Is it a sin to smoke marijuana...

[butterfly77]

if it is why and if not why?

[donco6]

1. No.

I don't believe in sin.

[Snotcicles]

35. Only if Bogart that joint my friend. n/t

[donco6]

43. That should go without saying . . . but then,

why do people STILL DO IT??!!

Grrr!

[uncle ray]

49. because they're high?

:shrug:

[porphyrian]

2. If it is, I won't be alone in hell. - n/t

[Uncle Joe]

60. In Hell, you only get the stems and seeds which you don't need, the Devil and his demons

tease you by smoking Acapulco Gold which is bad ass weed, or was that Jamaican? I forgot.

[porphyrian]

70. My cousin knows a couple demons...

...I'm sure I can bum a roach or two.

[Little Wing]

3. Can't be. Read Genesis, it's the first couple pages of the Bible

EVERYTHING was given to us for our consumption. MJ doesn't need refining like other drugs, it's natural. If smoking it is a Sin, then God made a mistake, and that's obviously not possible.

Game. Set. Match.

[jus_the_facts]

103. "...partake of every herb bearing seed..."

....paraphrased but it's in there!

[hobbit709]

4. Only if you don't share.

[formercia]

11. or Bogart.

:evilgrin:

[hobbit709]

12. Ah, but bogarting is not sharing in a way.

[formercia]

13. Like the difference between selfish and greedy.

moot when you have to wait for your turn.

[Snotcicles]

37. Geezers. n/t

[demobabe]

5. Are you stoned?

;)

[butterfly77]

10. Maybe, I should have been for the last six years...

[htuttle]

6. Genesis 1:29

"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

19. pro-drug and pro-vegetarian blasphemy from the bible itself

:D

[Jed Dilligan]

38. Jacobean English, meat = food,

no implication of animal source. Just sayin'.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

41. actually, it very much is an implication.

For Example, Seventh Day Adventist take this verse as a quite clear sign they shouldn't eat meat.

[Jed Dilligan]

42. I was talking about the early 17th century,

when there were no 7th Day Adventists (formed in 1844, when the modern meaning of "meat" had come to the fore.)

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

44. If you take the verse in context with Genesis 1:28, its pretty clear

1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Dominion over the Animals. Seeds, Fruits and Veggies for food. It doesn't say I give animals for meat, only dominion (of course the definition of that word could be argued).

[Jed Dilligan]

45. I'm not arguing with that,

just saying that "meat" in the 17th century meant "food" without implying its source as it does today.

What the Bible says has absolutely no bearing on my own food choices since I don't subscribe to any Abrahamic faith.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

48. and all I was saying is that the bible says eat fruits and veggies

:D

[Shakespeare]

65. You are aware that the "burnt offerings" were consumed as food?

Again, as the other poster pointed out, you're basing your argument on an Elizabethan-era interpretation, and not on the original text.

The eating of meat is clearly addressed elsewhere in the old testament, too.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

95. Actually, burnt offereings were a throw back to other religions

of the time. Moses instituted them, not g-d according to Hebraic scholars:
http://www.jewishveg.com/faq03.html

and, no, im basing my argument in fact, using a line of translated text. all that matters is that plants = food (meat) and animals don't (dominion).

[meow2u3]

92. Dominion = the power to tame

When God, through that passage in the Bible, mentioned that humans are to have "dominion over the animals", it actually meant that we were to have the power to tame them--not to abuse them for our benefit! Dominion is not domination and exploitation.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

96. here here

:D Even g-d says they applies nefesh chaya ("living soul") to animals as well as people.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

84. why does the bible hate God?

[Liberal Veteran]

7. Of course it is.....

....but if you take it in pill form, it is "pre-blessed" so there is no sin.*


*Message approved by Astra-Zeneca, GSK, and your local pharmacy.

[NOLADEM]

8. For what it is worth...

The name cannabis is generally thought to be of Scythian origin. Sula Benet in Cannabis and Culture argues that it has a much earlier origin in Semitic languages like Hebrew, occurring several times in the Old Testament. He states that in Exodus 30:23 that God commands Moses to make a holy anointing oil of myrrh, sweet cinnamon, kaneh bosm, and kassia. He continues that the word kaneh bosm is also rendered in the traditional Hebrew as kannabos or kannabus and that the root "kan" in this construction means "reed" or "hemp", while "bosm" means "aromatic". He states that in the earliest Greek translations of the old testament "kan" was rendered as "reed", leading to such erroneous English translations as "sweet calamus" (Exodus 30:23), sweet cane (Isaiah 43:24; Jeremiah 6:20) and "calamus" (Ezekiel 27:19; Song of Songs 4:14).

http://www.iahushua.com/T-L-J/Mbib.html

[leftofthedial]

9. only an iniquitous gawd-hating heathen

would inhale the devil vapors of the moojie-wawa herb.

[SmokingJacket]

14. The only sin is hurting people.

If you smoke so much you hurt yourself, that's a sin.

[leftchick]

15. are you crazy?

we smoke tobacco that came from the same place.... GOD! Why not cannabis?

:smoke:

[butterfly77]

18. Because the right wingers say so...

when they and their children smoke it and pretend as if they don't...

[LeighAnn]

16. What Fundies Say

Fundies say we are obliged by God to obey the laws of the state (and will cite something Paul said), but Thomas Jefferson said that an unconstitutional law becomes unconstitutional the day it becomes a law, not the day it is ruled unconstitutional. The prohihition of marijuana is obviously unconstitutional on a 14th amendment level at the very least. Besides, as cited above, man has been given dominion over such species.

[irislake]

17. I come from a family of alcoholics

it would be far better if alcoholics smoked pot. No violence, no crashing into furniture and falling down the stairs or passing out --- just mellowing out and getting the munchies. Far less dangerous and harmful than alcohol. Can't understand at all why it's against the law. But at least in my country, when Harper is gone, we may make it legal. Better for us all if GWB had smoked it too. And even inhaled.

[Greyhound]

90. If you want to know why it is illegal, check out #77 and follow the link. n/t

[butterfly77]

20. I haven't checked but I saw in an old film...

on turner classics a film where they were dancing and pretending to be marijuana and I heard that it used to be legal in the 20's or 30's... I don't know what changed and why it became illegal...

[Alexander]

32. Is that "Reefer Madness"?

If so, the movie was laughed at and derided as bunk science when it came out.

And you can thank a certain Harry Anslinger for making it illegal.

[Karenina]

33. WHY? Industrialists aided by

William Randolph Hearst.

[butterfly77]

52. what was the reason did it affect them in some way...

[0rganism]

55. Hearst, so the story goes, wanted hemp illegal

...so he could make more profits from his vast timber holdings.

Anslinger had his own reasons, mostly anchored in racism, as marijuana was widely used by blacks and hispanics.

Hearst and Anslinger found some common ground and lobbied for the initial ban, which Nixon (IIRC) reinforced in his first term with the CSA.

[butterfly77]

58. I knew that it would have to do with profits somehow...

these laws are so stupid because I have walked past teens who smoke it as though they were smoking cigarettes, and others. This is a substance that can't be controlled because it can be grown just about anywhere and it is smoked by a large majority of people in this country any way. This is just like it was when they had prohibition for alcohol. I believe that some are afraid of it because they look at it like other drugs. When in reality some are already hooked on prescription drugs.

[Karenina]

66. Their bottom line.

It's the same reason Big Pharma pours BIG BUCKS into defeating measures that would allow medical marijuana. YOU CAN GROW IT IN YOUR YARD. Their expensive chemical concoctions, many of which are not anywhere near so safe and effective, would be abandoned wholesale.

You DO realize the Constitution is written on hemp paper, don't you? It's MUCH BETTER QUALITY than that processed from wood.

[butterfly77]

71. Yes, I did know that...about the Constitution

but I always wonder why these people want to outlaw marijuana when a lot of them smoke it themselves, and alcohol seems to be worser...

[Karenina]

80. Worser?

OK. I get it now. :think:

[Cerridwen]

77. Here's a link with a timeline...

start reading about 1920 to see what happened in the U.S.

1920-1940: Economic power is consolidated in hands of small number of steel, oil and munitions companies, such as Dupont, which became the USs primary munitions manufacturer. Dupont developed and patented fuel additives such as tetraethyl lead and other petroleum based products like nylon, cellophane and plastics during this time. Mexican rebels seize prime timberland from land belonging to newspaper magnate, paper and timber baron, William Randolph Hearst.

1920-1970: Oil Barons Rockefeller, Standard Oil, and Rothschild of Shell, etc., realized the possibilities of Henry Ford's vision of cheap methanol fuel, so they kept oil prices at between one dollar and four dollars a barrel (almost 42 gallons in a barrel), so that no other energy source could compete with it, until 1970, after all competition was erased, when then price of oil jumped to almost $40/barrol over the next 10 years.

1931: Andrew Mellon, The Treasury Secretary, and Head of Bank of Pittsburgh, which loaned Dupont 80% of its money, appoints his nephew-in-law, Harry J. Anslinger, to head newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics (later becoming the DEA).

1930s: Following action by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and a campaign by William Randolph Hearst, propaganda is created against hemp from companies with vested interest in the new petroleum-based synthetic textiles. Even though hemp reinvented itself, thanks to new technology that eased processing and expanded its use, the timber (Hearst) and oil interests (Dupont, Anslinger, Mellon) crushed competition from plant-based cellulose by demonizing marijuana, and paralleling its use to Mexican immigrants and later Black jazz musicians. The effects of marijuana are demonized with such movies as "Marijuana: assassin of youth," Devil's weed," and "Reefer Madness." Throughout this assault hemp's link to marijuana is exaggerated.

Four paragraph rule means you get to click this link to go read more

Though it's not included in the above document, everything stated in the article is documented on the internet(s) and many public records.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

21. Could you repeat the question...

:smoke:

[madmusic]

22. Praying might be more fun. Duuno, never tried it...

Praying, I mean.

[Phrogman]

23. Only if you masterbate

while stoned.

[ComerPerro]

24. why the hell would it be a sin?

[Rex]

27. Well they have to find something to make you feel guilty over!

Govt just can't find another scapegoat that pays so much as illicit drugs.

[ComerPerro]

28. well, yes, of course. But that goes for a lot of sins.

[butterfly77]

53. Leave to the religious right everything is a sin...

you can't drink, have sex with anyone unless you are married or masturbate,but they can do it and judge everyone else.

[LaPera]

25. God's gift of medicinal qualities, relaxation, fun & enlightenment to all, except for the ignorant..

No addiction, no side effects, (save, the munchies) and many other uses.

[WinkyDink]

26. If one classifies it as self-indulgence, perhaps. But I'd say "No".

[Rainscents]

29. No...

Because, GOD put marijuana herb on this earth for us to enjoy!

[ThomWV]

30. What sort of twisted thinking can even put the two in the same phrase?

[Warpy]

31. If you are a believer, and your use of the word "sin" indicates that

you are, you have to recognize the fact that your creator also created plants like poppies and cannabis that carefully target receptors in our nervous systems and help relieve the suffering in this life.

How arrogant is it to ban part of creation because a few bitter and self centered Puritans are terrified that someone won't suffer as much as they do? How utterly futile is it to insist the rest of us wring as much misery as possible out of life be rejecting what our creator gave to us to alleviate it?

It seems too many people go around trying to label other people, places and things as "sinful." Perhaps we'd all be better served if they realized "sin" ended at the surface of their own skin, and we're not their job.

[burythehatchet]

39. nice post warpy

[Jed Dilligan]

40. I don't believe in sin,

but an elderly black church lady once told me, "The Bible don't say the weed is good, the Bible say the weed is VERY good, so you gotta only smoke a little."

[butterfly77]

76. For the record...

I don't believe that to smoke marijuana is a sin...

[Greyhound]

93. Good point.

However, the bitter puritans are just a front, or useful idiots. The true motivation for making them illegal, like almost everything else, is money. Specifically, the paper, oil, and chemical industries, the very same industries that would later become majority members of what will be known as the "Military Industrial Complex".

Funny, how the longer you look at everything that has lead up to our current crisis, it is all related. :shrug:

[WindRavenX]

34. oh, hell no

God created weed

Man created booze

Who do you trust? :smoke:

[Sapphocrat]

36. There's no such thing as "sin". n/t

[Mr_Spock]

46. Sin?

I think that is a bizarre word "sin" :rofl:

...reminds me of the manipulation the religious folks have tried to use on me over the years - can't they mind their GD business?

[SlavesandBulldozers]

86. can't they mind their GD business?

no. no they can't.

[Cobalt Violet]

47. No , nothing is a sin.

I don't believe in sins.

[AZBlue]

50. It's not a sin, but it's not the smartest thing to do either, IMO.

I'm not talking about occasional use, I'm talking about habitual smokers.

Over my life I've had quite a few friends and acquaintances who have regularly smoked and each one of them got dumber and dumber over time. I don't know if it was the residual effects of the drug or not, but they became slow and dim-witted and just kind of stupid. Not only that, but they wasted a lot of their time just hanging out and "vegging" when they could have been out doing things, living life. It seems like many habitual users are using it as an escape and that's too bad.

[butterfly77]

56. Do you think that alcohol has the same effects...

Because I know people who have smoked for years it hasn't effected their work habits or extracurricular activites. I also know people who drink and they are violent and sometimes are too hungover to get to work the next day.

[0rganism]

57. There is only one "smartest" thing to do

Are you sure you're doing it right now?

[butterfly77]

59. And what might that be?

[0rganism]

79. Dunno -- but I'm guessing it doesn't involve reading web forums

Of all the less-than-smartest things humanity does every day, some folks just gotta pick on smoking marijuana :shrug:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

67. I know a lot of dumb people that don't smoke marijuana.

Therefore, my anecdotal evidence disproves your anecdotal evidence.

[leesa]

51. Do you actually believe in sins?!?

My goodness! The old priests and scribes had you hoodwinked. Social control, then and now.

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

54. No, it is a religious ritual.

As a recovering Catholic, I can say unequivocally that it beats the hell out of Mass.

[Ioo]

61. To Some, Yes 1 Cor.6:18 - 20

<18> Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that commiteth fornication sinneth against his own body.
<19> What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
<20> For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

[butterfly77]

62. So does this mean...

no alcoholic beverages including wine, no medication marijuana,valium,oxycontin, etc..no touching of sexual organs unless your partner (if you have one) does the touching ( I wonder what condelezza does)
Speaking of wine I recall an article about some animals eating some over ripe fruit and they became intoxicated I guess if someone was hungry and they ate this fruit this would be a sin also because it would make them drunk...

[Ioo]

63. Yes to all of those things.

Look I do not agree with it, but this the part of the bible that is used to make drinking a sin, and Mormon use this as root for the Words of Wisdom saying no hot drinks or coke.

[Shakespeare]

64. But Jesus drank wine.

And he was without sin.

[Ioo]

73. Just saying - He was without sin at his death, not while he was alive.

No where in the bible does it say he is without sin while on earth.

[Shakespeare]

74. LOL--you'll have a hard time backing that up.

I've NEVER heard that suggested before. The accepted belief is that he was without sin his whole life. I'm not saying I believe that's the case, but you can't very well take one hard-and-fast position RE the body as a temple and then re-interpret accepted belief on the life of Christ. Rather contradictory, it is.

[butterfly77]

75. Yes. you agree with doing all of those things ...

or you do not agree with doing all of those things, what did the mormons say when they used cocaine in coca cola...

[SlavesandBulldozers]

87. i don't get it. n/t

[VforVicarious]

68. I don't believe in "sin"

So in that case, I'd have to say no

[MrSlayer]

69. No.

Because the whople concept of sin is ludicrous.

[Balbus]

72. If smoking marijuana is wrong...

Then I don't want to be right!! :headbang:

[everythingsxen]

78. It's not a sin...

but there is such a thing as sin.

It's not a sin because as others have pointed out, God clearly gave all plants (save the Tree of Knowledge) to man for his needs. Hemp is without a doubt, the best plant on Earth. It can be used for textiles, the seeds are nutritious, there is like a bajillion uses for the stuff. It's not a sin, it's just unprofitable to certain industries. (Paper logging, Cotton, SynthFabrics)

As for actual Sin, the Seven Deadly Sins are a construct of the Catholic Church, created by Pope Saint Gregory the Great. I personally think they are generally good rules to live by:

• Pride: This is hubris, an excess of pride. Examples: See 2003 Iraq War; 2006 MidTerm Election
  
• Envy: The reasons envy is bad should be obvious.
  
• Anger/Wrath: Not justified anger or righteous wrath, but the absence of love and the victory of hate.
  
• Sloth: Sitting on your ass all day gets you nowhere.
  
• Greed: See examples: Bush, Cheney, Halliburton, Iraq War, etc.
  
• Gluttony: Something our culture is overwhelmed with.
  
• Lust: A healthy sex drive is one thing... but when your whole life is focused on sex, you have a problem.
  

[JVS]

81. Depends on legality of it. Generally one is supposed to obey laws

[wildhorses]

82. no, it is NOT a sin

moderation is the key--puff, puff, pass :smoke:

[BarenakedLady]

83. I have an out

I don't believe in God, therefore I don't believe in "sin".

Smoke em if you got em :smoke:

[bigwillq]

85. Give me a break.

No it's not a sin.

It's illegal but not a sin.

It should be legal though. Ain't nothing wrong with that plant.

:smoke:

[NNadir]

88. I don't know about a "sin," but I don't think of it as particularly noble.

There are about 90 trillion better things to do.

[driver8]

89. If smoking pot is wrong...I don't wanna be right!!

Is it a sin? I have no idea.

[Tyo]

91. There is no "sin"

there is simply bad manners. Smoking weed in any situation where alcohol would be considered acceptable and appropriate is not bad manners, although it might be illegal.

[dysfunctional press]

94. no. "sin" does not exist...it's a religious concept.

and i'm not a religious guy.

[billyskank]

97. Given that the word "sin" refers to an activity proscribed by some scripture

then it depends on what scripture you happen to believe in, if any. If you believe in no scripture at all then it is meaningless to talk about sin, because no activity could be considered sinful. It should be noted that this is not exactly the same as morality or ethics, although they can be linked. Irreligious people can still be moral people.

I can't speak of the Abrahamic faiths, but in the Hindu estimation all work is divided into three categories: karma, akarma and vikarma. These have the following meanings:

karma is prescribed duties. The duties that are prescribed for a person depends on their acquired nature.

akarma is failure to perform one's prescribed duties.

vikarma is performance of any activity other than those that are prescribed.

Of these, akarma and vikarma are considered inauspicious, and are to be given up. These are termed papa, or sinful activities. Only karma is auspicious and thus only this is accepted as the true karma.

Although prescribed duties depend on a person's nature, for nobody is smoking marijuana prescribed, so this would be considered sinful for all.

[anarch]

98. yes, it is a sin to not smoke marijuana

wait...what was the question?

[bridgit]

99. smoking marijuana is among the finer applications of 'dominion'...

[Taverner]

100. King David was annointed with Hash Oil

When he became king. The oil will penetrate your skin and give you one hell of a high.

This may account for his naked dancing that night.

[Ms_Dem_Meanor]

101. NO!!!

It's not a sin. I believe that "weed" is arelative to a herb that is used in everyday life. If I am right it is used in cooking. As far smoking it, I know first hand that when I injured my back it sure did relieve the pain and discomfort that I had a hell of a lot better than Percocet and Tylenol 3 with codeine. So... PASS THE DUTCHIE TO THE LEFT HAND SIDE!!!:smoke: :smoke: :smoke:

[youthere]

102. Only if you don't share.

[montanto]

104. Only if you are actually in church at the time.

[Zhade]

105. Only if you're an uptight gullible tightass ignorant of its true properties.

NT!