Is smoking cigarettes a sin?

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Irishgal49

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Hi all,

Do you think smoking cigarettes is a sin?
How about if your doctor says you cant and you end up using an inhaler all the time?

I am mad at myself but I’m still in the early stages of relapse, I need to get rid of these smokes.
 
Taking care of yourself, trying your best to stay healthy, trying to make your body “a temple of the Holy Spirit,” is what we all should be doing. But addictions are hard to break and most of struggle against one or another at least part of our lives.

There is a great book called Addiction and Grace. (Don’t remember the author–it’s from the 90’s or so, I believe.) His bottom line, and what I’ve discovered to be mine, in my own battles against addictive behaviors, is that you must pray like crazy for God’s Grace to pull you out.

Naturally, you have to do the footwork. Throw away those cancer sticks, no matter how much you paid for them. If you end up buying more and smoking one or two, then throw the rest of them away too. (I remember drowning what was left of a whole carton in the dishwater once!) Get some help, some support. Call the Cancer Society and start there to hunt for free resources to help you. Buy some nicorette if it helps. Anything. But just keep at it. I quit smoking a million times. But then one day, I actually did.

And calm your troubled soul. Worry less about whether or not it’s a sin, and more about praying for God to help you. Jesus Christ has already relieved you of the burden of your addiction, you just have to get around to believing that. Talk to a priest if you can, he might be able to comfort you and guide you.

Good luck, and God Bless…
 
nanacat said:
Taking care of yourself, trying your best to stay healthy, trying to make your body “a temple of the Holy Spirit,” is what we all should be doing. But addictions are hard to break and most of struggle against one or another at least part of our lives.

There is a great book called Addiction and Grace. (Don’t remember the author–it’s from the 90’s or so, I believe.) His bottom line, and what I’ve discovered to be mine, in my own battles against addictive behaviors, is that you must pray like crazy for God’s Grace to pull you out.

Naturally, you have to do the footwork. Throw away those cancer sticks, no matter how much you paid for them. If you end up buying more and smoking one or two, then throw the rest of them away too. (I remember drowning what was left of a whole carton in the dishwater once!) Get some help, some support. Call the Cancer Society and start there to hunt for free resources to help you. Buy some nicorette if it helps. Anything. But just keep at it. I quit smoking a million times. But then one day, I actually did.

And calm your troubled soul. Worry less about whether or not it’s a sin, and more about praying for God to help you. Jesus Christ has already relieved you of the burden of your addiction, you just have to get around to believing that. Talk to a priest if you can, he might be able to comfort you and guide you.

Good luck, and God Bless…
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Thanks so much I will do that, I quit last November and I do NOT want to relapse into this, it’s so expensive and really takes a toll on my lungs.
 
Dorothy day gave up cigarettes every Lent, and and after a few days of no cigarettes, she was so irritable that others would wish she would just light back up. So I don’t know who it was that advised her to pray instead to take the desire for cigarettes away. One day she looked at her pack and had no desire to smoke and never did so again the rest of her life. So instead of trying it through your own will power, and worrying about it being a sin, ask for the desire to quit. Ask for it everyday, Bless you and I pray for your desire for cigarettes to cease.:signofcross:
 
I struggle with it (smoking) I have had Pastors call it more a “Bad Habit”…not sure if it parsing, want to quit, but I go through periods…I quit…then get a pack…I can only say I wish I NEVER STARTED!:eek:
 
I wish I never started to.

At times I want to quite. But the idea of quitting gives me anxiety.I do not know why, but it scares me. That is pretty pathetic that the simple idea of smoke-free will scare me. I guess me I am a nervous person who struggles with anxiety and since I was 15 I have relied on them to relive my anxiety and nervousness. Though it may also be because the longest time I had not smoked was when I was in Jail for 70 days. And so maybe subconsciously the idea of not smoking makes me feel as if I am back in jail. And since going to jail is one of my biggest fears, that could also be the reason?

I dont know. Please pray for me
 
EzraJacob said:
I wish I never started to.

At times I want to quite. But the idea of quitting gives me anxiety.I do not know why, but it scares me. That is pretty pathetic that the simple idea of smoke-free will scare me. I guess me I am a nervous person who struggles with anxiety and since I was 15 I have relied on them to relive my anxiety and nervousness. Though it may also be because the longest time I had not smoked was when I was in Jail for 70 days. And so maybe subconsciously the idea of not smoking makes me feel as if I am back in jail. And since going to jail is one of my biggest fears, that could also be the reason?

I dont know. Please pray for me
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I hear ya I began young…😊 me and my friends…THOUGHT we were “cool”…RIGHT…
 
Is eating a big mac a sin? (fat content)
Is drinking alcohol a sin (booze kills brain cells)

so why should cigarettes be a sin?

PS i am a NON smoker!
 
A sin is an individual choice to do something wrong, or excessive like drinking too much. Because smoking addiction is constant, the Pastor described it best as a “Black Habit”.
 
AntalKalnoky said:
A sin is an individual choice to do something wrong, or excessive like drinking too much. Because smoking addiction is constant, the Pastor described it best as a “Black Habit”.
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I like that description, but I have been told that I cannot smoke due to my lung problems. I quit last November and out of the blue I bought a pack. It’s like I just bought them. I HATE it but I need to get away fast or I’m hooked back in.
 
ETEXAS said:
I hear ya I began young…😊 me and my friends…THOUGHT we were “cool”…RIGHT…
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Yeah. And the worst thing is, I remember older people telling me and my friends that they thought it was cool and its not, and how they wish they never started. We would just laugh at them. Oh do i wish I would have listioned 😦
 
Smoking cigarettes in moderation is not a sin.

If smoking is causing you serious health problems, then it would most likely be a sin to continue smoking.
 
nanacat said:
Taking care of yourself, trying your best to stay healthy, trying to make your body “a temple of the Holy Spirit,” is what we all should be doing. But addictions are hard to break and most of struggle against one or another at least part of our lives.

There is a great book called Addiction and Grace. (Don’t remember the author–it’s from the 90’s or so, I believe.) His bottom line, and what I’ve discovered to be mine, in my own battles against addictive behaviors, is that you must pray like crazy for God’s Grace to pull you out.

Naturally, you have to do the footwork. Throw away those cancer sticks, no matter how much you paid for them. If you end up buying more and smoking one or two, then throw the rest of them away too. (I remember drowning what was left of a whole carton in the dishwater once!) Get some help, some support. Call the Cancer Society and start there to hunt for free resources to help you. Buy some nicorette if it helps. Anything. But just keep at it. I quit smoking a million times. But then one day, I actually did.

And calm your troubled soul. Worry less about whether or not it’s a sin, and more about praying for God to help you. Jesus Christ has already relieved you of the burden of your addiction, you just have to get around to believing that. Talk to a priest if you can, he might be able to comfort you and guide you.

Good luck, and God Bless…
Click to expand...
👍👍:tiphat:
 
Irishgal49 said:
I like that description, but I have been told that I cannot smoke due to my lung problems. I quit last November and out of the blue I bought a pack. It’s like I just bought them. I HATE it but I need to get away fast or I’m hooked back in.
Click to expand...
One gets desperate a few days or 10 for ‘just one cigarrette, pack’. But that One Cigarrete can restart the addiction; Been there. Recognizing my Smoker’s Cough prevented any more cigarretes. Refuse Any more cigarrettes One at A Time to break addiction/urge. Good Luck. :yup::clapping:
 
Irishgal49 said:
Hi all,

Do you think smoking cigarettes is a sin?
How about if your doctor says you cant and you end up using an inhaler all the time?

I am mad at myself but I’m still in the early stages of relapse, I need to get rid of these smokes.
Click to expand...
No it’s not.

get e-cigarettes, it will stop killing your lungs and you get the nicotine fix your body is dependent on. Also you can “light up” anywhere with them since they just emit water vapour.
 
Dakota_Roberts said:
No it’s not.

get e-cigarettes, it will stop killing your lungs and you get the nicotine fix your body is dependent on. Also you can “light up” anywhere with them since they just emit water vapour.
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So its OK to feed an addition and a sin to use medical marijuana ? This statement was made by another individual in a separate thread.
 
I always confess that I smoke cigarettes. I don’t smoke a lot - it’s more social than anything (when I’m out with friends, etc.). One priest to whom I confess frequently recognizes it as a sin (although, not mortal) because it is bad for your health and sets a bad example. However, another priest actually chuckled when I confessed it and said “I smoke when I’m out with my friends, too”. And yet another priest boldy asked “Why are you confessing that? It’s not a sin - it’s a human weakness”… which to me, seems like the same thing as a sin, but who knows.

Anyway, my short answer is - to some priests, it’s a sin, and to other priests, it is not. Who knows??!! I do still confess it, though.
 
I think those of us who started smoking as teens or younger committed the sin of disobedience when we began. These days, knowing what we do about addiction and carcinogens, beginning smoking is a sin. It’s a significant and unnecessary risk.

But the addict (I never met a regular smoker who wasn’t an addict ) well, the addiction reduces the smoker’s free wil, decreasing his culpability. Despite feelings of anxiety (that’s the addiction talking) the smoker is responsible to try and keep trying to quit.

I was happy to read Dorothy Day’s experience. That’s how God helped me quit thirteen years ago. I was a 2 and a half pack a day smoker for 20 years.
 
I think that if smoking were to be considered a sin you would have to take into consideration the particular circumstances surrounding the smoking like you would with any other sin. If you’re addicted, which most smokers are, then your culpability would decrease. So I imagine it’d be a pretty light venial sin at most.

If you’re serious about quitting I would suggest talking to your doctor about getting a prescription for Chantix. I was a heavy smoker for approximately 8 years and had tried just about everything I could think of from the normal things (like the patch) to the more exotic (like acupuncture). When I finally tried Chantix I told myself this would be my last attempt at quitting and if I failed this time I’d just “quit quitting”. Well it was amazing. After a week I didn’t crave cigarettes anymore. After taking the stuff for 2 months (instead of the suggested 3 months) I was free. I have not had a single puff, nor even the slightest desire to smoke since then, which was a little over 4 years ago now.

Anyway, now I feel like a walking talking commercial. The people who make this stuff should consider paying me for all this free advertising. 😛
 
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