Some Theological (and other) Thoughts on Vaping

[blondeambition3]

What one is basically saying is that if it looks bad to me, it is a sin for you. The Bible doesn't teach that at all though. The world does. So before you start pointing out your PERCEPTION of a splinter in your brother's eye, consider the beam in your own.


/sermon

You get a big AMEN! here Brother!

Thank you for sharing.

 

[madqatter]

I just posted this as a Facebook note, primarily for my religious friends and family, and thought I'd share it here in case it benefits anyone (a big assumption on my part) or sparks some discussion.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was starting to "vape". I thought I'd share some of the research that I did into this, the logic behind why I started, and address some objections to it.

I'm glad you shared this here at ECF. I don't come from the same place you do, religiously speaking, but I like the spirit of it: "This (in the original, vaping itself; here at ECF, this post about vaping) is something that helped me, maybe it will help someone else as well." Since I started vaping I've written a few "I'm not trying to convince anyone to vape if they don't want to, but here's why I'm doing it and how it's working for me" pieces for friends, and I think it's easier to address non-vapers when we're sharing among ourselves how we've addressed non-vapers in the past, because some of us will have overlapping experiences and can benefit from one another's ideas.

I have always liked the smell of pipe tobacco. But with family and friends who have lung problems or have died from lung problems (often after being heavy smokers), actually smoking something is something I have never personally had a desire to do. I consider it a nasty habit. But there *is* a social aspect to it that I do find appealing. Everyone taking a break to go outside for a smoke break was something I always felt excluded from. And the Middle Eastern practice of folks sitting around a hooka and sharing something while they visited and talked is something that brings folks together. In our day and age of everyone running a million miles an hour in different directions, that "coming together" aspect appealed to me.

This is so true. In fact, it's a big part of the reason I started smoking: Having a moment with other people for a simple ritual of leisure and conversation, however long or brief. Even when I couldn't smoke with other people in person, I found other ways to make it "social," e.g. smoking while talking on the phone, smoking while reading or writing (while much more remote, it's still interpersonal communication!).

"One study found that people who inhaled a peppermint scent every two hours ate 2,700 fewer calories per week than they normally did — that's nearly a one-pound loss! Banana, green apple, and vanilla had similar effects in other studies. And the more often you sniff these aromas, the more weight you'll lose, says Alan Hirsch, M.D., neurological director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago."

I can provide anecdotal testimony for this one. I grow spearmint in my backyard. Whenever I'm pinching it back to make it grow in fuller, I eat the leaves I'm pinching off. They have almost no calories to speak of, but they have a strong flavor, and I've discovered over the years that it's often flavor rather than calories that I'm craving at a particular moment. Black coffee, unsweetened tea, and cigarettes were among my other calorie-free flavors; now I've replaced cigarettes with vaping. I always eat when I am actually hungry, and I don't think it's healthy not to, but these flavors help me eat only when I'm hungry.

This information, combined with Seth Roberts' Shangri-La Diet (a diet that, I will tell you up front, sounds crazy) and Michael Pollan's Food Rules, helped me lose 80 pounds without ever feeling deprived of anything.

(A personal vaporizer) is truly a unique product that touches on so many different things.

Agreed.

Some of my Christian friends have an issue with this because it *appears* to be something bad. The logic goes that since smoking is a sin, and this looks like smoke, it is a sin as well. Since some people have this issue with vaping as an "appearance of evil", I thought I'd put down some thoughts on that idea..... What one is basically saying is that if it looks bad to me, it is a sin for you. The Bible doesn't teach that at all though.

Yes, people judge "what appears to be evil" but God considers our motives.

Additional thoughts on this:

In John 7:24, Jesus said: "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."

Many people in the Bible did things that appeared to be evil/wrong but were, from a biblical perspective, not evil but good. The best New Testament example would be Jesus himself. I'm not just talking about conversing with Samaritan women alone in the middle of the day or eating with tax collectors and prostitutes. He appeared to speak blasphemy. He was put to death for fomenting political subversion. If doing something that "appears to be evil" was itself a sin, Jesus would be a sinner.

(And, of course, if doing something that "appears to be evil" was itself a sin, conjugal relations appear very similar to adultery.... etc. Your example of drinking from a cup is a good one for people who do not approve of drinking alcohol.)

I would just like to see everyone take off their damned hats.

Only men, according to traditional European-American etiquette, are supposed to remove hats in circumstances such as paying respects. Ladies never have to remove their hats except in theaters where a hat might obscure the view of stage or screen.

Actually, while certainly the Puritans had a lot of rules, when it came to consuming things like ale or wine or smoking tobacco, such were not even on the table as an issue. Moderation, however, was.

Agreed. Despite the stereotypes, Puritans enjoyed both drinking alcohol and smoking.

The incense

Someone needs to be making frankincense & myrrh juices.

Yep, people are doing it. Awesome. Someone needs to put that in vapor censers.

 

[Rocketpunk]

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Time travel just became Miller Time, baby.

 

[djeaton]

In John 7:24, Jesus said: "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."

Many people in the Bible did things that appeared to be evil/wrong but were, from a biblical perspective, not evil but good. The best New Testament example would be Jesus himself. I'm not just talking about conversing with Samaritan women alone in the middle of the day or eating with tax collectors and prostitutes. He appeared to speak blasphemy. He was put to death for fomenting political subversion. If doing something that "appears to be evil" was itself a sin, Jesus would be a sinner.

GREAT thoughts from a like mind! I've included some of this in my master copy of this essay that I've put online.