how do you respond to someone that says "marijuana is a gift from God"?

i can't find a place in scripture that would say otherwise...

the only thing i know is that we are supposed to obey our government's laws (as long as they don't pass a law requiring you to break God's law)... so since it's considered illegal in the united states, that should be reason enough for christians to abstain... but what about countries where it's NOT illegal?... what does the church in the netherlands teach concerning christians and marijuana use?

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brandon tussey

intown presbyterian (pca)

portland, oregon

"therefore i despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (job 42:6)

See my views on drugs previously expressed here (Puritan Pub forum).

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Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor, The Matthew Poole Project

"Let your Morning Thoughts, and your last Evening Thoughts, be what shall become of you to all Eternity." -- Matthew Poole

i'm not allowed to view it

If you would like access, you should u2u an admin to request permission. See this thread for more details.

Don't be so judgmental. Maybe, he has cataracts or glaucoma and a prescription for medical marijuana perhaps?

Interestingly, in California they passed an ordinance legalizing it for medicinal use.

Likewise, in Oregon, it is legal for medicinal purposes. Interesting sidenote about Oregon: everyone has been diagnosed with glaucoma.


:P

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Ryan
1689 London Baptist Confession

Marijuana is only partially legal here for medicinal use, it's still against the Federal law and I suppose if the Feds wished, they could come in and impose Federal law. So far, they haven't chosen to die on that hill. There's a small matter in the Middle East occupying them at present. Or are they the ones occupying...

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The man who is disposed to think of his sin as a great calamity, rather than as a heinous crime, is not likely either to reverence God or to respect His law. - John Kennedy, 1873
Meg
Blog
Member, Intown Presbyterian Church,PCA, Portland, OR

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

As I saw one brother put it once, marijuana is to be forbidden because it is always a "mind bender" i.e. the equivalent of causing drunkenness, which is condemned in scripture.

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Chris
Member at Grace Community Baptist Church, Mandeville, LA

Beware of a religion without holdfasts. But if I get a grip upon a doctrine they call me a bigot. Let them do so. Bigotry is a hateful thing, and yet that which is now abused as bigotry is a great virtue, and greatly needed in these frivolous times. I have been inclined lately to start a new denomination, and call it "the Church of the Bigoted." Spurgeon

So, what you're trying to say is that the war on drugs is more important than the war on glaucoma.

Okay. Fair enough. No argument there.

Okay, there's some kind of fallacious argument going on here - don't remember what it's called. Pilgrim didn't say anything about the "War on Drugs" which is a political thing. I think he's giving his opinion about whether Chrisitans could ever use marijuana recreationally - and having a lot of experience with this, I tend to concur. For me anyway, "drunkenness" can occur with one "hit" depending on the THC content of the material ingested. Eating it, in brownies, will almost certainly intoxicate a person. However, when the body needs something medicinally, it doesn't seem to intoxicate one to the same degree. The problem with drugs which have a possibly "psychedelic"effect, for me anyway, is that they increase one's awareness of the spiritual world, in all it's aspects, while reducing one's self-control; which seems like a dangerous combo to me. Of course, that particular kind of "drunkenness" varies with the variety of "grass", how much ingested, the individual ingesting it, et cetera.

[Edited on 6-16-2006 by turmeric]

I'm not sure the drunkeness argument carries as much weight for me as two other considerations...well three. First, there is the legal issue. As Christians we are to obey the laws. Of course, that doesn't stop me from keeping whiskey on hand in a dry county...so perhaps I should shut up.

Second, there is the issue of quality. No...not as in, "this is really good s***!" What I am referring to is that sometimes MJ is cut or laced with things that are harmful. I personally know a woman who very nearly died from one joint. The grower had apparently sprayed the leaves with insecticide while growing but did not properly clean them before drying. The end result was that this woman not only nearly died but did serious and irreparable damage to her cardio-pulmonary system.

The third consideration is the element of society that has to be dealt with to secure MJ (unless, of course you live in the Northwest and can develop glaucoma on demand). Drug dealers are simply an unsavory and sometimes dangerous crowd to hobknob with and drug deals can go very bad.

As surprising as it may sound, I'm not opposed to MJ use per se, in that I don't think the Bible forbids it directly. But I think that prudence and wisdom would suggest it should be avoided.

And now a personal anecdote. I was biking by the RTS campus once and came across a baggie filled with MJ. I chucked it into the bushes (honest!). But given that pot apparently falls from the sky in Jackson, RTS-Belcher (don't get me started on that awful name!) should shortly become very popular.

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Rev. R. Kevin Carroll
Macon Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Macon, MS

I think it should be obvious Meg that I am being tongue-in-cheek, hence ironic.

The drunkeness parrallel Chris brought up is really the only legitimate objection to Marijuana use. Why is drunkeness forbidden but that it deprives man of reason and makes him like a fool? A Christian's mind and behavior ought to be earnest not high or wasted.

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*Peter Gray* Elkins Park RPCNA

"Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. " Mk 9:24
"The greatest thing we can desire, next to the glory of God, is our own salvation; and the sweetest thing we can desire is the assurance of our salvation. In this life we cannot get higher than to be assured of that which in the next life is to be enjoyed. All saints shall enjoy a heaven when they leave this earth; some saints enjoy a heaven while they are here on earth." Joseph Caryl

Drunkeness is certainly warned against in the Scriptures, but I think the only true prohibition you could find would be as it relates to public worship.

out of curiousity... can we think of any other thing that God created that is deemed illegal in its natural state just as he created it? You don't have to smoke it or grow it in a decorative planter, if it is growing wild on your land you go to jail. Off hand I can't think of another God created plant or animal or mineral that is illegal in the fashion he made it.

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Richard H. King
Providence PCA
Lubbock, Texas
You know what my main problem is? I start things but rarely finish anyth...

What about psychedelic mushrooms?

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WWW.SURFWRITERS.BLOGSPOT.COM
Trevor
Christian/Husband/Father/Writer/Teacher--
--In that order.
Bethany Church, Sierra Madre, CA.
God is my King
"You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmitive, and don't mess with Mr. in-between." Tony Bennett.

Hemp. What a great commercial product that we can't grow because the feds would have a hard time differentiating it from pot...

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Chris Rhoades -33
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church (PCA) Nashville, TN-Under Care

Vera theologia non theoretica, sed practica est; Finis siquidem eius agere est hoc est vitam vivere deiformem. - Martin Bucer
""True theology is not theoretical, but practical. The end of it is living, that is to live a godly life."

Have you ever done them? They shouldn't be available. Had a very bad trip on them once and I can tell you that I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It is in a whole different category than Mary Jane.

Chris,

Even by entertaining the notions of legalization of hemp for commercial purposes, you're helping the enemy right now-- namely drug users!! What if some kid thought he could get high by shredding a legal shirt made out of hemp, and then put it in a bong, and proceeded to smoke it? Ever think of that? Think about it. I sure haven't.

You know you can smoke apples in a bong in a Morroccan restaurant in Las Vegas.

That would be worse than drinking 60 bottles of ODouls to get a buzz...

In college after I was really messed up one night, my loving roomates decided to play a joke on me and I had the choking pleasure of smoking oregano...my lungs still hurt...

O'Douls... 60 bottles!!?!?!?! You would have to be high on something to even think of buying that stuff, much less drink it. Ewwwwwwwwwww!!!!!

Sprite packs a better buzz anyway, and costs less. Drink Sprite instead!!

I once gave a friend a catnip joint - he swore he got high on it. Meeeeoooow!

Listen man, and wo-man! Even by talking about smoking catnip and oregano-- you guys are helping the enemy right now.

Maybe we are the enemy...

I can certainly think of better uses for oregano! As for catnip...

No I can't think of anything. And I don't think owning the plant should be illegal either. I think being inebriated by it should be though.