Clergy on both sides of marijuana debate

The stakes in Colorado’s marijuana debate are getting much higher — as in, all the way to heaven.

A vigorous back-and-forth between pot legalization supporters and foes entered the religious arena Wednesday. A slate of pastors called on Coloradans to reject making pot legal without a doctor’s recommendation.

“It’s heading to a path of total destruction,” warned Bishop Acen Phillips, who leads New Birth Temple of Praise Community Baptist Church in Denver.

About 10 pastors spoke at the event organized by the campaign to defeat the Colorado ballot proposal. If approved, the measure would allow adults over 21 to possess small amounts of marijuana for recreational use. Oregon and Washington have similar proposals before voters next month.

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Wordman

This is a tough issue. While many Christians and others who do not approve of recreational drug use recognize the harm that drugs do to our society, there is a growing perception that the "cure" (extremely expensive efforts at enforcement and incarceration) may be worse than the disease and have, in any case, been ineffectual. I am among those who are beginning to wonder if all that money might be better spent on education (public service efforts to warn the public about drugs) and rehabilitation programs. My judgement is that we wait a bit longer and study what happens in other nations who experiment with decriminalization.
- aceituna
  
  Maybe by waiting we will get our eyes opened. Really if a study were to be done today on some of these nations bet we would say we don't need pot.
  - Wordman
    
    I'm not sure if any nation has yet gone down that road far enough for us to get a good idea of where it leads. It's a big step, and once we open the door it might be like Pandora's box. Of course we don't need pot, and I'm convinced that so called medical Marijuana is just stoners trying to get the camel's nose in the tent. The question is, not whether we need pot, but whether we are best served with this gargantuan appratus for interdiction, enforcement, and incarceration. I'm starting to wonder.
http://www.missiontoisrael.org/ Ted R. Weiland

"In view of the fact that neither Amendment 18 nor church decrees have deterred drunkenness or drug abuse, what can be done about them? Although drunkenness is a sin against Yahweh (what in many instances amounts to idolatry), it is the crimes committed by intoxicated people, not the drunkenness itself, that need to be prosecuted:

'…if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; breach for breach [fracture for fracture, NASB], eye for eye, tooth for tooth [or life for life – Deuteronomy 19:21]: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.' (Leviticus 24:19-20)….

"An added stipulation for the care of a person who is injured as the result of someone’s negligence is found in Exodus 21:

'…if men have a quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist [or is injured because of reckless negligence], and he does not die but remains in bed; if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him [or who is responsible for his injury] shall go unpunished [shall not be put to death]; he shall only pay for his loss of time, and shall take care of him until he is completely healed.' (Exodus 21:18-19, NASB)…."

"Man’s efforts to control alcohol and drug abusers have been wholly ineffective. When Yahweh’s law is enforced and convicted murderers are put to death, society never suffers from repeat offenders after someone is killed as the result of drunken carelessness. If someone is killed,
injured, or disabled as the consequence of another person’s irresponsible use of drugs, the punishment should correspond to the death, injury, or damage to the victim and their property. Today’s ineffective drug and alcohol laws have, in many instances, made criminals out of people who have hurt no one but themselves. This has forced innocent taxpayers to pay for the housing, feeding, and entertaining of people who should never have been imprisoned. Yahweh’s law makes people personally responsible for their actions, and His judgments substantially reduce both premeditated crime and careless disregard for the lives and property of others. A downsized and smaller government is an additional benefit of lex talionis. Federal agencies such as OSHA, the FDA, and the FAA are superfluous under Biblical law."

For more, see Chapter 27 "Amendment 18: Prohibition Repealed for Good Reason" of "Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective" at http://www.missiontoisrael.org/biblelaw-constitutionalism-pt27.php.
- Wordman
  
  Good thinking, Mr. Weiland. Off the subject, and just out of curiosity, what is the reason for using Hebrew-esque pronunciations of God's name? Sounds kind of Watchtower-ish.
  - Guest
    
    For a more thorough explanation concerning
    important reasons for using the sacred name of God,
    “The Third Commandment” may be read
  - http://www.missiontoisrael.org/ Ted R. Weiland
    
    YHWH (most often pronounced Yahweh) is the English transliteration of the Tegragrammaton, the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible. It is found nearly 7,000 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, but was unlawfully removed by the English translators and replaced by "the LORD" and "GOD" (when found in all capital letters), which they admit was done in following Jewish traditions (Matthew 15:6-9).
    
    In honor of this, His memorial name (Exodus 3:15), and the multitudes of Scriptures that charge us to use, proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name (not substitute titles), I have chosen to use it. Should Christians be any less tenacious about the name of our God then, for example, are the Muslims with their god Allah?
    
    For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred names of God, "The Third Commandment" can be read at http://www.missiontoisrael.org/3rdcom-pt1.php.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004047180339 John Adams

The laws of a nation/state/city should reflect the Law of God. Anyone who supports the legalization of marajuana does not stand with God.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1547673249 Norm Farnum
  
  That's a pretty broad brush you're painting with, sir! The "legalization" or not of an issue by man's standard is not worth "a jot or tittle" compared to the perfection of God's Law on any subject.
  
  Ted hit the proverbial nail on the head with his post! Men's hearts will have to change and folks take responsibility for their own actions to ensure the people God's blessings. Our personal and corporate actions will reflect "…the nation whose God is Yahweh"…
  
  And related to Psalm 33:12, this paragraph from Barnes' Notes on the Bible:
  
  Blessed is the nation… The idea here is, that the nation referred to is happy, or that its condition is desirable. What is true of a nation is also as true of an individual.
  Whose God is the Lord – Whose God is Yahweh – for so this is in the original Hebrew. That is, the nation which worships Yahweh, and is under his protection. This is evidently said to distinguish such a nation from those which worshipped false gods or idols. Such a nation is blessed or happy, because:
  (a) He is a real God, the true God, and not an imagination or fiction;
  (b) because His laws are just and good, and their observance will always tend to promote the public welfare and prosperity;
  (c) because His protection will be vouchsafed to such a nation; and
  (d) because His worship, and the influence of His religion, will tend to diffuse virtue, intelligence, purity, and truth, over a land, and thus will promote its welfare.
  And the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance – Chosen to be "His;" or, His portion. The primary reference here is undoubtedly to the Hebrew people, called his "inheritance:" Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 9:26; Deuteronomy 32:9; Psalm 74:2; Psalm 78:62, Psalm 78:71; or "heritage,"Psalm 94:5; Jeremiah 12:7, Jeremiah 12:9; but what is here affirmed of that people is true also of all other people who worship the true God.
- Wordman
  
  Yes, our laws should reflect God's laws. And I really don't want the stuff around. But, if you're going to pronounce anathma on folks, I really think you should give us chapter and verse where God's law speaks to this issue?
RightofWayne

Pot is undoubtedly a gateway drug most often leading to use of other even more potent drugs. Pot also has been proven to have strong links to mental illness. Ask any psychologist or psychiatrist if there is a link between pot use and schizophrenia and you will get a uniform response that it is. It is also closely associated with many other forms of mental illness, particularly those associated with paranoia, mania, hallucinations, and withdrawal symptoms. In some cases, when pot use is ceased, psychotic symptoms are significantly relieved or negated. It has been seen in many cases that heavy pot use was clearly associated with the onset of mental illnesses of a wide variety of types where previous symptoms were non-existent. Certainly those whose onset began with pot had other factors causing them to be susceptible to the diseases of mental illness, but pot exacerbated the balance of chemicals in the brain and started an avalanche effect that could not be stopped. One of those susceptibility factors is age. It seems that political correctness has stifled much of the conversation concerning pot and its negative effects. I concern myself that when pot is legalized it will become more easily available to younger users. Those under 20 whose brains have not yet fully developed are most susceptible to the most negative effects of pot.
John J Flanagan

Clergy or not, anyone who believes it is beneficial to legalize marijuana needs to reconsider the ramifications of making it even more available to children, teens, adults, and add to the misery of our declining culture. The highways of America already deal with drunk drivers, so let's add pot to the mix and see what happens.
aceituna

Pot does have medical uses, but man is smart about abusing such uses. It should not be available to anyone unless there is a TRUE medical reason reason for him to use it.
mallen11

There will always be arguments for and against the use of marjuana but believers need to obey God's Word with regards to substance abuse. The Bible teaches Christians to be sound of mind. "Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The Greek word translated as "sober" is
nepho, which literally means "drink no wine." From this it derived a
broader meaning of being self-controlled, free of confusion, clear headed, sound
of mind, or keeping your head. From this verse, we can see that Christians are
to avoid intoxicants that impair clear thinking. Marijuana certainly seems to
cloud thinking and reaction time. According to the Kaiser study, daily marijuana
users have a 30 percent higher risk of injuries, presumably from accidents. A
survey of 1,023 emergency room trauma patients in Baltimore found that more than
34 percent were under the influence of marijuana. And a 2005 study showed people
who drive after using marijuana are almost twice as likely to be involved in a
fatal car crash.
Smoking marijuana can be extremely harmful to one’s health. The most potent
argument against the use of marijuana to treat medical disorders is that
marijuana may cause the acceleration or aggravation of the very disorders it is
being used to treat. Smoking marijuana regularly (a joint a day) can damage the
cells in the bronchial passages which protect the body against inhaled
microorganisms and decrease the ability of the immune cells in the lungs to
fight off fungi, bacteria, and tumor cells. For patients with already weakened
immune systems, this means an increase in the possibility of dangerous pulmonary
infections, including pneumonia, which often proves fatal in AIDS patients. The
use of marijuana as a medical therapy can and does have a very serious negative
effect on patients with pre-existing immune deficits from AIDS, organ
transplantation, or cancer chemotherapy, the very conditions for which
marijuana has most often been suggested as a treatment.