About 60% of the world population smoke, either cigarettes or cannabis. Most especially in the cold regions of the world. This begs the question some of us have been asking.. "Is smoking a sin? Does the fact that I smoke make me less Christian than those who don't?"
Well, I don't have the answer to your question!
Lol, just kidding. In Nigeria today, smoking is commonly associated with social vices. And it's glaringly obvious that that's a wrong notion! Not everyone who smokes is a thief or unscrupulous person! I smoke. Once in a blue moon, but I do, (Yes I do. Deal with it and move on) and that doesn't make me a riff raff or a tout or a criminal. Nigerians please re-evaluate your thinking!
Now I'm not going to tell you that smoking is wrong or that smoking is right. I'm just going to give different points and let you make your own decisions on it.
- Smoking is a sin, says the Bible: It's not written anywhere in the Bible that smoking is a sin. No where. If your Bible has it in there, please kindly tell me the version you read so I can go and check it out. Nevertheless, there are verses in the Bible that allude to smoking. Here are some...
"Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything" (1 Corinthians 6:12).
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
This is all true. Some Christians argue that smoking is not honouring God with our bodies, because it is addictive, causes damages to the lungs, and reduces life expectancy. I dare to ask. What about eating junk food? Fatty food we get from take out? Unhealthy meals? These are addictive too. They cause damage to the health and they can also reduce life expectancy if we take them at an alarming rate. And we do!
- Health Factor: Nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive. It travels quickly to the brain and makes the person taking it crave for more. But cannabis is not addictive. There are rare cases of cannabis (weed, marijuana) addiction, but very few to speak of. Read this..
It's hard to tackle the physical addiction to nicotine. Cigarettes contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance found naturally in tobacco. It travels quickly to the brain when it is inhaled. Nicotine can also elevate your mood and your heart rate.
Surprisingly, the average cannabis consumer appears to have little risk of lung damage or cancer. Several large-scale, epidemiological studies have found that cannabis may be easier on the lungs than you might expect. Though, there are still concerns about heavy, protracted consumption.
PROS, CONS, CONCLUSION: I had a lot of fire in my veins when I started writing this, but suddenly fuel finished the fire died out. Anyways, smoking has its advantages and disadvantages. I'd like to think that it's not the act itself that's wrong, but rather the reason behind the act, you feel me? Not smoking itself, but why do we smoke? For the wrong reasons or for the right ones? Wrong situations or the right ones? I think this is what counts. Also, too much of everything is bad. So to those of you who think I condone chain smoking, I don't. But as they say, different strokes for different folks.
That being said, I leave you to form your opinions. I would love to read about them, so please leave a comment! Thanks for reading this "supposed to be awesome but not quite there yet" post!!