The Editorial Department here at Medical Examiner world headquarters reports they haven’t offended anybody since late last month (Jan. 30, “Where’s the bone?” see below), which means they’re slackers. Any good editorial department (especially one that’s capitalized, like ours is) should be regularly churning out highly opinionated opinions. And so, without further ado:
Forgive us for pointing out the obvious, but how can anybody who claims to be a Christian smoke cigarettes? (Yes, there are other major religions, but at the moment we’re going after only a particular 2.1 billion people.) The answer: the two, smoking and being a Christian, are (or certainly should be) mutually exclusive. We are fully aware that this is a minority opinion, but since when is the majority right anyway? As Mark Twain said, “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
What got this bee under our bonnet? Good question. We normally reserve most of our anti-smoking tirades for November and its Great American Smokeout. But February is American Heart Month. So says the American Heart Association. And about 47 billion scientific studies have established that smoking and cardiovascular disease are directly linked. That means smokers knowingly make themselves more prone to heart attacks, stroke, increased blood pressure, damaging blood clots, and decreased ability to exercise. In short, they make themselves more prone to death. By choice.
I’m sure you’re with me so far. Nothing in the paragraph above is particularly controversial. So what’s the connection between all of this and the principles of Christianity?
POP QUIZ! Quick, name the two greatest principles of Christian living, Sunday School 101. The answers, of course:
1. Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul.
2. Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.
So here is my question for anyone who thinks they’re a child of God, that their body is a temple of divine design and construction: how can you deliberately vandalize that temple? You might as well claim to be a super patriot and spray-paint swastikas on the Lincoln Memorial and burn a flag or two while you’re at it.
As for the second-greatest commandment, let’s rephrase it slightly. You should love yourself as much as you love your neighbor. So: do you think it shows love and respect for yourself to regularly and deliberately inhale carcinogenic smoke into your lungs? If what is good for you should also be good for your neighbor, do you think it would show love to blow smoke in your neighbor’s face? Do you think the neighbors who are your parents, your children, or even your co-workers view your tobacco habit as an act of love?
I’m just asking.
And what about atheists who smoke? They presumably endorse the theory of evolution and would, in fact, argue that evolution is fact, not theory. Since there is no creator then, evolution is what has delivered us from the primordial soup of the distant past to our current position at the top of the food chain. As humans we are the fittest. That’s how we have managed not just to merely survive, but to rise to the very apex of all known life. That begs the question, is smoking consistent with survival of the fittest behavior?
In short, we don’t need no stinkin’ American Heart Association or any of the 47 billion scientific studies to provide all the ammunition we need to quit (or avoid) smoking: our alleged core beliefs in the higher powers (be they biblical or scientific) should be reason enough.
Right?