I know your article “Is smoking marijuana okay for Christians?” It’s misleading and untruthful. You don’t take into account of people’s lives and their suffering. You don’t care to think that maybe marijuana relieves depression, anxiety, stress, other mental illness symptoms, and other ailments. If marijuana is a sin to partake, then God made one when he made marijuana. To say marijauna is a sin, is to say God is a devil because he put right in front of our noses and didn’t say anything. It’s not an intoxicant because it does not poison us, it works with us. Please explain to me exactly where in the bible it says we can’t make moral decisions? My point I’m trying to say is this, if it weren’t for marijuana I would have been in jail or dead from alcohol. You can’t overdose on marijuana.
Let me respond to your email one point at a time.
I know your article “Is smoking marijuana okay for Christians?” It’s misleading and untruthful. You don’t take into account of peoples lives and their suffering. You don’t care to think that maybe marijuana relieves depression, anxiety, stress, other mental illness symptoms, and other ailments.
Actually, marijuana doesn’t relieve these troubles; it medicates the symptoms. It’s a cover-up, but it doesn’t solve anything. Medicating the negative parts of life does not make them go away, even if it gives a feeling of relief in the moment. They’re still there when the high wears off.
There are lots of things that people can do to relieve stress and anxiety. A large number of men feel better after they’ve taken their stress and anger out on their wives and girlfriends by beating them. Simply relieving symptoms doesn’t justify using that method.
Then you’ve got the lingering effects of pot smoking. I did an informal survey of a wide range of people to answer your question, and several shared their experiences of self-induced ADD, muddled thinking and forgetfulness, overwhelming paranoia, and brain changes that resulted in a permanent state of schizophrenia. And then there’s the damage to the bronchial passages and lungs. Several told me heartbreaking stories of family members whose lives were ruined as a result of their pot use.
The problem with marijuana is that it can temporarily numb emotional pain, but it can leave even bigger problems in its wake.
If marijuana is a sin to partake, then God made one when he made marijuana. To say marijauna is a sin, is to say God is a devil because he put right in front of our noses and didn’t say anything.
God made a number of plants that He never meant us to ingest. Consider poison ivy and hemlock. Plus, we don’t know the impact of the Fall of man (when Adam brought sin into God’s perfect creation) on plants. It’s possible some plants were very different before the Fall.
It’s not an intoxicant because it does not poison us, it works with us.
Google “marijuana intoxication.” You will find almost half a million entries. The DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) disagrees with you: www.justice.gov/dea/marijuana_position.html
Please explain to me exactly where in the bible it says we can’t make moral decisions?
I don’t think this is what you mean to say. We make decisions all the time. God gave us the gift of volition (the ability to make choices) and then calls us to use it well. Using marijuana is a choice that we are free to make, but since it’s illegal, that makes it a moral choice. Legal or illegal, there would be consequences to smoking marijuana. See above.
My point I’m trying to say is this, if it weren’t for marijuana I would have been in jail or dead from alcohol. You can’t overdose on marijuana.
I’m glad you didn’t go to jail (though you could have, since it’s illegal) and especially that you’re not dead from alcohol. But you did have other choices for handling your stress and pain. And while you can’t overdose on marijuana, that doesn’t make it wise.
Thanks for writing.
Sue Bohlin
© 2010 Probe Ministries
Sue Bohlin
Sue Bohlin is an associate speaker/writer and webmistress for Probe Ministries. She attended the University of Illinois, and has been a Bible teacher and conference speaker for over 40 years. She is a speaker for MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) and Stonecroft Ministries (Christian Women's Connections), and serves on the board of Living Hope Ministries, a Christ-centered outreach to those dealing with unwanted homosexuality. Sue is on the Bible.org Women's Leadership Team and is a regular contributor to Bible.org's Engage Blog. In addition to being a professional calligrapher, she is the wife of Probe's Dr. Ray Bohlin and the mother of a son in San Francisco and another son who joined his baby sister in heaven in 2024.. Her personal website is suebohlin.com.
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