Hi Largeli,
I think cannabis is also referred to as devil’s weed also......but to each their own. I believe whatever one does is between God and that one. We either stand or fall to our Master.
I think we know that the heart is exceedingly wicked and deceitful above all things. I can’t say if pot is bad or good but I would say any mind altering drug is a deception.
Its and artificial feeling that can lead one down the slippery road, it’s a gateway drug that can lead to other drugs. True God made the poppy plant but does God want us shooting heroin in our body ?
When I was younger I smoke pot all the time, you know, before marriage and children and to be honest with you I never felt there was anything wrong with pot, some of my best times in life was smoking weed.......LOl
Lets not forget about the human heart and how deceitful it can be. Is smoking pot a sin ? I say anything outside of faith is a sin but Christ paid the price for everyone. One’s conscience
either excuse or condemn.
If smoking pot is wrong, God forgives, if its right then no forgiveness is needed but either way God will make all things right and that is awesome.
Rick I'd like to respond to your post but would like to first make clear that I am in no way trying to change your convictions on the matter. I also would like to make clear that I am in no way offended by anyone's convictions on the matter or judgements toward myself. It's important to me that I don't come off as seeming defensive for I have nothing to defend. The truth is the truth. Truth cares not of the opinions of men and truth needs no man to defend it for it defends itself.
First let me say that God created all the Earth and all the plants of the Earth and when He was done, what did He say? He looked at ALL He had created and said.. "It is GOOD". Was Cannabis included in the word "ALL"? Of course. All plants were created by God, so when someone bestows a name upon one of these plants such as "devils weed", is that in any way honoring God? Did the devil create plants? No. So to be not only fair to God but also to be accurate and speak truth, let's acknowledge that cannabis is Gods cannabis or "Gods weed" if you like. Gods creation. And while we may have differing opinions on whether or not it is good or bad, let's acknowledge that God said "it is good".
Now cannabis is a tool that God has used in my life to bring about positive change. Like any tool, however, it can be used for good and also for bad. Take a hammer for instance. One can build a house with a hammer and one can tear a house down with a hammer. I fully acknowledge that God can use the same tool which He blessed me with, to cause negative change in ones life. All to bring about His desired result.
Cannabis as a gateway drug. This is no more true than claiming that riding a bicycle is a gateway to joining a motorcycle gang. I'm quite certain that every member of the Hells Angels began their journey to being an outlaw biker by first riding a bicycle. Likewise many heroine addicts undoubtedly used cannabis before using heroine. The gateway claim could be applied to a great many things but in the end it is drug war propaganda and fear mongering with no scientific or medical fact. Just because man says something is true doesn't make it true. Just because man makes a law claiming something is bad doesn't make it so.
Here are some quotes from the 1930's propaganda which shaped public opinion ,then and also now, and ultimately lead to the prohibition of cannabis..
"Marijuana makes darky think he is as good as a white man" "makes white women sleep with negroes" "will make you kill your entire family" "is the most violence causing drug in the history of man kind".
These quotes are laughed at today as being rediculous but were accepted as truth back then. Truth according to man, will change with each generation. But truth according to God will not change. The truth about cannabis hasn't changed since God created it and said "it is good."
In the case of cannabis I believe It's not the substance going into your body that deceives the heart of man, but the opinions of other men taken as truth.. That's what deceives man.