If marijuana were legal, would it be immoral for Christians to smoke it?

[Rubia Warren]

Oh....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Em7, Jinx neg repped me too and said the same thing!!!

I seriously doubt God's plan included humans smoking pot to get high.

WOOOO! Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!! This is so funny. Thank you Jinx, you have totally made my day with a smile.

[Tfbandie]

Oh....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Em7, Jinx neg repped me too and said the same thing!!!


WOOOO! Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!! This is so funny. Thank you Jinx, you have totally made my day with a smile.

Yup Got the same line myself, I don't think he even read the thread to see the points some of us were trying to make in comparing alcohol and marijuana

[Tfbandie]

There is a purpose to smoking marijuana recreationally besides getting stoned. Some people smoke because it's gaseous refreshment.

There is only one purpose to drinking alcohol recreationally, and that's to get rashed. Whether it's just a little or a lot, the purpose is the same.

So, it all falls under drunkenness.

[themuzicman]

"Gaseous refreshment?"

[Rubia Warren]

I don't even compare pot to alcohol, mostly. You can smoke pot and get a little high without getting stoned.
And by smoking it in this way, I see very little difference between that and taking NyQuil when you are sick, tylenol PM to relax to sleep, or migraine pills when you've got a killer migraine.
Is taking NyQuil drunkenness as well- because when we take it, we know we are most likely to get a little high and go to sleep.

[themuzicman]

You don't take nyquil recreationally, do you?

[Rubia Warren]

You don't take nyquil recreationally, do you?

Nope.... but when I was a teenager a bunch of kids abused Robitussin DM to get "high".
But what I am saying is, that when people take things such as NyQuil, it tends to knock you out- it's even advertised that way for that purpose.

[AtheistArchon]

There is a purpose to drinking alcohol recreationally besides getting drunk. Some people drink beer because it's liquid refreshment.

There is only one purpose to smoking marijuana recreationally, and that's to get stoned. Whether it's just a little or a lot, the purpose is the same.

So, it all falls under drunkenness.

- Nahhhh I don't buy that. If I can drink one cold beer on a hot Friday afternoon and it's okay (I'm not drunk, that is, impaired), then I should be able to smoke one spliff on the way to the club (I'm not stoned, that is, impaired) and it should be okay.

- Seems to me the problems arise equally: too much of either thing will impair you, and it's at that point where you become "drunk". Now, scripturally? You guys are on your own there, I'm not going to pretend to try to apply real-world circumstances to the bible to try and come up with some kind of answer.

[themuzicman]

And it's also controlled by the FDA, and needs FDA approval before it can be sold for that purpose. It also includes warnings and dosage information, which the consumer is expected to follow.

Which brings me back to my original post. If someone gets it approved as a controlelled substance by the FDA for specific uses, as Nyquil and vicodin and all the other medicines out there are, then I don't have a problem with it.

But recreational use is still akin to drunkenness.

I don't think you mean to imply that using Nyquil to get a buzz is moral, do you?

Michael

[Rubia Warren]

I don't think you mean to imply that using Nyquil to get a buzz is moral, do you?

Michael

Of course not.

[Cowthulu]

We all drink at family gatherings, it's always been acceptable even underaged.

In Texas if you are drinking in the presence of your legal guardian, even if you are underaged it is legal.

[elysian]

"Gaseous refreshment?"

That sounds like a nice one to try after a White Castle lunch...

"Ok, boys, I was just trying to provide you some gaseous refreshment!"
(as they are choking and gagging and clawing at the car doors in a futile attempt to escape the Green Cloud of Death)

My view as a Christian (and I smoked cigs for years, but thank God by his grace I am free of that bondage) is that smoking anything is wrong for me. That includes weed. But if the choice is: "which is the lesser evil, someone being drunk or stoned," the person who is stoned is a lesser risk to him/herself and others than the drunkard is. Christians can't necessarily expect non-Christians to adhere to the same rules, and even then it's not necessarily about rules. Because I have a tendency toward becoming dependent- in the past I was a heavy drinker, smoked doob and even after I no longer drank or smoked doob, I smoked cigs for years- and by God's grace I have learned these things are not good for me. These are things I need to avoid not because of "'da rules" but because I want to live to glorify God. Being dependent upon substances that dull my awareness and harm my health and effectiveness is not a good witness. It's a question of submitting to God's will out of love and as a response to His grace and love for me, not a question of "it's against the rules."

Alcohol is portrayed both positively and negatively in Scripture- Jesus drank wine and wine is named many times in Scripture as a gift, something to enjoy. But wine is a gift with boundaries- just as the gift of sex has boundaries. We can agree- sex with one's spouse is a good thing, it is God's intent for sexuality, but we pervert and misuse that gift if we engage in sex with anyone other than one's spouse or if we engage in sexual activity outside of God's design and intent for our bodies (homosexual sex.) Alcohol as well can be a good gift- a glass of wine with dinner or a beer or two with friends is fine, but drunkenness too is sin. A person who struggles with the correct parameters and boundaries for these gifts may need to abstain from them entirely to avoid falling into sin.

I agree that God did intend for us to use certain things for medicine including pain killers, but I don't think He intended "recreational" use as in chronic drunkenness or being stoned all the time.

[Rubia Warren]

I agree that God did intend for us to use certain things for medicine including pain killers, but I don't think He intended "recreational" use as in chronic drunkenness or being stoned all the time.

I believe that the choice of someone to use marijuana is an individual one. But I do not lump everyone who uses marijuana in the "recreational use" category. Marijuana has some good benefits that I won't deny, and I am not talking about sitting around with a group of friends tokin on a huge fatty on a saturday night. I see a person who takes a hit off of a joint to relieve a migraine no more "ungodly" than someone who takes a prescription pill (not saying you do think they are immoral).

[Solly]

My former pastor used to smoke in his early days, and many of his generation did to (this is the UK). It was common he said, to arrive in the coatroom and see a cloud of smoke as everyone had their last before the service. but once the information about the damage smoking does came out, it became apparent that smoking was wrong. I don't like the word immoral, it's not Christian; it was unChristian to engage in an activity that would have such deleterious affects on one's body, leaving aside the issue of addiction and nice feelings (apparently). the same goes for drug use. The government in the UK is majoring on the fact that various recreational drugs are not harmless, that smoking dope can be as if not more harmful than smoking tobacco. And the other drugs are worse. the issue of whether we are allowed to feel good should be separate from this matter, but there is the fact of what we would do to feel good (spend a lot of money), and what we might do while "feeling good" (crash a car for instance, or walk out an upper storey window).

Some always revert to the, oh yeah what about tea and coffee. But if they were shown to be either a) harmful to my health, b) addictive beyond normal means to give up, or c) producing anti-social behaviour, then I would give them up, as the Christian thing to do.

I don't drink alcohol because it does not take much to make me tipsy, and very silly. I don't smoke cos its horrible, smelly, and bad for my lungs and heart. i don't do dope for all those reasons.

[themuzicman]

I don't think anyone is lumping them all into the same category, Roobz.

But that perscription drug has been tested to find the correct dosage and usage in the best interests of the patient, and has FDA approval before it goes out on to the shelf.

There are no laws which need to change today for marijuana to become available in this manner. Someone just has to do the work.

Michael