Is Smoking Tobacco a Sin?

The Chinese got nuttin' on them middle eastern "poppy smokers."

The post was definitely humorous thus qualifying for the Serious thread.

Years ago I felt the same way so I switched to Marlboro. Currently puffing L & M 'cause they're similar but much cheaper. I'm sure that the Lord does not want that in my life and I must change and give it up. Bad stuff.

but things that enter the body can pollute. drunkenness is sin and you only get it by drinking too much. it goes in your body and then blood stream. i dont know why Jesus said it doesnt go to your heart because if you eat fatty foods too much it clog your arteries. but maybe Jesus uses heart as in mind, thoughts, soul

i think Jesus in context there is speaking about the pharisee rule of washing hands before eating. Jesus' disciples didnt wash hands and Jesus say its not God's rule but Pharisee's rule

Mark 7:3 Now in holding to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat until they wash their hands ceremonially.
Mark 7:5 So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled hands.”

Actually, it really does not.... just sayin

Good post! In fact, tobacco contains over 5000 chemicals, 56 are known carcinogens, and it also contains addictive substances like nicotine. In fact, it is harder to quit smoking than to get off heroin. Most heroin addicts agree that cigarettes are more addictive.

Besides tobacco causing cancer, in many places in the body, it also causes emphysema and COPD. Why anyone would make the choice to smoke us beyond my comprehension!

I voted it is a sin for 2 reasons.

1. It is so addictive. My maternal grandmother was addicted to tobacco. Her fingers were discoloured yellow, from chain smoking. The smell was disgusting, I could tell that as a small child. It is a sin to use an addictive damaging substance.

2. I am very allergic to second hand smoke. Christians should not be making life difficult for people to breathe. I have asthma, and 1 in 10 people do. I cannot count the number of times I have gone to the ER because someone walked by me in the street, smoking, and it triggered an asthma attacking. It is a sin to hurt others, especially all the children who are allergic to second hand smoke.

I have an internet friend who is a smoker. She doesn't have enough money to live on. She can't pay her rent, but she always has a pack of cigarettes on her. Plus, she broke her wrist over a year ago, and it has not healed. The doctor told her the smoking is interfering with the bone healing.

Health care for smokers who are dying from their addiction costs so much. Smoking is not necessary, it hurts the user and so many others who are allergic to it. I've been crusading against tobacco for most of my life, but especially in the last 30 years, since I got asthma. I got smoking taken out of many rinks and arenas in the Vancouver area. Both my sons had asthma, and an addict should never take precedence over the health of many children and adults.

I have not seen anyone smoke inside church thank God. If they did the smoke alarms would go off and the church would stink.

At the library the student nurses would smoke outisde near the air vent and it would go into the library and it was horrible. Children had to walk through the smoke. What a sad example they are setting, yes they are studying to be NURSES. I know its a stressful job but you dont need to kill yourself to cope with it.

We pushed for the bylaw that said you cant smoke within the eaves of the building. Apart from the fire risk, nobody liked to clean up the cigarette butts, which would often be thrown in the garden, which smokers use as an ashtray.

I refused to get in the ute if my supervisor smoked in my gardening jobs. I also didnt like sitting where people had smoked in their lunch breaks because again it stinks and hard to breathe.

A sin..yes. If you are that angry (angry people smoked to calm themselves down I noticed) you dont need to smoke do something more productive with your life. I can think of many things if you need help. But its up to you to decide to quit I cant do it for you. Repentence is just that change your mind and stop sinning.

I voted no.

Smoking tobacco is harmful to your health. It can kill you. Done in excess it can be addicting and ruin your life.
The same can be said of alcohol, Mountain Dew, caffeine drinks, and ice cream.

I don't think it is "sin" to eat/drink these things in moderation - though it might not be wise. Sin is not focused on what goes into our bodies, but what comes out of our hearts.

Well smoke does come OUT of peoples mouths, and the hearts and lungs are affected. They go all black.

If you chew tobacco its actually not so bad as smoking it.

Sin is hurting other people. If someone overeats, it doesn't affect anyone but the person. Alcohol is another level up. I can sit next to someone drinking alcohol and it doesn't affect me. BUT, if they drink too much, take their car out on the road, and hit someone, they could kill them. So that is a sin. I don't drink at all, since Jesus saved me. I haven't regretted that decision once in 40 years.

But cigarettes are another issue. People exposed to second hand smoke cause other people to get lung cancer. I remember when the stewardesses, as they were called back them, had a union action against the airlines, because so many non-smoking among them were dying of lung cancer caused by second hand smoke. Fortunately, that is banned. But anyone smoking pollutes the air I breathe. They pollute the air for the 1/10 with asthma, they pollute the air for 100% of people who are forced to breath all those Poisons. There is no redeeming value in smoking!

It hurts others, sometimes causing death for innocent people. Surely that is a sin? That is not loving others. That is a selfish, dirty addiction, affecting everyone around them.

I hope that soon, cigarettes will be banned everywhere. Back in the 1950's and earlier, it was very acceptable. Soldiers in WWI and WWII were given free cigarettes, which doctors said was harmless. That is how my grandfather got addicted, which he didn't give up till he was put in hospital in his 80's, and no smoking was allowed.

I don't think everything that is bad for you is a sin. But, cigarettes, by their very nature hurt other people. For that reason, it has never been a harmless bad habit. It is bad for everyone, and should be banned.

I think there is some good logic in what you say here. But sin is not just "hurting other people" it is also when you hurt "yourself". Someone overeating affects that person; but also in reality if affects his family and those people close to him. Smoking is definitely a step up in intensity from overeating, that I agree with. But if a person smokes discreetly, he can make so the smoke has little effect on others.

It might sound like I am defending smoking; that is not my point at all. I have never smoked, do not recommend it to anyone, and am against it. My point is that I think we need to be careful about making an "external action" of another a "sin" unless it is in itself a sin: such as adultery, lying, cheating, etc. I do not think that the action of smoking a nicotine stick in itself is a sin; just as drinking a Mountain Dew in itself is not a sin: They both are probably not a good idea! Maybe we should discuss the guy who hasn't drunk water for 3 months and drinks two liters of Mountain Dew a day!?

Think on this: Would JESUS be smoking a cigarette? NO! Then dont do it. Would Jesus be driving around listening to the backstreet boys? NO! So dont do it. Would Jesus be POLLUTING the lungs of people around Him who have asthma like sister @Angela53510 (who I love dearly) ? OF COURSE NOT. Then dont do it

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR. Shut it down. I dont wanna hear no excuses about how hard it is to quit. STOP MAKING EXCUSES and QUIT IT. You can quit anything if you put your mind to it, Philippians 4:13. I know people first hand who have quit smoking after 40years. No patches, no nothing, just said IM DONE and quit it. My grandfather was one. GOD REST HIS SOUL, that man was a WARRIOR among men, left us a legacy and a PATH to follow. My father quit much stronger stuff COLD TURKEY as well, BY THE GRACE OF GOD.

I dont know what I got to say to get folks fired up, but what I want to say is: God gave you this moment of HEALTH and BLESSING, use it for something WHILE YOU CAN. Life is very short, make the most of it. Dont give up and always keep battling away. Go win souls. KICK YOURSELF if you feel like smoking. Dont do that to the people around you and yourself! Get busy for God and you'll forget about smoking in NO TIME. Join us on street preaching, that'll teach you how to deal with real souls in real time in the real world VERY QUICK, God will bless you for it.

Jesus words: Mark 7: 14-16. Here, Jesus is telling the people that putting things into the body does not defile,( the flesh is already vile, Philippians 3: 21) ,for it does not enter the heart, wherein is the seat of the passions and determinations. Smoking though affects the health, and may hurry along one's meeting with the Lord.

Jesus was speaking about supposedly unwashed hands (germs) and meats (food) entering into the stomach. Not poisons. BIG DIFFERENCE.

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Ehhhhhh....that’s a hard one for me. I’m not quite sure that the act of smoking itself is sinful, I think it’s what comes with it is. Bad for your health: hurting your temple. Addictive: when you’re addicted to something you’re putting it before God are you not? And it becomes your life revolving about when you can/where you can smoke. Also why are you smoking in the first place? Isn’t it to try and cope on our own strength without leaning on God?

We don’t have an verifiable proof the Christ baptized anyone, so then we shouldn’t baptize either. 🤨

He commanded it that settles that.