, don’t. These guys will not take too kindly if you comment on their smoke.

We have not choice but had to leave the place. We would not but for the smokers.

It’s too bad you had to leave because of the smokers. Thankfully, many restaurants now have non-smoking areas or have a “No Smoking” policy altogether.

It is not really a restaurant but rather an open air eatery where they are quite loose on the customers. Unfortunately, there are certain foods that we like there and so the reason for going there.

Yes, you just can imagine how disappointed we are, mine was for my wife, that because of the action of certain smokers we could not enjoy our evening.

I related that because it is not just them doing their own thing or their business. When it encroaches into other people freedom, it is no longer their personal private business.

At least morally, it is not.

And as Christians, we should have charitable conscience - being considerate for the good of others. That certainly is lacking when we smoke cigarettes no matter what’s the justification.

It is always better to play golf to get our kick, if we really have to.

If one has Jesus, why does one need packets of Marlboro?

 

[lilypadrees]

I’m sorry you aren’t able to answer my question, ChunkMonk.

Is any smoker here able to tell me what is so fun about smoking?

 

[lilypadrees]

lilypadrees:

Reuben_J:

Jerusha:

Many smokers smell bad. I never realized it until I quit.

Exactly. I only know how disgusting it is after I quit. Now I could smell cigarette smoke ten feet away, even in open air.

My wife and I like to eat in certain places but then unfortunately they were often frequented by smokers as well. She would want to tell them off even though they smoke a few tables away.

I said, don’t. These guys will not take too kindly if you comment on their smoke.

We have not choice but had to leave the place. We would not but for the smokers.

It’s too bad you had to leave because of the smokers. Thankfully, many restaurants now have non-smoking areas or have a “No Smoking” policy altogether.

It is not really a restaurant but rather an open air eatery where they are quite loose on the customers. Unfortunately, there are certain foods that we like there and so the reason for going there.

Yes, you just can imagine how disappointed we are, mine was for my wife, that because of the action of certain smokers we could not enjoy our evening.

I related that because it is not just them doing their own thing or their business. When it encroaches into other people freedom, it is no longer their personal private business.

At least morally, it is not.

And as Christians, we should have charitable conscience - being considerate for the good of others. That certainly is lacking when we smoke cigarettes no matter what’s the justification.

It is always better to play golf to get our kick, if we really have to.

If one has Jesus, why does one need packets of Marlboro?

I agree. Jesus should be the addiction of every Christian not cigarettes. As for golf, it’s a much healthier pursuit and a wonderful way to spend the afternoon with family and/or friends.