Thanks for coming to defend my honor on that
thread guys. You all rock!
I addressed it, as well.
Sometimes I wonder if you'd think about the joys of being free & embrace it just a little you could maybe understand why the Q board sees things as they do.
We don't feel trapped or a slave to e-cigarettes. That is what seems to keep getting lost on the QSMB folks. We DO feel free!
Do you feel a slave to coffee or caffeinated soda?
Do you feel a slave to your favorite sweets?
Do you feel a slave to your internet? Car?
We enjoy the e-cigarettes. The look, feel, taste and experience. We enjoy the community it has brought us. We enjoy learning the facts about and taking control of our own health.
There were a LOT of things that I disliked about smoking - the smell on me, the
sense of shame that society looked down on me as a smoker, the fact that I could be killing myself with the toxins in the smoke, the bad feeling in my throat and lungs if I smoked too much and my kids seeing that example. But being "addicted" or dependent wasn't what I disliked about smoking - that was a side issue. I don't have any of those issues with my e-cigarettes.
So I don't feel a slave to my e-cigarette any more than I feel a slave for buying tasty, low-fat, organic food to improve my health and that of my family. Now, if you told me I had to eat tofu, I wouldn't be happy. I strongly dislike tofu! Blech.
Why do Q folks insist we must feel a slave to something we enjoy? Why do they insist we must quit doing something that is no more of a risk to our health than drinking coffee or caffeinated drinks? Sure, nicotine can be a poison (in pure, undiluted form) and it can have some low health risks, but the same can be said for caffeine.
QSMB is a site that was created to help people quit smoking. It has been largely populated with folks who take an abstinence approach to nicotine. Imagine a site created for eating healthy that has been taken over by vegetarians who hate meat. But quitting meat isn't the only way to eat healthy, right? But everyone who comes to the site is told that they must quit eating meat or they aren't eating healthy. Then new members come to the site and see that people are told to quit eating meat. They disagree that this is necessary for everyone and argue that folks should eat a balanced diet and that meats are even essential for good nutrition. The long-time members accuse the new members of being paid shills for the meat industry. When that shows not to be true, they call the "meat-eaters" names and accusing them of being animal killers, uncaring, disgusting for eating meat, weak-willed and should be ashamed for promoting meat on a web site for getting healthy. The "meat-eaters" have no problem with people who choose not to eat meat - that's a personal choice. But they worry that the advice being given on this site will scare people off from eating healthier (thinking they have to quit meat) or their health may be in danger because being a healthy vegetarian means more than just quitting meat (proteins and nutrients must be replaced.) So they stick around the site to make sure that people don't ONLY get the "no meat ever" message.
Does that analogy help any?
