Is smoking a sin?

[Chuck_H]

You are correct. I have no doubt that my tobacco use is sinful behavior; it is not a “good” situation. I don’t believe that I am committing mortal sin by way of my tobacco use, but my conviction that it is sinful period should be enough to motivate me to strive toward quitting. We must all strive toward holiness.

It’s hard for me to imagine a saint with a cigarette hanging out of his or her mouth.

Not to defend anything since I am professed violator (smoker) and therefore suspect in any defense.

But I saw a program where this guy had devoted his life to helping alcoholics and though he may never make it to the official roster, after seeing the special I considered him worthy of the saint title and he smoked like a chimney.
I think most people have seen the list of of people in the bible we respect and have the title-saint who simply would not stand the modern test of sainthood (David was a fornicator and a murderer, Paul was implicated in Stephen’s stoning etc, etc, etc) It seems like God is used to working with the “less than perfect”. All in all it seems like a nicotine habit would rank low of the risk scale.

BUT, having said that I would say that a man who understands the risk and harm of second hand cigarette smoke and still exposes his kids or non-smoking wife to the same risks out of laziness or simply not caring of the risk to them would categorically fit the conditions of sin. i.e. “I know it may do harm to those I am supposed to care about but I still do it so live with it!”
The man who admits he has an addiction but cannot overcome it but takes care to remove the threat to those around him is guilty of a far less grievous offense.

thoughts on this?

 

[Al_Masetti]

Yet I don’t think I would have wanted to live in London in a time when the chief pollutant was horse manure; it was a big city even then, and people had to get around.

Not to mention the flies.


[Calling “them” droppings is kind of delicate. There was so much of it.]

By the way there were also steam trains belching large volumes of black coal soot. And the trains often ran on tracks right in the city streets, with cowboys on horses acting as roadguards, racing ahead of the trains to stop traffic.*

 

[bobzills]

By the way there were also steam trains belching large volumes of black coal soot. .

This is where the question of sin might come in. Polluting the atmosphere by trains, cars, industries, can cause cancer in some people. It seems to me that if you contribute to causing cancer in other people, then it would be a sin, becasue cancer can kill a person.

 

[Al_Masetti]

This is where the question of sin might come in. Polluting the atmosphere by trains, cars, industries, can cause cancer in some people. It seems to me that if you contribute to causing cancer in other people, then it would be a sin, becasue cancer can kill a person.

At the time, steam trains were wonderful because they gave the common people the freedom of mobility. Steam trains were liberating in every best sense.

 

[bobzills]

At the time, steam trains were wonderful because they gave the common people the freedom of mobility. Steam trains were liberating in every best sense.

But if you contribute to causing cancer in some people, then it wouldn’t be so wonderful after all?

 

[JimG]

But if you contribute to causing cancer in some people, then it wouldn’t be so wonderful after all?

Nobody knew what caused cancer at the time. As far as I’m aware, we still don’t.

There are drawbacks to every innovation. Traveling by train was a big improvement over horse drawn carriages. Coal furnaces were a big improvement over wood furnaces. And if we ever convert to 100% wind power generated by those huge windwmills, I suspect we’ll eventually find that the environment has been changed in some adverse way (not to mention all the dead birds.)

 

[bobzills]

Nobody knew what caused cancer at the time. As far as I’m aware, we still don’t.

Hasn’t there been shown a correlation between lung cancer and cigaret smoking. And hasn’t there been shown a correlation between lung cancer and living in highly polluted areas?

 

[JimG]

Hasn’t there been shown a correlation between lung cancer and cigaret smoking. And hasn’t there been shown a correlation between lung cancer and living in highly polluted areas?

Yes, a correlation. But correlation is not causation, otherwise everyone affected with first-hand or second hand smoke would get cancer. There are a variety of types of cancer that affect humans, and I’m not aware if any of them have had their biological etiology fully traced. There are some types of cancer in which family history, i.e. genetics, seems to play a part.

 

[bobzills]

Yes, a correlation. But correlation is not causation, otherwise everyone affected with first-hand or second hand smoke would get cancer. There are a variety of types of cancer that affect humans, and I’m not aware if any of them have had their biological etiology fully traced. There are some types of cancer in which family history, i.e. genetics, seems to play a part.

In any case, you are putting people at an increased risk of dying from cancer if you are polluting the air as mentioned.

 

[Ted_in_Charlott]

Consideration should be given to coming in and taking their children too, for the sake of protecting them. Maybe we can have a turn in your cigarettes and get your children back program.

 

[whatevergirl]

Why does a topic like this go into other areas? I mean, yes pollution can cause disease, but just because that’s possible, doesn’t negate cigarette smoking’s harmful reprocussions.

No good comes from cigarette smoking, and saying that pollutions causes cancer doesn’t change the subject. If you’re a smoker, and quit–you’ll be better off!!!

 

[Al_Masetti]

Seems to me cigarettes were always referred to as “coffin nails”.

About 60 years ago, a rheumy-eyed skinny guy wagged his finger at me and said “Don’t you never smoke; it don’t do nothin’ fer ya.”

We may not have known the precise cause of the lung problems caused by smoking cigarettes, but smokers knew there was some kind of relationship.

Keep in mind that some very heavy smokers lived long lives and never got any kind of cancer or emphysema or any other cigarette-related illnesses. And their family members never suffered from any second-hand smoke related illnesses.

There was a paper published some years suggesting that the diseases caused by tobacco were due to … [hope I remember this right] … Polonium 225 uptake from the soil by the tobacco plant. Polonium 225 is radioactive and the tars in the tobacco cause the microscopic radioactive particles to stick to the lung tissue. The radiation is what causes the cancer, etc.

But that’s from memory and may be incorrect.

Each person has enough biochemical individuality that each person responds differently to various environmental conditions.

 

[whatevergirl]

Seems to me cigarettes were always referred to as “coffin nails”.

About 60 years ago, a rheumy-eyed skinny guy wagged his finger at me and said “Don’t you never smoke; it don’t do nothin’ fer ya.”

We may not have known the precise cause of the lung problems caused by smoking cigarettes, but smokers knew there was some kind of relationship.

Keep in mind that some very heavy smokers lived long lives and never got any kind of cancer or emphysema or any other cigarette-related illnesses. And their family members never suffered from any second-hand smoke related illnesses.

There was a paper published some years suggesting that the diseases caused by tobacco were due to … [hope I remember this right] … Polonium 225 uptake from the soil by the tobacco plant. Polonium 225 is radioactive and the tars in the tobacco cause the microscopic radioactive particles to stick to the lung tissue. The radiation is what causes the cancer, etc.

But that’s from memory and may be incorrect.

Each person has enough biochemical individuality that each person responds differently to various environmental conditions.

horrible! just another reason (like we need anymore) to not smoke as a society!!!

 

[Al_Masetti]

horrible! just another reason (like we need anymore) to not smoke as a society!!!

It’s a filthy habit.

As is spitting in public.

But, while rude and inconsiderate and disgusting and etc, they’re not sins.

 

[bobzills]

It’s a filthy habit.

As is spitting in public.

But, while rude and inconsiderate and disgusting and etc, they’re not sins.

This is not clear to me. My impression is that it is a sin to harm oneself and to harm others. The latest evidence shows that you are putting yourself and others at risk of dying from lung cancer by smoking. Perhaps, not in small or moderately small amounts, but there is a line being approached after which it is crossed, then you are causing harm to yourself and to others and at that point, it appears to me that it would be wrong to go to further excess in the habit.

 

[jpaugustine]

All this time we have been talking about smoking tobacco. Is it any worse to smoke marijuana? I have never smoked, but I just found out that someone I love smokes marijuana. I’m really concerned for this person. I’ve been thinking and I only think that marijuana is wrong because the government says it is illegal. Does the church teach that marijuana is wrong too? If so, why does the church say it is wrong?

 

[Nino]

As one who has never smoked because I frankly think its …well…stupid…why harm the only body one has he asks…if you like to inhale smoke toss some wet leaves into the fireplace and inhale…just kidding but the body is the temple of the Soul so it must be defended. In a free land one is free to be a less then smart but in a religion …no. As far as one ‘thinks’ about it…not being a sin etc…that is just conditioning one self to justifying an act that has no benefits at all…cept for the manufacturer of this product…so many of my friends who started smoking at an early age have been pushing up daisys for years…hollyweird is of course to blame for much of this …we saw ,as kids…cowboys,soldiers,men and women all puffing away and quite matter of frankly I might add…a soldier has his guts blown out…is aked for a final request by his buddy…the poor guy mumbles thu blood soaked lips…‘gimme one last puff’ come on…how outlandish…and sinful…

 

[Al_Masetti]

The harm that smoking does is minor in comparison with the harm that other activities cause. And the effect is so slow in taking effect as to be negligible. It also used to be that folks died of something else long before they ever got to the age when lung cancer or emphysema kicked in.

For that reason, even though folks have been smoking for 500 years or so, the Church never condemned it.

If you get a list or guide for the examination of conscience for preparation before the Sacrament of Confession, there are a lot of moral-warping activities on there. And they are all worse than smoking.

In my opinion, what we are doing is deliberately deluding ourselves … by saying that something is so horrible that we need to debate it …

… meanwhile overlooking allllllll those other things that the Catholic Church long ago identified as definite and QUICK soul-killers.

We seem to focus on secular “sins” … although you can get absolution by sending a certain non-presidential politician some money so he can plant trees. And he’ll send you a certificate of absolution/ carbon credits.

We need to get back to the list of sins that the Catholic Church published that we humans are still prone to … and as one confessor said to me … “quit making up sins”.

But … nonetheless … sin does exist. Many of them are biggies. We do commit them and we need to focus back on them instead of exaggerating about how smoking is a killer.

And we do exaggerate.

How do we exaggerate?

By morfing words. * We spin things.

We start by disusing the word “mortal sin”. And instead gravitate the word to “serious sin”. Mortal sin is pretty crystal clear, more or less. Serious sin … not so crystal clear.

So, we “morf” from smoking is a killer to smoking is harmful.

And anything that is harmful is a killer.

But that’s not right.

Father Benedict stepped off a curb without looking both ways. That was harmful. He was essentially killed … they pronounced him dead … but he came back after 20+ minutes. And etc. But did he commit a sin?

Is smoking any more of a sin than not looking both ways.

Is one deliberate and the other careless?

Is carelessness a sin? Yeah, well, he was tired and hadn’t eaten all day because he was busy. Yeah, well, is it ok to drive oneself to the point of exhaustion?

---

We are capable of driving ourselves around in circles. What’s next after smoking? In NYC, the next secular sin is “transfats”. No joke. They are already outlawed.

It seems like the secular church is unable to stop real crimes and real sin so they invent new ones that they can catch and punish people for.

And that’s where we are going.

We are inventing new sins that are easy to spot (cellulite; not recycling that soda can) so we can avoid looking in the mirror at ourselves and seeing our real sins.

Pick up one of those examination of conscience guidelines. It can be pretty illuminating.*

 

[Al_Masetti]

My last rant was longish.

But I found this guide to an Examination of Conscience, which seems to be pretty effective:

scborromeo.org/confess.htm

I can find a couple of things or ten that I can plead guilty to.

Or evade … with only a little bit of rationalization.

Failing to recycle is not one of them.

Nor is denying anthropogenic global warming.

But the list is one that folks have found useful for far longer than the internet existed.

P.S. Smoking is not on the list.

I checked.

 

[Ted_in_Charlott]

After having read most of 2 or 3 threads here on smoking, I have come to the conclusion that not only is smoking a sin but it sears the conscience of the smoker gravely.

To actually think that such a vile nasty inconsiderate unhealthy gross addition is not a sin and to try to justify it is morally depraved. If you love your cigarettes more than your fellow man who you offend with your gross addition, then you have a serious problem with your conscience.

And don’t think for a minute that your cigarette smoking just affects you. It affects healthcare costs for everyone specifically because a lot of you smokers wasted your money on cigarettes then can’t afford health insurance causing non-smokers to pay more.

How many forest fires have been caused by some inconsiderate smoker flicking his cigarette out the window? One would be too many.

What about domestic fires? How many smokers have fell asleep and started a fire in their home? Maybe we should have smoker homeowner premiums maybe 10 times that for non-smokers.

Cigarette smoking for minors is a crime. Parents that smoke in front of their children are encouraging their children to smoke, thusly encouraging them to commit a crime. If you say to your children “Do as I say not as I do” then you are a hypocrite and are teaching your children to be hypocrites. And remember Jesus hated hypocrites. Sounds like sin to me.

So now, you don’t have an excuse. Go get some Nicoderm patches, go on the program and quit. If you fail the first time, get up, dust yourself off and try again. If Satan tempts you and tells you it is not a sin, tell him he is a liar and God wants you to quit.