Clergy Pipe Smokers.

[settersbrace]

I have known some Preists and clergy that smoked cigs and cigars but never a pipe. As a Catholic I would be thrilled to attend mass offered by a pipe smoking priest, not just because I'm a pipe smoker but because I know his homily and sermon would be mind blowing every week. A great thread this.

 

[tastydad]

I know i am resurrecting perhaps an old thread, but I found it pretty interesting. I am not a pipe smoker myself but I am, shamefully, a cigarette smoker. It's only been three years now but I certainly hope to quit soon. I can quit any time I want!!! :wink:
Anyways, I'm a Roman Catholic but I never knew any priests that smoked pipes, cigars, or cigarettes. I am 21 years old and every priest we've ever had was no older than 40 so perhaps that's why.
However, I do have friends who are either in the seminary or are now priests who do smoke pipes and cigars. They seem okay with this and smoking is never something I ever heard discussed by the church; only addictions as a lot of you have mentioned.
Personally, in my mind, smoking was always sinful. Again, that's my own "testimony" and not any official statement of the church. I say this because my mother (who is the principal religious force in our family it seems) is adamantly against it. Her father died of heart disease when she was only eight years old and was an avid pipe smoker. Again, I don't know much about pipe smoking compared to other forms of smoking, but I'm going to venture to say that smoking of any form can have negative effects on the cardiovascular system. Plus, being a Cajun doesn't help with that extremely widespread risk of heart disease (our entire culture and cuisine is set up for a nasty heart attack). The thing she has commonly brought up is the whole "your body is a temple of the Lord" spiel. So that seems to be her reasoning behind that.
Off topic for our clergy wo/men: what is your opinion on marijuana? Most Catholic authorities I've heard from seem to condemn it, but I'm pretty sure a lot of Catholics, Christians, etc. have used it. The reasoning I've consistently heard is avoiding the opportunity for one to not be sober of mind, just like getting drunk. While alcohol is defended for being a custom of socializing, some say that isn't the case with marijuana as you only use it to get high. I've never found this to strictly be the case. I've used marijuana both for relaxation and recreation and for social means, though less so in terms of socializing. I'm not sure if it's an interaction with the SSRI or the Bupropion I currently take, but smoking marijuana creates this sort of intense, sometime debilitating high that can make it initially unenjoyable. Though it was a fun way of hanging around with friends when I first began to smoke it. And it does seem to have some therapeutic effects in terms of anxiety and depression but nothing as reliable as a medication or therapy.
I know, that seems to bridge a lot of topics besides pipe smoking and I am "resurrecting" this rather old thread, but there simply aren't avenues to speak with religious clergy about topics just like this.

 

[boilermakerandy]

We're Presbyterian and I smoke. I figure that God put tobacco here for us to enjoy. I don't worry a lot about it.
As far as marijuana...I've smoked it and don't care for it because it tastes like shit.

 

[vfefrenzy]

While I am not a pastor, my dad is. He's also the one who first introduced me to pipes. He tends to keep both his smoking and drinking on the down low because far too many of the members of the various churches he has pastored would be upset by either practice. I also have many friends, particularly fraternity brothers, who smoke a pipe and went into ordained ministry or youth ministry. All of this is in the United Methodist Church.
What's more interesting is some of the pastors I know who smoked pot. A pastor friend of my dad's, who is an alum of my college, told me a story about the then-dean of the college finding a pot plant growing near one of the academic buildings. Suspecting this pastor's fraternity of being involved, he called them in and told them to destroy the plant, so they burned it...one joint at a time. I don't have a strong position on pot as a moral issue. I believe it is probably a bit worse for you than alcohol or tobacco because, as I understand it, marijuana's whole purpose is to get you high. Alcohol, on the other hand, may be consumed in such a way as to avoid intoxication and is often consumed that way. While some only drink to get drunk, I drink for the same reason I smoke: to enjoy the flavor of whatever I'm taking in.
What it comes down to is love the Lord with all your heart, love your neighbor, and the rest will fall into place.

 

[okiescout]

Did You Hear What Spurgeon Said? ‘I Smoke to the Glory of God.’

By John Kirkwood
On his journey to meet Charles Haddon Spurgeon for the first time, a nearly 400 lb. Dwight Lyman Moody passed a billboard featuring Spurgeon holding a big, black cigar. When they met, Moody indicted Spurgeon, “Do you know what you’re doing to the temple of the Holy Spirit with those big, black cigars?” Spurgeon retorted, “I suppose the same thing that you’re doing with your knife and fork.” The story may be apocryphal, but it rings true enough. Well, I for one would have loved to share a cigar with C.H. and a meal with D.L. And that’s one of the things that I love about cigars – they’re social.
and as the site shows so are pipes :lol:
safaricigar.com/hear-spurgeon-said-smoke-glory-god/
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "The Prince of Preachers"

 

[deuce26]

I frequently smoke pipes and cigars with my Catholic Parish Priest. We have had many theological discussions during this time. GK Chesterton has a great essay on cigars where he address people attacking cigar smoking on religious grounds by stating, "Of what the great theologians and moral philosophers have meant by a sin, these people have no more idea than a child drinking milk has of a great toxicologist analyzing poisons."
Also, see "Toward a Theology of Pipe Smoking." You can find it online.

 

[okiescout]

"Of what the great theologians and moral philosophers have meant by a sin, these people have no more idea than a child drinking milk has of a great toxicologist analyzing poisons." deuce26 +1

 

[jigokubosatsu]

Buddhist priest here as well. I'm relatively new to the pipe, and while I am a recovering author, I have been thinking about writing something for posterity regarding pipe willing and contemplation.

 

[deathmetal]

Enjoy life. Deus Vult!

 

[1adsarge]

This thread is a great read. I am/was LDS (Mormon) and followed their Word of Wisdom very well. With the recent information my church has come out with about its past and other subjects, my wife and I found ourselves strongly questioning the church we grew up in. I decided to stop following the guidelines our church had in place concerning alcohol and tobacco and responsibly enjoy the things in life I had only occasionally partaken of. I have always wanted to smoke tobacco pipes and so I finally did. I don't regret it and I wish I had started this wonderful, relaxing hobby back when I was in the Army. I think I may not have ended up with high blood pressure problems and lost less hair on my head! Happy smoking ::
Cheers,

Jared

 

[4etecjonathan]

RELIGION SHOULD NEVER BE BROUGHT INTO THESE FORUMS!!!!!!!
Jon :puffpipe:

 

[jessicac]

I left the Catholic Church a number of years ago although while I was still going, smoking cigarettes was not seen as sinful and it was relatively common. Also, the former Pope Benedict was a chain smoker. I never saw a pipe in my old church though.
Still, having left the church for other reasons, its not an issue to me either way.

 

[jpmcwjr]

All CAPS is a larger transgression than the topic, which is just fine.

 

[philobeddoe]

4etec.....you knew what this thread was about before you clicked on it, no? There has been civil discussion of the religious merits of pipe smoking, no one has denegrated anyone else's faith or lack thereof. Chill out!