I realize that smoking is on the national “bad” list currently; of course it was not alway so. If you watch a lot of old movies, you’ll see that everyone is always smoking a cigarette. Yes, they may cause health problems. On the other hand, they may help prevent overeating. And a good cigar once a year is a nice luxury.
There is a very large difference between saying it does not usually exist and it never exists.
The argument against drug use is not just about bodily harm, it is about intentionally allowing oneself to lose control of ones actions. I beleive much of the argument is that with many drugs even a very small amount is enough to make you lose control. Alcohol, on the other hand, while it has a similar problem, takes much more so it is actually possible to consume without losing control of ones actions.
Someone once told me that in medieval times, the peasantry got half their calories from beer.
I’m curious, is that last sentance meant to refer to something about the state of sleep? or about some cross that you personally are dealing with? An involuntary event is never sinful.
Perhaps I should not have just said losing control of ones actions, but rather that intentionally acting in such a way as to deprive yourself of your ability to reason. I can see why one would equate putting oneself ina situation where one loses control of their actions might be equated with the problem of putting oneself in the near occasion of sin.
I know many who abhore smoking and drinking as “defieling their temples”. Yet the same people have no problems stuffing themselves with fried food saturated fat and cholesterol.
The problem with drinking in this context is that to say it is somehow “wrong”, you would be trying to improve on our LORD. Not a good idea.
It referred to the state of sleep as being one in which one loses control of one’s actions. I kinda liked the ambiguity though, =P
white sheep:
Both of these arguments identify that using some substances affects one’s otherwise reasonable behavior. I can agree with this rule, if by it we can mean that inducing unreasonable behavior is to be understood as putting one in a near occasion of sin. As an example, I am more likely to dance on the table or tell better jokes after I’ve thrown back a few–this behavior might be unreasonable on some interpretations. But I don’t think drinking to the point that you act in this way–or to put another way, losing your inhibitions to do actions outside the moral/immoral dichotomy–is sinful as such.
In such a case, I think the use of alcohol there was not sinful by any means. You were simply a little more outgoing and talkative. You knew right from wrong, you were in control of yourself, but you were a little euphoric. Such is a good thing I would say. The dividing line between alcohol consumption being good and being sin is unique to each person. Some people can control their inhibitions quite well even though they are intoxicated past the point of legally driving. Others can’t touch the stuff without losing their reason.
Thank you for your excellent response.