Smoking a Sin??

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pnewton:
My son reminded me that we our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. So, what’s wrong with a little incense?

(I only smoke a cigar or two a month.)
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Cigar is not the same as incense.

I don’t see priests incensing the altar with cigar smoke or cigarette smoke.
 
Good Morning Church

First I want to address the person who asked why you would put Jesus in an unhealthy body. Jesus is the devine physician for one thing. He is a healer and the Holy Eucharist is one of the healing Sacraments.

To Mandi,
I think you have this all mixed up. I say this with love and not meaning to criticize you.
Several elements must be present to commit sin. I am sure you know that. So…
If you know a substance can hurt your body in a serious way, cigarettes cause cancer and heart desease, maybe diet, especially gluttony, or other things, and you know that deliberately and knowingly doing this is a sin and then you choose to do it anyway, you have committed sin.
You say that there are good reasons for pain and sickness. No there are no good reasons. If it were not for original sin, we would not have pain, sickness and death. There is nothing good about it by itself. You can use it by offering it up, as I do and as many Christians have done. But it would be horrible to deliberately make oneself ill just to offer it up.
There are many better ways to offer up pain and suffering. One of the best ways is by volunteering to serve and help someone who is very sick. You have no idea how this would be appreciated. When I had my surgery, Father and Deacon both visited me and brought me Communion in the hospital. Not one other person from the Church called me, wrote a note or visited me for 2 months and then one lady called. It is now 4 months, still only that one call. It took me over 2 months before I felt well enough to go back to Mass and when I did, many many folks came up to see how I was so they knew how sick I was.
**IF THIS HAD BEEN THE EVANGELICAL PROTESTANT CHURCH, **I would have been visited in the hospital, called, food brought to my husband. My husband is 74 yrs old and a 5 way bi-pass patient with diabetes. He cared for me like a baby all alone. Did all the housework, the laundry, drove me to the daily radiation treatments.
We Catholics are not good at being this kind of Christian. I have not been either. I have learned a great lesson. I promise the Lord to do much better.
Do you see how much more loving and practical this is than deliberately trying to get sick just to offer up prayers? The nicest prayer is holding the hand of someone who feels just awful and praying with them.

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robertaf:
You say that there are good reasons for pain and sickness. No there are no good reasons.
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You yourself quoted something that was more than good - it was beautiful, that came about because of sickness. The end result of what you experienced is far more precious than a healthy body. I find it hard to believe that you who have actually experienced that which is supernatural, still search for satisfaction in this world, it is not to be had. Because we were not made for this world.
But it would be horrible to deliberately make oneself ill just to offer it up.
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A side from the fact that I only knew one person who smoked to make himself ill ( and when it didn’t work he commited suicide by jumping in front of a train)
People smoke for pleasure, only people who are not well smoke to make themselves ill.

**
IF THIS HAD BEEN THE EVANGELICAL PROTESTANT CHURCH,
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I would have been visited in the hospital, called, food brought to my husband. My husband is 74 yrs old and a 5 way bi-pass patient with diabetes. He cared for me like a baby all alone. Did all the housework, the laundry, drove me to the daily radiation treatments.
We Catholics are not good at being this kind of Christian. I have not been either. I have learned a great lesson. I promise the Lord to do much better. **
This is true because Catholics (the majority) do not practice the Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy or The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy anymore. In fact I am sure most will not even know what they are so I will list them for a reminder for us all not only should we do these things but it is required.

**The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy
**1. To admonish sinners
2. To instruct the ignorant
3. To counsel the doubtful
4. To comfort the sorrowful
5. To bear wrongs patiently
6. To forgive all injuries
7. To pray for the living and the dead

**The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy
**1. To feed the hungry.
2. To give drink to the thirsty
3. To clothe the naked
4. To visit and ransom the captives.
5. To harbor the harborless.
6. To visit the sick.
7. To bury the dead.
 
Hi Mandi

My wonderful spiritual experiences happened long before I knew I had lung cancer. God must have allowed them to prepare me.
After my surgery, I had a terrible time even praying. It wasn’t until the Holy Spirit led me to see the sin in all of this, repent and confess until I was able to get into good prayer again. I had to rely on the prayers of all my friends on the internet prayer groups and my Charismatic prayer communities.

I agree, I smoked because I really enjoyed it. I knew the dangers though and was very arrogant, telling myself it would not happen to me, as if I was more special than other folks.

you are very right about the works of mercy. I myself had forgotten them until now. Maybe it is time we start reminding folks, eh?

God Bless you
 
I have had this question myself, but then I ask myself why GOD created tobacco in the first place?:confused:
 
Greetings Church

Maybe he created it to kill aphids and other insects like my grandpa use to do.

Just because he created it does not mean we should damage ourselves with it.

He also created many many plants that are poisoness. Some of these have berries and other fruits. I am sure you wouldn’t deliberately eat any one of them.

Use good sense and do not smoke.
 
As well, like it has been pointed out, there is a lot more than tobacco in a cigarette. Every plant has it’s purpose in the environment.
 
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Sherlock:
To be honest, all of this smacks of puritanism. I have always found that excessive concern about health is in itself unhealthy, and often indicates a desire to control death—which, of course, we cannot avoid.

I know of many, many people who have smoked all of their adult lives and yet reached advanced old age. Obviously it does not kill 100%, but is perhaps altered by other factors relating to overall health.That it gave them pleasure and relaxation is fine with me, although it’s not my cup of tea (coffee being my cup of tea). I know of no smoker who deliberately smoked so he could destroy his lungs—now that would be a sin.

If moderate smoking does not interfere with a person’s Christian life, then I will not judge them. Obsession with tobacco, either fer it or agin’ it, is, I think, a better candidate for serious sin.

Chesterton, in addition to enjoying tobacco, was also very overweight. Aquinas was overweight too. Now, being overweight is almost always unhealthy—are obese people guilty of committing a mortal sin when they eat fatty foods?

I’ll go with the Catechism on this one, thank you very much.

Not a puritan, but a Catholic,

Sherlock
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My mothers parents smoked their whole lives. My grandafther died at age 90, and my grandmother celebrated her 90th birthday this year. Hmm. Genetics, Diet and exercise? Neither of them were heavy smokers though.

Smoking goes against my conscience so for me, so according to church teaching it would be a sin for me to do it.

If you have a guilty coinscience, or try to hide the fact that you smoke, then you should probably take a hint and quit.
 
Greetings

My mother, grandmother and my mother in law were all former smokers who lived into their 90s as well.
I am a former smoker and developed lung cancer, either in my 50s or 60s, we do not know exactly when this started.

We can pull up any excuse you can imagine. I had tons of them when I smoked. The fact is very clear. Smoking is the biggest cause of lung cancer (responsible for way over 3/4 of the cases).
Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer of men and women.
I hate those stats!!!
Smoking is also a cause of heart desease, the number one desease killer of everybody.
That makes the stats even worse!

Everyone dies of something. With stats like that, we know that smokers have a good chance of one of those two uglies.
Having lost part of a lung this year, the experience with radiation and then the ongoing feeling of uncertainty, my advise to you all is to kick the habit forever.

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Is smoking a sin? Fr. Corapi suggests that it is a mortal sin. My own confessor has said that it is not mortal if it is moderate and my doctor has not advised me to quit.​

How ISN’T smoking a sin? It is self destruction to the body God gave you.
 

I have had this question myself, but then I ask myself why GOD created tobacco in the first place?:confused:​

Why did He make poison ivy, sumac, and oak?
 
As a Baptist, I always thought (a joke):

“You might not go to hell, but you’ll smell like you’ve been there.”
 
Whether or not smoking is or can become a mortal or even a venial sin, wouldn’t it be a good idea not to do it anyway, because it is bad for you?
 
Tom of Assisi:
(cough cough) I’ve been off this thread for a while because I was having one of my lungs removed. Now when I smoke it’s like I smoke twice as much. 😃
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I’m back on this thread…(cough cough cough cough) I had my other lung removed…now when I smoke…it’s like I’m smoking four times as much…wait a minute…that’s not right

(UUUUUUUUUHHHHHH) [thud]
 
I used to smoke but haven’t smoked now in ten years. I don’t think smoking is a sin; if it is then one of my favorite priests is in a constant state of sin…
 
Many of the attitudes in this thread make me feel like I’ve entered Bizarroworld. Seriously, so many posters here blast me away with their conservativism…but now I’m reading that smoking ISN"T a sin??? I’m a former smoker and I know how crappy I felt when I smoked…how can it NOT be gluttonous? It’s money thrown away to Big Tobacco when you could use it much more constructively otherwise. Even if you don’t die from it, EVERYONE KNOWS it’s unhealthy. Please, don’t they? If food overindulgence is a sin, I don’t see how smoking couldn’t be.

And I’ve had 2 priests break my heart when I found out they were smokers. However, after some thought, I considered their other sacrifices and thought “enh” and understood. But I still think it’s gotta be a sin.
 
I’d say the real issue to focus on is moderation. If someone’s smoking is causing significant harm to their body, it’s probably sinful. You’re supposed to be taking reasonably good care of your body, so continuing to smoke after you’ve already given yourself emphysema seems like you’ve stepped onto sinful ground. Also, addiction often points us to an excessive use, as well as being a degradation of the will, which is sinful. You’ve given yourself another master. Addiction is wrong, even if it is to your morning cup of coffee or to your crossword puzzle (just looking for a seemingly benign passtime).
Illicit drugs are also classified as always sinful because of the effect they have on the consciousness and thus the will, setting them apart from tobacco and alcohol used in moderation.
 
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