Is smoking wrong or not?

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Flopfoot

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Someone on these forums (I think it was momto5) said that smoking (cigarettes) is not against church teaching. Is this right?
 
Smoking is a venial sin whereas excessive smoking is a mortal sin (5th Commandment).
 
Also, if it’s really endangering your health it would be a mortal sin. Like, if you had lung cancer, normally your doctor would tell you that you shouldn’t smoke anymore. Some people are just so addicted, they would rather keep smoking cigarettes than to give it up, so that they might at least have a chance to save their lives.
But I don’t know who would really want to smoke…the smell is nasty, and it endangers your health (yucky black lungs). So, if you’re thinking about taking it up, PLEASE reconsider. 🙂 I’m sure most smokers on the forums would also tell you to reconsider that thought.

😃
 
Does it need to be against Church teaching? We know it is harmful; we know it is addictive. Isn’t that enough without having the Church make a definitive statement? Get a grip! Don’t do it!
 
I am asking because I always used to tell all my Catholic friends that it was wrong. They still smoke anyway.

I don’t smoke myself and I’m not planning to start.
 
I believe like binge-drinking and overeating, if you smoke more then say 3-5 cigarettes a day you are doing it to excess which will harm you. But again, in the case of cigarettes, even one can make on sick and second hand-smoke can kill, so I would say with the Medical knowlegde we have today to “START” smoking today would be a grave sin, but honestly, the people who started years ago, did not have that knowlegde, and are addicted. Their sin is less. Anyone, young or old who smokes around children should have that thing knocked right out of their mouths:yup:
 
The Vatican sells cigarettes. Duty free. They are 40% cheaper than in Rome. The Vatican is full of ashtrays and smokers. If you are one of those that hate to be around smokers you should stay away from the Vatican. Pope Paul VI was a heavy smoker.
 
About Pope Paul VI and many of His generation and a little later had no real knowlegde of the dangers of smoking, hence there is no sin. Even today, I don’t believe its a mortal sin because no one picks up their first cigarette saying I going to commit suicide. But you are better informed today to make the right choice. Now about “2nd handsmoke” and children anyone who smokes around a child today is very very wrong. You are putting them in danger and is that really fair? They say children of smokers have many ear infections, being the daughter of a heavy smoker and deaf in my right ear, following several infections, some never treated until my ear looked like a trumpet, maybe they are right.
 
So whatever is unhealthy is sinful? does that mean eating fatty food is sinful? eating too much soy is sinful? If coffee were to be linked to cancer, then would that mean drinking coffee was sinful?

And what about drinking alcohol, even a small consumption has been linked to an increased incidence of cancer. Does that then mean drinking in moderation is sinful?
 
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cynic:
So whatever is unhealthy is sinful? does that mean eating fatty food is sinful? eating too much soy is sinful? If coffee were to be linked to cancer, then would that mean drinking coffee was sinful?
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I’ve seen this debated a lot. Eating fatty foods in moderation is not harmful to you, and contains fat that is neccessary to be healthy, when balanced with healthy foods. But regardless of how much or how little you smoke, there is no benefit whatsoever and it is always harmful to you and those around you.
 
I hear you get a partial indulgence if you smoke a pipe once a day.
 
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thistle:
Smoking is a venial sin whereas excessive smoking is a mortal sin (5th Commandment).
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Where did you get this info from? What I gather from what I have learned is that smoking is not always a sin, but it can be, especially if it is clearly harming you. Like the poster above said, there is nothing wrong with an occasional cigar.
 
The Bible tells us that the body is a temple to be kept pure and holy.
Smoking defiles the temple of the body and is known to shorten and kill life by engaging in it. How can any Catholic smoke when this is the case? Yet the church allows this. Every cigarette shortens your life - life that is gifted by God. I can’t see how anyone reading that verse referred to in the first sentence can justify smoking.
 
Once again, let us look at actual Church teaching. Tobacco is explicitly mentioned in the CCC:
2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.
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So non-excessive, non-abusive tobacco use is no sin (mortal or venial) in and of itself and falls under the prudential judgement of the individual whether to smoke or not. What is much more dangerous is this modern worship of the pagan goddess Therapeutica and her cult of the body. People would do well to stop taking the round peg of smoking, putting it in the square hole of Temple of the Holy Spirit, Suicide, 5th Commandment, etc. and then try to force a fit with the hammer of personal judgement based on a pet peeve. We are Catholics. Not Mormons with a set against caffeine (and tobacco), or Muslims against alcohol, or Puritans against anything pleasurable.

By the way this has been covered in Ask an Apologist here

Scott
 
Ok cool, thanks for the clarification. I’ll stop bothering my friends about it then.
 
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lifeisbeautiful:
Where did you get this info from? What I gather from what I have learned is that smoking is not always a sin, but it can be, especially if it is clearly harming you. Like the poster above said, there is nothing wrong with an occasional cigar.
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My emphasis is on excessive smoking being a mortal sin (5th Commandment).
I have a book How To Make A Good Confession. It states that **excessive ** smoking and excessive drinking are mortal sins.
The book has both Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat.
Also watching EWTN Father Corapi said that in the past people never fully understood the risks to health of smoking so it was not a mortal sin but now nobody can argue that which means people who smoke excessively know that they are doing something deliberatley that can lead to their ill health or death.
 
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thistle:
My emphasis is on excessive smoking being a mortal sin (5th Commandment).
I have a book How To Make A Good Confession. It states that **excessive ** smoking and excessive drinking are mortal sins.
The book has both Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat.
Also watching EWTN Father Corapi said that in the past people never fully understood the risks to health of smoking so it was not a mortal sin but now nobody can argue that which means people who smoke excessively know that they are doing something deliberatley that can lead to their ill health or death.
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And what about second hand smoking? We know the risks to others so how can it not be a sin to expose your children, spouse or others to cigarette smoke? At the least it is very selfish and selfishness is a sin.
 
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mumto5:
And what about second hand smoking? We know the risks to others so how can it not be a sin to expose your children, spouse or others to cigarette smoke? At the least it is very selfish and selfishness is a sin.
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I absolutely agree with you but I haven’t seen anything in writing about it.
 
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