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Drink in Moderation; Smoke Pot in Moderation

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Marcia, Nov 17, 2009.

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  1. Drink in moderation, but do not smoke pot

    10 vote(s)
    30.3%
  2. Drink in moderation, smoke pot in moderation

    5 vote(s)
    15.2%
  3. Smoke pot in moderation, but no drinking

    1 vote(s)
    3.0%
  4. No drinking or smoking pot for the believer

    13 vote(s)
    39.4%
  5. Not sure

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  6. Other (please explain)

    4 vote(s)
    12.1%
  1. Marcia

    Marcia Active Member

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    This is primarily for those who think drinking in moderation is okay for a Christian, though I have options to vote for if you don't. But I'm interested in answers mostly from those who think drinking is okay. All questions pertain to believers.

    I myself am wondering about this (though I have zero desire to smoke pot). I wonder about what biblical ethics we apply.

    If you think drinking in moderation is okay for the believer, is it okay for the Christian to smoke pot in moderation (assuming it is legal; it's really being treated this way in most places)?

    If you don't think so, please explain why it's okay to drink in moderation but not smoke pot in moderation.
     
  2. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    I have stated in the past here why I do not drink. It is not because I believe one can make a case for Biblical abstinence. First of all, I do not drink because of the pattern I had of drinking in the Navy. Not that I drank that often, but when I did, it was not in moderation. Getting back to Scripture, I do not drink because of witness, causing others to stumble, the weaker brother, and our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit. My feeling is that if you are say a Sunday School teacher, if it bothers you to drink a beer while teaching, you have been given your answer by the Lord. I judge no other believer who drinks in moderation, as I do not believe it to be a sin.

    Marijuana is not legal, and I hope it never is. However, the premise of the question was what if was legal. I still would not smoke it, but I will say this. In my case, it would do less damage to smoke marijuana in moderation than to drink. Neither is good for my spiritual walk.
     
  3. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    Other than medicinal purposes, what is the purpose of smoking pot? Can you smoke one joint and not feel anything from it? I've never used pot so I have no idea.
     
  4. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    You bring up a good point. It is strictly for getting high. I have heard (cough, cough) that yes, an amount can be smoked before feeling effects. However, aside from medicinal purposes, there would be no other reason to use it. No one smokes pot then stops before getting high, and it not gradual like alcohol. I hope it is never legalized. It is possible to drink a glass of wine to enjoy it with dinner. I gave my reasons above for doing neither.
     
  5. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    That's what I was wondering. I've had a glass of wine or other alcohol and not been "drunk" or even felt any effects but I was under the impression that pot makes you "drunk" with one joint. But I'm so "innocent" to those things because, honestly, I never hung out with people who did drugs (or I just didn't know about it). LOL My husband was in a bar band for a time when we were first married and I know that those guys got stinking, fall down drunk and it was something I never wanted for myself so I never went for more than one drink - and often that was watered down (wine spritzer or a weak scotch and soda). But drugs? NO experience. Although thinking about it, I wouldn't be surprised if some of those band guys did some and I was just totally ignorant of it. Maybe it wasn't all 'drunk' but 'high'??
     
  6. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    Another point, everyone focuses on pot, meth, etc, as more evil than alcohol, and one of the biggest problems in the USA is prescription drug abuse, doctor shopping and the like. There is nothing less destructive or sinful about this than the other that has been mentioned. The bottom line of all these catagories is a group of folks looking for a solution in the wrong place to fufill a need we all have, and that need is to love and be loved by our Creator. When that void is in our life, we try all the tricks the world has invented to fill it, and it never satisfies,and never works. That goes for money, houses, cars, etc also.
     
  7. Jim1999

    Jim1999 <img src =/Jim1999.jpg>

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    If a glass of wine is ok, How about a glass of wine in the pulpit in place of that water????

    Cheers,

    Jim
     
  8. Amy.G

    Amy.G New Member

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    Good grief guys! First I wanted to

    [​IMG]


    Now I want to

    [​IMG]



    The BB is trying to corrupt me!!!! :laugh:
     
  9. John Toppass

    John Toppass Active Member
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    I do not hold that drinking is a sin, but drinking in a way that it soils your witness is. Therefore I do not drink alcohol. But, I do not look down upon those who do drink in moderation.
    As far as smoking pot goes, no matter the drug, if it is taken for the mere high that it gives then that would be a sin for the Christian. Christians should trust God for their highs. (all this is said assuming that all acts are legal)
     
  10. Tom Butler

    Tom Butler New Member

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    Forgive me for the distraction, but I could not let this thread pass by without telling of a friend who drank a little wine for municipal purposes.
     
  11. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    Dont trade your retirement check for a contract with the Comedy Channel.
     
  12. Dale-c

    Dale-c Active Member

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    I voted other, though not sure might have been more accurate.

    I don't see any prohibition to smoking pot in scripture so it is hard for me to say it is a sin. However I am not aware of the benefit of it, though some believe there are some medical benefits to it.

    The other thing is that it is illegal in every state here in the midwest as well.
    Alcohol is presented as both a blessing in moderation and something to be avoided and sinful when abused in the Bible.

    We see neither for smoking pot.
     
  13. Alive in Christ

    Alive in Christ New Member

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    To answer questions posted earlier...

    I was an almost daily reefer smoker for several years before my conversion.

    There are levels of quality regarding marijuana. Columbian is very potent and can get one very high very quickly with just a few tokes.

    Poorer quality pot will have a very lower level of a high, even if you smoke quite a bit.

    Sort of like the differenc between a beer compared to strait whiskey

    So, yes...a small amount can get a person quite stoned with just a little bit...if it is strong reefer. Less potent pot wont do that...you would have to smoke a lot of it.

    Regarding the OP...I would probably make no distinction between weed and
    alchohol in moderation, if pot were legal. If a child of God wants to do either in moderation, thats up to him/her and their conscience.

    Getting drunk of course IS clearly wrong scripturally, and getting completly stoned would be as well.

    I personally lost all interest in both when I was born again. Just like *that*, I didnt want any of it any more, either drink or weed. Just an immediate loss of desire for those things. Praise God.
     
    #13 Alive in Christ, Nov 17, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 18, 2009
  14. Allan

    Allan Active Member

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    Since a large amount of my family does pot I can tell you that a few of them smoke a little to help them relax. And or they do a little because they like taste after a good meal. No I'm not making it up, it is 100% true. They don't do it to get stoned (at least not the specific few I am refering to) just to wind down or increase the enjoyment of their meal.

    There is a distinction between the harder or more potent stuff and the stuff of lesser quality for getting high.

    On my mom's side of the family the majority does prescription meds and on my dads side the majority does pot, though there is quite a bit of cross over to. On my mom's side you find a couple of prosistutes, and on my dad's you will find a couple of homos*xuals. So growing up was rather different in my family - both :laugh: and :tear:
     
  15. Aaron

    Aaron Member
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    Excellent point, and excellent points from former tokers. Glad there are some here to refute the assumptions of others.
     
  16. JohnDeereFan

    JohnDeereFan Well-Known Member
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    Huge logical fallacy here, Marcia. It's possible to drink in moderation without getting drunk. However, based on my experience as a former pot smoker, I don't believe it's possible to smoke pot in moderation without getting high.
     
  17. Johnv

    Johnv New Member

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    It's not a matter of "thinking". Drinking in moderation IS scripturally okay. Period.
    Assuming it were legal, it would depend on why one is smoking it. If you're smoking it to get high, it doesn't matter if it's legal or not. It's a sin. Same with drinking. If your'e drinking to get drunk, then it's a sin, whether it's legal or not.

    Now, since pot is illegal, it's a sin, whether you're smoking it to get high or not (unless, of course, you have a medical reason, and have been prescribed it by a legitimate medical professional.
     
  18. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    Why wouldn't he put a coke or iced tea in there? Traditionally, if you're speaking, water will quench your thirst and moisten your mouth and throat. The other beverages would not.
     
  19. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    Thanks for your insights. I appreciate it.
     
  20. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    The two issues are divided deeply by the nature of their substance and effects.

    You just can't link the two.

    Anyhoo, the biblical ethics issues starts and stops with this. Drinking is not illegal. Smoking pot is illegal. (This is for us souls in the US mind you.) At the principle point we have an obligation to follow our leaders' rules as exampled to us by the New Testament in numerous places.

    Therefore the prima facie ethical issue is one of submitting to those who govern us.
     
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