Another Smokey Post

One of the first blogs I posted on this site was on the topic of smoking. My basic thesis was that smoking in moderation is not a sin because the Bible does not call it a sin. Instead, our culture has decided that smoking will not be a norm today as it was in the 1st 2/3rds of the 20th Century.

Thanks to a few other blogs, the subject of smoking (and drinking, for that matter) is being rehashed. In light of this occurrence, I simply wanted to redirect people to my previous post and guide them to the newer articles on smoking.

Enjoy!









FIDE-O: Where's There's Smoke There's Fire

Steve Camp: Smokin' In the Boy's Room

Triablogue: What's Wrong With This Picture?

A Sovereign God for Tumultuous Times

Foreigners slipping over (or under) our borders into America's heartland illegally is scary enough. Add to that the idea of crazed Middle Eastern Islamists sneaking past our border security and quietly becoming a part of everyday American life is even scarier.

Well, that may be exactly what has been happening for some time now.

How many of us have really been naive enough to believe that Mexicans are the only ones crossing the border illegally? Haven't we all understood that illegal border crossing and alien smuggling can lend itself to potential terrorists?

You bet we've known!

Now there is some substantiated evidence coming to the surface showing a smuggling operation involving the trafficking of Iraqis and other Middle Easterners in New Mexico. According to the ABC News blog,

The FBI is investigating an alleged human smuggling operation based in Chaparral, N.M., that agents say is bringing "Iraqis and other Middle Eastern" individuals across the Rio Grande from Mexico.

An FBI intelligence report distributed by the Washington, D.C. Joint Terrorism Task Force, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, says the illegal ring has been bringing Iraqis across the border illegally for more than a year.

In light of Secretary Chertoff's "gut feeling" about the raised likelihood of another stateside terrorist attack in the near future, this information is not surprising, just frightening.

We live in tumultuous times. But we serve a sovereign God, creator of the universe, sustainer of our lives. Let us remember to praise Him for His goodness and trust Him always.

Psalm 37

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.

Which Is Worse?...

Movies with all-out nudity and explicit sex scenes . . . OR . . . Movies with smoking and unhealthy food-eating?

Now the latter may receive a harsher rating than the prior.

Read it for yourself!

What strange, sad times these are. Welcome to relativism/non-absolutism/post-modernism at its best.

(Should I be laughing or crying. I do not know.)

Cultural Contradictions...

Robin over at Cigar Theology posted a very thought-provoking citation from a book by Edward Donnelly entitled Heaven and Hell.

Here's the excerpt:

"Contemporary society is in a state of ethical chaos. Imagine a group of young professionals enjoying a meal in any big-city restaurant. Not an eyebrow will be raised if someone mentions that they have recently had an abortion. A reference by another to their same-sex partner will elicit no disapproval. But if one of the party were to light a cigarette in a no-smoking section of the restaurant? Shock, horror, unanimous disgust! Is exhaling tobacco smoke more reprehensible than sexual perversion or killing an unborn child? Are such people competent to make moral judgments, to decide how God should deal with sin?They cannot even distinguish between wickedness and bad manners." (pg 25)

Dennis Prager once discussed a similar topic on his radio show when he posed the hypothetical question to parents: "If your child were addicted to one or the other, which would you rather your child be addicted to--television or tobacco?" (paraphrased). He said that a great number of parents that he spoke with on this topic were quick to respond with "Television."

Interesting.

What do YOU think?!

Birth Control

I have come to realize that this subject is much more controversial among Protestant Evangelicals than I originally thought! But whatever your opinion on the topic of birth control, here's another good read by Tim Challies.

I would say that this post is more of a discussion-starter than any kind of comprehensive answer. And with that in mind, I think Tim does a fair job of opening another can of worms!

Smokey Subject?

Like smoke hovering in the sky, it seems to me that there is a continual cloud of discussion primarily amongst Christians in the air as of late.

It is a conversation on the subject and activity of smoking tobacco, namely cigars. Since this discussion exists, let me provide some of my own personal remarks, most of which (if not all) borrow from the thoughts and words of others.

I begin with a disclaimer (although, as I have learned in the past, even my disclaimers can upset people):
This post is merely one man's opinion. I do not intend to correct, rebuke, encourage, or persuade anyone on the matter of smoking cigars or pipes (From here on, I will refer to the two collectively as cigars or tobacco.). I am simply writing to express my thoughts about smoking.

Let me start by addressing the general anti-smoking hysteria of modern times. It seems that everywhere you look: on billboards, television, newspapers, magazines, websites, etc., there is a conscious effort to discourage people from smoking. (Admittedly, most of these ads are directed at cigarette smoking; however, they can apply to all tobacco use, as well.)

This anti-tobacco propaganda is a reaction based upon recent studies conducted during the past decade or two which make scientific, medically-proven claims about the dangers of tobacco use and the harmful effects of second-hand smoking. While many of the findings of these medical studies are reliable, individuals and organizations have taken these studies and blown them out of proportion, utilizing the specific medical findings in their wide-sweeping, anti-smoking arguments. (For further reading on the anti-smoking trend, read this insightful and frightening article by Dennis Prager.)

I have come into contact with at least three groups of people who oppose the sale and use of tobacco. First, some of these individuals are former tobacco smokers who possess personal vendettas against the tobacco companies for the years they smoked cigarettes without knowledge of any major health ramifications such as lung, mouth, and throat cancer, as well as a series of heart and blood problems. These people seek some sort of revenge or justice. Other society members have jumped on the anti-smoking bandwagon because they have known someone, possibly a friend or relative, who has suffered great physical harm, even death, due in part to the effects of living a life of cigarette smoking. These people are motivated partly by a desire to protect humanity, but also potentially to stick it to the man, the man in this case being the tobacco companies. The third group of people I have encountered consist of religious folk, many of them professing evangelical Christians. These people oppose all tobacco use on the grounds of what they consider Biblical doctrine. Arguments based on notions such as "the body is a temple" and "do not be a stumbling block to the weaker brethren" abound within this anti-smoking group. But again, this group seeks only to promote physical and spiritual welfare within the human community.

All of this modern anti-smoking madness, however, has very little to due with tobacco use in the form of occasional cigar or pipe smoking. I am a tobacco user. I love both good cigars and pipes. Like many of us, I have known people who have suffered physically and/or emotionally from the over-use of tobacco. I have known people who have died young from lung cancer after years of cigarette addiction. And I have heard of individuals who have likewise died of lung cancer without ever taking a puff of a cigarette.

So where's the rub?

The root problem lies not in the occasional consumption of tobacco, but in the over-use; the habit; the addiction.

Tobacco: Tumor-causing, teeth-staining, smelly, puking habit.

Sure. One could make this claim. But it is an appeal to the emotions. One could make a similar claim about other common commodities. Take Starbucks coffee, for example. If one drinks enough of it, I'm sure a double-shot, venti caramel macchiato could cause tumors, stain teeth, make the breath smell bad, and make one vomit, too. How about Coca-Cola? Same thing.

The point is this, and we've heard it before: Everything in moderation.

Whether the item be a La Gloria Cubana, an iced Frappuccino, a Diet Mountain Dew, Cheeto's, Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough, or Baileys on the rocks, remember one thing: moderation.

Now I understand that there are indeed other issues that can come into play for the Bible-believing Christian, one such issue being the matter of the conscience. For example, if I know that my Christian brother, Joe Schmo, is constrained by his conscience not to partake in the consumption of ice cream due to his past problem with gluttony, as the stronger brother (Romans 14-15) I am obligated by Scripture to abstain from ice cream in Joe's presence. However, outside of Joe's presence, I am granted the liberty by Scripture and my own conscience to eat my ice cream, even if Joe knows I am doing so. And according to the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, brother Joe must not attempt to bind my conscience in the consumption of ice cream or despise me; nor should I flaunt my spiritual liberty or look down on him. In this mutual understanding, brothers and sisters in Christ should remain at peace with one another. In theory, I suppose.

This subject of Christian liberty plays a major role in the issue of cigar smoking. While at the same time, addiction (or most often, the lack of self-discipline/control) is another part of the equation. The matter of addiction is a serious one and should be dealt with biblically. However, let me just note that according to statistics, the amount of people who smoke cigars and are addicted to them, are very, very few compared to the number of people who smoke cigars for pleasure and recreation.

Which leads me to another major idea: the activity of smoking cigars is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable activities known to man. (I did mention that this is my opinion, correct?!) Cigar smoking is an activity that can be engaged in exclusive of anything else, and it is also an activity which can be easily accompanied by a number of other leisurely activities: golfing, camping, driving, hunting, walking, boating, reading, playing board games, contemplating, bird-watching, and my favorite: theologue-ing.

Cigar smoking accompanied by the discussion of theology is a time-old tradition, especially among reformed individuals. This is due in part to the influence of the pipe-smoking, White Horse Tavern Puritans upon the modern-day reformed community, formalized by the greatest theologian of the 19th Century, Charles H. Spurgeon, and contemporized by great thinkers and writers like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and others. Thus, for centuries, smoking and theology have gone hand-in-hand. Today still, cigars are precious to many members of the reformed community. They remain a symbol of our reformed heritage, our God-given liberties, and a wonderful pastime!

In closing, avoid the current anti-tobacco craze, and allow yourself to muse over the following two poems celebrating God's creation, the tobacco leaf.



Great Poem by Bach:

Whene'er I take my pipe and stuff it
And smoke to pass the time away
My thoughts, as I sit there and puff it,
Dwell on a picture sad and grey:
It teaches me that very like
Am I myself unto my pipe.
Like me this pipe, so fragrant burning,
Is made of naught but earthen clay; T
o earth I too shall be returning,
And cannot halt my slow decay.
My well used pipe, now cracked and broken,
Of mortal life is but a token.
No stain, the pipe's hue yet doth darken;
It remains white.
Thus do I know
That when to death's call I must harken
My body, too, all pale will grow.
To black beneath the sod 'twill turn,
Likewise the pipe, if oft it burn.
Or when the pipe is fairly glowing,
Behold then instantaneously,
The smoke off into thin air going,
'Til naught but ash is left to see.
Man's fame likewise away will burn
And unto dust his body turn.
How oft it happens when one's smoking,
The tamper's missing from it's shelf,
And one goes with one's finger poking
Into the bowl and burns oneself.
If in the pipe such pain doth dwell
How hot must be the pains of Hell!
Thus o'er my pipe in contemplation
Of such things - I can constantly
Indulge in fruitful meditation,
And so, puffing contentedly,
On land, at sea, at home, abroad,
I smoke my pipe and worship God.

Johann Sebastian Bach - 1725 (1685-1750)
From: The Second Little Clavier Book For Anna Magdalena Bach




Smoking Spiritualized
by Ralph Erskine

This Indian weed now witherd quite,
Tho green at noon, cut down at night,
Shows thy decay;
All flesh is hay.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

The pipe so lily-like and weak,
Does thus thy mortal state bespeak.
Thou art ev'n such,
Gone with a touch.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

And when the smoke ascends on high,
Then thou beholdst the vanity
Of worldly stuff,
Gone with a puff.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

And when the pipe grows foul within,
Think on thy soul defild with sin;
For then the fire,
It does require.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

And seest the ashes cast away;
Then to thyself thou mayest say
That to the dust
Return thou must.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

PART II.
Was this small plant for thee cut down?
So was the plant of great renown;
Which mercy sends
For nobler ends.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

Doth juice medicinal proceed
From such a naughty foreign weed?
Then whats the pow'r
Of Jesse's flow'r?
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

The promise, like the pipe, inlays,
And by the mouth of faith conveys
What virtue flows
From Sharon's rose.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

In vain th unlighted pipe you blow;
Your pains in inward means are so,
Till heav'nly fire
Thy heart inspire.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

The smoke, like burning incense tow'rs
So should a praying heart of yours,
With ardent cries,
Surmount the skies.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.


Further Resources:

Check out this interesting story about Billy Graham:

Spurgeon's famous thoughts on cigar smoking.

A Townhall.com political take on smoking:

American Cancer Society's information on cigar smoking:

Crosswalk.com thread on cigars, etc.

Terrible sermon here on smoking as a sin.

Here is a terrific article on the inferring of sin.

Steve Camp:
There may be many good reasons not to practice birth control, smoke cigars, charge interest, grow huckleberries, listen to the Beatles, drink Bushmill's Irish whiskey, dance at weddings, drive a convertible, send your daughters to Ivy League colleges, sport Afros, invest in mutual funds, play the slots in Las Vegas, watch R-rated movies, learn to whittle, or wear linen sport coats but none of those reasons have any inherent bearing on sin. If you cannot practice these things in good conscience, then don't practice them (Rom. 14:23). Just don't criticize Christians who do practice them.

Click here for an ARBCA elder's blog thoughts on cigar smoking.