Smoking a Sin??

[John_Henry]

Scott said it best when he quoted the catechism as saying that it is not smoking per se that is sinful, but rather excessive smoking. Drinking alcohol is not, per se, is not sinful. But excessive drink is. Food is not sinful, per se, but gluttony is.

As to what constitutes “excessive”, one needs to decide for themselves what that is. I confessed “intemperate smoking” last week because I had violated my conscience. But confessing to smoking seems to me the equivalent of confessing to having a beer.

 

[fogie]

I have a reading suggestion:
Ashes to Ashes : America’s Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris

I read it as part of my Marketing Class while doing my MBA.

This book will let you know exactly what you are promoting and the type of people you are doing business with when you smoke.

As an interesting Aside, the book describes how a religious experience changed former American Tobacco head Buck Duke. He donated a large amount of money to Trinity college, which changed it’s name to Duke.

Pax Christi

 

[Faithful_2_Rome]

Smoking too much can possibly lead to cancer…we cant say it WILL… like anything else… genetics and moderation play key roles in everything. Eating too many candy bars and eating too much ice cream can possibly lead to diabetes… that damages the body as well… so unless you know the person walking pass you eating a candy bar is eating too much leading them to an illness, you shouldnt be judging that cause you see someone smoking a cigarette is a committing a sin either. Heck… lets get even more crazy… whats gonna harm you faster…second hand smoke in a restaurant… or someone eating a candy bar, tossing a candy bar wrapper on a wet curb, and you sliding on it (cause it was on the foil side down) and tripping into oncoming traffic?

Whats moderation? I’d say true moderation of tobacco…whether cigarettes, cigars, pipes… would be to enjoy a smoke twice a day… once after lunch and again after dinner… maybe even one in the morning with your coffee… (which by the way, contains CAFFEINE…as does TEA… that is a drug as well… if I go more than 3 hours into my day without a cup of java, I get a serious headache… so does that mean I allowed myself to become addicted to a drug, and now NEED IT, and I sin? BAH!)… That would stretch a pack of smokes well passed a week! Smoking a pack a day IS excessive, but I aint gonna start worrying about whos sinning with tobacco…theres bigger problems in the world. I enjoy an occasional cigar… and until the church SPECIFICALLY states something DIRECTLY about SMOKING, and not allowing for so much interpretation into that Canon, I will never believe I am sinning by smoking an occasional stogie…

 

[MichaelTDoyle]

Temperance is a virtue and gluttony a vice. Smoking may be something that cannot be indulged in temperately due to its nature. I don’t see how smoking constitutes a grave matter though, as in itself it does not impact judgement say as an excess of alcohol does. When in doubt, don’t.

 

[glad2Bcatholic]

agname:

1. “And just how many snake dancers and arsenic drinkers are there exactly?”

Quite a few…mostly found within Tennessee.

:nope: Actually, most of them are in South East Kentucky.

 

[Mandi]

Btw, most vegetables contain more nicotin than cigarettes, try eating a tomatoe sandwich everyday at noon for a month or even a week then stop. Society made smoking a sin, not God! Just for the record I don’t smoke. I would however put smoking under the category of “the smoke of Satan” Smoking is nothing more then one of his evil tactics to take man away from concentrating on real sin.

What is sin?

“Sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4).

God is a law to Himself; His perfections are the law of His own nature; and God wrote upon the conscience of man, even in the state of nature, the outline of His own perfections… He made man to know right from wrong; He made him to understand the nature of purity, justice, truth and mercy, These are perfections of God and on the conscience of man the obligations of this law are written. We see, then that sin is the conscious variation of our moral being from the will of God.

If anyone would like to study on sin, I highly recommend the book SIN and Its Consequences by His Eminence Henry Edward Manning

 

[iguana27]

John_Henry:

I confessed “intemperate smoking” last week because I had violated my conscience.

Can you share how you decided that your smoking was intemperate? What were your criteria?

 

[John_Henry]

iguana27:

Can you share how you decided that your smoking was intemperate? What were your criteria?

Basically, I have a set number of smokes (a pipe) that I allow myself every week (and it’s not many; < 1/day). Sometimes I don’t “use them up”. Sometimes I do. Last week, I went WAY over. Anything other than a strict number would make it too easy for me to fudge the old, “ahhh, it’s no big deal if I have another.”

How did I come up with my number? One of the key criteria was that it was restrictive, and would require me to think seriously about each time I wanted to smoke. I don’t want to get enslaved to it, but also don’t want to go without one of life’s little pleasures.

 

[iguana27]

I like that idea, because it appears that you are putting the tobacco in its place. It seems to me that it must require a lot of strength and will power not to succumb to the pipe whenever you want it.

 

[Poisson]

2291 The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense. Clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs are scandalous practices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law.

I would think they are referring to illicit drugs since nobody engages in the clandestine productions of tobacco. If you were to include legal drugs her then you also would have to include alcohol because not many people use alcohol for theraputic grounds (except maybe Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies ).

Smoking has NO beneficial effect on the human body. It serves no beneficial purpose except for speeding up the Darwinism process.

Certain fast foods could also fall under this category!

 

[DominvsVobiscvm]

This is one of those things that’s simply a matter of conscience. No Catholic has the right to say to another that it’s sinful.

If you personally believe its gravely harmful to your body, and you still smoke, then it would be sinful. A person who did not have the same conviction as you would not be sinning when they smoke. Its as simple as that, and for any Catholic to say that smoking is absolutely sinful is assuming for himself the same heretical claim of authority that Protestants do, based on our private interpretation of data.

Is someone asks you a question, especially on a point of doctrine or morals, the first thing you should present him with isn’t your personal opinion, but what the Church has to say about it.

Scott Waddell did exactly that. The Church says that the moderate use of tobacco is, in and of itself, not sinful. So the matter is settled, case-closed, despite whatever your personal opinions might be. To say that smoking is absolutely sinful is itself a sin against faith and charity.

The only time smoking would be absolutely sinful is when one smokes when a lawful authority (i.e. parents or the state) doesn’t allow it. Thus, in the USA, its a sin for a minor to smoke. Its doubly sinful if a minor smokes against the wishes of his parents.

Just like with the Harry Potter issue, be sure not to state opinions absolutely, that’s all.

 

[STJOMO]

I’m reminded of a song by Joe Jackson, circa 1982:

“Everything Gives You Cancer”

 

[beng]

iguana27:

Is smoking a sin? Fr. Corapi suggests that it is a mortal sin.

I’m not sure that Fr COrapi would say that smoking is a sin.

And btw, we have some Saints who are smoker. One of them is the great Saint Pius X (Pope)

 

[joshua1]

I quit smoking about 2 1/2 years ago. It was quite by accident. I was too lazy to run to the store to purchase a pack of cigarrettes. I thought to myself, if I am too lazy to get off the couch and go to the store, i must not need or want one that bad. The next day came and I never went to the store, so I went all day without one. I said to myself, shucks, if I can go this long I might as well quit. THats been over 2 years now. But I think what sealed it for me was when I was working in the hospital. Shortly after I quit, this friend of mine came by me and was talking to me in the hall. He had just just finished smoking a cigarrette. MAN, the smell. It almost made me sick. I thought to myself, I SMELLED LIKE THAT??? I vowed that I would never smell like that again. Dont get me wrong, if people want to smoke, thats up to them. I feel better, my food tastes better. My resting heart rate went from the 80’s to 60-70. There are so many health benefits to not smoking. Being a Nurse I take care of patients with emphyzema all the time and its no fun not being able to breathe. The thing that kills me is when I see a patient smoking a cigarrette and huffing and puffing oxygen at the same time. Go figure.
BTW–The friend who passed me in the hall has since died of a heart attack at 42 years of age.
I am not condemning anyone who smokes-just saying why I dont.

 

[SHEMP]

I haven’t read through the whole thread but here are my thoughts:

Smoking is not intrinsically evil but like any action you must try to find the right amount of any action (Aristotle called it the “mean”). For some people any amount of smoking is a problem and sinful. For others there can be an appropriate amount of smoking. We must not loose control of our actions. Letting ourselves become controlled or addicted to certain actions is sinful. We must be hard on our bodies (in a good way). This is how you show respect for the body.

The problem with smoking is that it is very rare for a person not to get addicted to cigarette smoking. The tobacco companies have designed their cigerettes with just the right amount of nicotine to cause addiction. I would be very careful about starting to smoke cigarettes unless you have tremendous mastery over your body.

As far as cigars and pipe smoking the addiction potential is less than cigarettes. One might have an easier time smoking an appropriate amount of cigars or pipe.

 

[SHEMP]

DominvsVobiscvm:

This is one of those things that’s simply a matter of conscience. No Catholic has the right to say to another that it’s sinful.

Thats a strange thing to say??!! You don’t think that someone can abuse their body with cigarette smoking? There are some people who smoke 3 packs per day! They have a cigarette in their hand during all waking hours! They spend a considerable percent of their income on cigarettes! You don’t think that we can judge an action such as this to be sinful?

 

[DominvsVobiscvm]

Thats a strange thing to say??!! You don’t think that someone can abuse their body with cigarette smoking? There are some people who smoke 3 packs per day! They have a cigarette in their hand during all waking hours! They spend a considerable percent of their income on cigarettes! You don’t think that we can judge an action such as this to be sinful?

I addressed this in my post.

Its one thing to say drug abuse is sinful. Really, abusing anything is sinful.

Its another to say that all tobacco usage is sinful, as many on this board seem to think and say absolutely.

 

[SHEMP]

DominvsVobiscvm:

If you personally believe its gravely harmful to your body, and you still smoke, then it would be sinful. A person who did not have the same conviction as you would not be sinning when they smoke.

I think that I can objectively look at someone who abuses tobacco and call that action sinful regardless of the person’s convictions. Why should I insult this person by holding them to a lesser standard than I hold myself. We can judge what “moderate” use of tobacco should be. I disagree with leaving this to personal concience.

 

[DominvsVobiscvm]

I think that I can objectively look at someone who abuses tobacco and call that action sinful regardless of the person’s convictions. Why should I insult this person by holding them to a lesser standard than I hold myself. We can judge what “moderate” use of tobacco should be. I disagree with leaving this to personal concience.

Did you bother to read what I just wrote? Apparently not.

 

[Scott_Waddell]

Instead of the snippet of CCC I gave earlier, let me quote the section on health in full and I’ll bold the parts I think pertinent:

2288 Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good.

Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance.

2289 If morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an absolute value. It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the cult of the body, to sacrifice everything for it’s sake, to idolize physical perfection and success at sports. By its selective preference of the strong over the weak, such a conception can lead to the perversion of human relationships.

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.

2291 The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense. Clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs are scandalous practices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law.

I stand by my assertion that the act of smoking is not in and of itself sinful, not even venially. It is a legitimate pleasure, and like all legitimate pleasures, it can become sinful through excess and abuse. We are Catholics, not English Roundheads from 1650.

Scott

P.S. For the record, I DON"T smoke.