Posted by Randall on 8/2/2009, 12:07 pm, in reply to "Religion and Smoking"
24.179.110.134
First of all, I'm not religious myself, so take this with whatever grain of salt seems appropriate to you. That said, I was more religious in the past, and theology still interests me ... kind of like being interested in philosophy.
It seems to me that there are two ways of looking at how faith / Christianity could produce opposition to smoking. First, there is the fact that most faiths have codes of conduct, some of them kind of arbitrary, we are asked to follow without needing a reason. Our violation offends God because God told us not to do X or Y. We don't need to understand why, just have faith enough to follow the edicts. Knowingly breaking them arguably indicates a less than full devotion. That's the fundamentalist tack.
On the other hand, there's the deeper (I would argue) aspect of theology. Some religions frown upon or ban intoxicants and / or things on which we become dependent. My take is that to some extent this is partly religion kind of looking out for our well-being and encouraging us to be healthy. But non-religious people can do the same thing. From religion, add the idea that these things can be kind of competition for God. They become an unusually strong focus or obsession ... something we have to obey (an addiction). They make us lose control. And they induce to some degree a quasi-spiritual mind state we're supposed to get from communing with God.
And I suppose from some corners of Christianity there's the added aspect of being skeptical of any sort of devotion to things as opposed to devotion to God and the unseen, spiritual world. That's a very Protestant reaction against Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism which use a fair amount of symbols, icons, and imagery. Interesting that Muslims are pretty close to agreeing on this point.
Sorry, too much answer to a simple question?
--Previous Message--
: So here's my story...
:
: I'm nearly 30, and I smoked occasionally
: during college but not as a habit. After a
: particularly stressful day at work three
: years ago, I bought a pack to help me
: unwind.
:
: For about a week, I hid my smoking until my
: wife, an ex-smoker, caught me. A week after
: that, I told her that I was smoking more and
: didn't really intend to stop.
:
: I went out back to smoke, and to my
: surprise, she came outside and said,
: "Well, if you're smoking again, I guess
: I'm smoking again."
:
: We've both been closet smoking since then...
: about half a pack on work days... more on
: weekends and vacation. We only smoke at
: home when we're in town. It's wonderful
: when we're on vacation, and we can both
: smoke openly.
:
: My problem with 'coming out' is, of course,
: the guilt from others who know me as a
: non-smoker. My parents and other family are
: VERY anti-smoking, and they live in the same
: town we live in. Most people have some
: connection to each other here, and if I even
: smoked in my car, I know word would get back
: to others.
:
: But this is the main issue: My parents are
: deeply religious (as am I). They seem to
: connect smoking to faith, and I can't
: imagine their response if they know I smoke.
:
: We've gone to a church where they have a
: smoking area outside, and it's nice to not
: have the pressure on me there. But I don't
: know about acceptance beyond there.
:
: Any thoughts? Anyone ever dealt with this
: particular side of the issue?
:
Message Thread:
« Back to thread