Would you be more upset with your teenager if you caught them smoking or cheating?

[cove]

Tom of Assisi:

The question this thread posts is amazing…(let’s pretend for a second that smpoking is unhealthy (in the long term) for the person smoking)…assuming that the question of this thread is basically:

Would you be upset if your child were engaging in very immoral behavior (cheating) or in behavior that might hurt his/her body a few decades from now if they do it frequently from now till then (smoking)?

morality vs. physical health…and some liberals are choosing health over morality…the physical over the spiritual if you will…very telling on the character of the modern liberal.

My answer is in post #16.

I am not a liberal.

It seems to me you are a nicotine addict who does not like the thought of your addictive source to be threatened. Your over reactive posts are proof of this. It seems the smoker needs help with his addiction. I pray you get that help before you have to face God with a cancerous lung and God says to you I gave you a healthy one. You should have taken care of it.

Get it now? See where the “sin” is?

 

[Tom_of_Assisi]

cove:

I am guessing you are a smoker. **Shame on you for saying you would share a smoke with your child. **Now, that is a sin.

well…then you’ll love this…I also tell my students…all 184 of them that smoking is the coolest thing you can do. Between classes…I go out and smoke with some of them…but I** don’t tolerate any cheating in my classes**…is that wrong of me?

 

[Tom_of_Assisi]

cove:

My answer is in post #16.

I am not a liberal.

It seems to me you are a nicotine addict who does not like the thought of your addictive source to be threatened. Your over reactive posts are proof of this. It seems the smoker needs help with his addiction. I pray you get that help before you have to face God with a cancerous lung and God says to you I gave you a healthy one. You should have taken care of it.

Get it now? See where the “sin” is?

well it seems we’re both wrong…because I’m not really a smoker, but I can tell when the government is trying to take advantage of people…

God will not care if people have diseases when they are in heaven…he will care how they lived.

 

[Tom_of_Assisi]

from the article:

“The questions would have been considered absurd a generation ago. The war against tobacco is a symptom and cause of a shallower society. It has done far more harm to America than tobacco. Just ask your teenager.”

I consider the question absurd now…people are more concerned with their health (even when it’s not actually in danger) then with what’s right and wrong.

We are living in a brave new world indeed

 

[cove]

Tom of Assisi:

well…then you’ll love this…I also tell my students…all 184 of them that smoking is the coolest thing you can do. Between classes…I go out and smoke with some of them…but I** don’t tolerate any cheating in my classes**…is that wrong of me?

What you have just described here is illegal. I would hope that you are not an aiding in an illegal activity. Especially if you are a school teacher. That is sick. You really need to get to confession.

btw–Of course, no teacher should tolerate cheating in their class.

 

[cove]

Tom of Assisi:

well it seems we’re both wrong…because I’m not really a smoker, but I can tell when the government is trying to take advantage of people…

God will not care if people have diseases when they are in heaven…he will care how they lived.

We are talking about diseases that can be prevented. God cares if we are abusing our bodies. Our Temples. God cares very much how we take care of the vessels he has entrusted to us.

 

[Tom_of_Assisi]

cove:

We are talking about diseases that can be prevented. God cares if we are abusing our bodies. Our Temples. God cares very much how we take care of the vessels he has entrusted to us.

So God will be mad at us unless we have the bodies of athletes. If we are fat or out-of-shape…he’ll be less forgiving than if we committed adultry or stole things…like the article said many people are very shallow in their thinking these days. Public school education and all I guess.

 

[Jay74]

This has been a great discussion!

I do think it is worth nothing though that no where was it ever said in my original post that both weren’t bad. Neither is desirable at all, and I believe both to be wrong. That’s the whole point–about which is worse.

I think it is important to emphasize good character over good health. I would punish my teenage who smoked, but not nearly as severely as I would punish one who cheated.

 

[lovelavender]

Tom of Assisi:

well…then you’ll love this…I also tell my students…all 184 of them that smoking is the coolest thing you can do. Between classes…I go out and smoke with some of them…but I** don’t tolerate any cheating in my classes**…is that wrong of me?

Are you a high school teacher or a college teacher?

 

[cove]

Tom of Assisi:

So God will be mad at us unless we have the bodies of athletes. If we are fat or out-of-shape…he’ll be less forgiving than if we committed adultry or stole things…like the article said many people are very shallow in their thinking these days. Public school education and all I guess.

Gluttony is a sin. So you tell me? I don’t believe you have to have the body of an althlete to please God. Just make healthy choices in you life. That can also include not engaging in promiscuity. Which not only hurts us morally but can also jeopardize our good health.

I believe both cheating and smoking is wrong. But, I answered honestly from a mothers heart when I said that seeing my child harm themselves physically would hurt me more. When children cheat the reasons vary and mostly in comes down to low self esteem or worrying about disappointing a parent. I can forgive this behavior. And if their cheating was a found to be of a pathological psychotic behavior and I did not seek the advice of a professional to help my child achieve a stable healthy mental health then that would be my sin.

I believe we are responsible for the nurture of our children. Our children are born with natural characteristics that help to form the natural aspects or their personality. If we don’t “nurture” this character properly then we will run into problems with moral decline in their behavior. It is very important that parents understand that the whole child needs to be nurtured physically and mentally.

 

[bapcathluth]

These answers are very interesting to me. It seems so clear that smoking would be the obvious choice, and that isn’t to say cheating isn’t bad. I guess it is because cheating was never a problem I have had and both of my children are very, very honest. I did, however, struggle with cigarrettes and it is a terrible addiction and hard to quit.

I think it is easier to deal with a cheating infraction. I think you can stop a child from cheating easier than you can stop a child from smoking. Cheating isn’t an addiction–it is morally wrong.

 

[cove]

Jay74:

This has been a great discussion!

I do think it is worth nothing though that no where was it ever said in my original post that both weren’t bad. Neither is desirable at all, and I believe both to be wrong. That’s the whole point–about which is worse.

I think it is important to emphasize good character over good health. I would punish my teenage who smoked, but not nearly as severely as I would punish one who cheated.

I think good character and good health go hand in hand. One compliments the other. If our children are cheating or smoking the reasons for both can run deeper then just what is on the surface. There are other problems that are not being addressed.

How we treat our bodies and how we act, if they are destructive, is both morally wrong and goes straight to my point of not hurting our selves because that would be against God. That to me is what sin is all about. If we use negative behavior that hurts ourselves and others and knowing that this would hurt our relationship with God, IMO, is the basis for all sin.

btw–I was a teenage smoker. I thank God that I got it into my noggin a long time ago that that was not the path I wanted to take with my health. Both my parents were smokers and I am sure they felt that they would sound hypocritical if they told me I could not smoke. I wish they had taken that que (when I started) for them to stop. My mother did eventually stop and it was her example that helped me to stop. She used her motherly influence to nurture my positive healthy decision. God Bless her.

 

[sparkle]

Cheating shows dishonesty—smoking just experimentation.

I tried smoking when 13 or 14–hated it!!!

TALK to your kids friend—instill good Godly values or TRY to.

God Bless~~

 

[Jay74]

Jay74:

I do think it is worth nothing though that no where was it ever said in my original post that both weren’t bad.

’

Way too late for an edit, but I had a typo. Meant to say it is worth noting instead of it is worth nothing. As far as typos go, that kinda changed the meaning alot. lol

oopsie.

 

[renee1258]

I’ve read the article before.

Since we are on the topic of smoking and health, let’s talk about our seditary behinds sitting in front of the computer.

When dealing with clients as an attorney, past crimes dealing with dishonesty kill almost any case they might have. I would rather have a client who is on probation for having pot then someone who wrote up one fraudulent 20 dollar check four years ago. Once a liar, it is hard to gain anyone’s trust.

I can track down anything, I have seeing opposing sides make a little white lie to get out of something or make up an indirect defense. I love to see them squirm as I impeach them on content that might not relevant to the case. The point is that they lied, and if they were lying then how can one be sure they are lying now.

 

[FelixBlue]

Smoking is not inherently immoral. Cheating is.

 

[pnewton]

Second-hand smoke may not be as harmful as smoking, but it is cheaper.

 

[LauraL]

I am a non-smoker. I watched both my parents die of smoking-related lung cancer back in '91. Terrible suffering.

Now – does that give me some credibility with some of you folks? Because I’ve got to tell you I’ve never seen such foolishness as some of you are spouting in this thread.

Is none of you old enough to realize that smoking has only been made a health and legal issue in the past two decades? Does the phrase “smoking gun” ring a bell? This is really and truly a politically-created issue.

Cheating, on the other hand, is a perennial moral issue which has been spoken out against for millenia. It has always been considered wrong to lie and to cheat. It IS wrong to lie and to cheat and to steal – and cheating is lying about what one knows and understands and stealing a grade which is not rightfully his/hers.

I don’t like smoking. I find it irritating, selfish, annoying in the extreme. I also was in high school in the period of time when kids could legally smoke and our school had a smoking area. This issue of tobacco and smoking is really a very recent, politically-created one.

Smoking cigarettes will not make a teenager morally irresponsible, promiscuous, sly, dishonest, unkind, untrustworthy, or in any other way morally depraved. Cheating certainly can and likely will be the simple start of far more serious issues.

Wake up your brains, people. You’re too easily led by political action groups and Madison Avenue.

 

[cove]

LauraL:

I am a non-smoker. I watched both my parents die of smoking-related lung cancer back in '91. Terrible suffering.

Now – does that give me some credibility with some of you folks? Because I’ve got to tell you I’ve never seen such foolishness as some of you are spouting in this thread.

Is none of you old enough to realize that smoking has only been made a health and legal issue in the past two decades? Does the phrase “smoking gun” ring a bell? This is really and truly a politically-created issue.

Cheating, on the other hand, is a perennial moral issue which has been spoken out against for millenia. It has always been considered wrong to lie and to cheat. It IS wrong to lie and to cheat and to steal – and cheating is lying about what one knows and understands and stealing a grade which is not rightfully his/hers.

I don’t like smoking. I find it irritating, selfish, annoying in the extreme. I also was in high school in the period of time when kids could legally smoke and our school had a smoking area. This issue of tobacco and smoking is really a very recent, politically-created one.

Smoking cigarettes will not make a teenager morally irresponsible, promiscuous, sly, dishonest, unkind, untrustworthy, or in any other way morally depraved. Cheating certainly can and likely will be the simple start of far more serious issues.

Wake up your brains, people. You’re too easily led by political action groups and Madison Avenue.

It has not only become a health issue in the last two decades. I can remember when the surgeon general info was attached to cigarette packages that was well over twenty years ago more like 35 years ago.

Over 60 years ago my own grandmother warned her children against the dangers of smoking. She nursed her dieing father in law who had mouth cancer that spread to the out side of his face and eventually entered his brain. He was an ardent tobacco chewer. This man died in the 1920’s. The health risks involved in smoking and tobacco have been known for alot longer then just two decade. I don’t need the “political action groups” telling me that smoking is bad for me. I have witnessed the results myself.

No one here has said that cheating is morally good or something that they would want their children to do. But, I do not want my children to risk their health by choosing a very addictive and unhealthy bad habit.

Cheating is wrong but it won’t kill you. Cigarettes smoking can kill you or greatly reduce your quality of life.

We are talking about “children” who cheat, not adults. I know it will be easier to turn my child around and help them not cheat then it would be to get them to stop an addiction. Nicotine is a drug. I think it is foolish for people to say that they would rather their child be taking drugs and inhaling a substance into their lungs that can cause cancer then cheating on a test.

Just because teenagers were allowed to smoke “legally” only twenty years ago does not mean it was good for them then. I am glad that in this day and age their are laws that prevent children from buying an addictive drug like nicotine. Same as drinking. Do you think that the laws and recent turn in attitude toward underage drinking is politically motivated and unnecessary?

 

[Tom_of_Assisi]

lovelavender:

Are you a high school teacher or a college teacher?

Neither. I teach Jr. High (8th grade)…and I was only JOKING about encouraging them to smoke or smoking with them… .

Here in Eugene, the parents would be cool if I smoked some dope with the kids…but cigerettes…I’d be fired on the spot.