So I just got banned from a Christian forum for quoting Psalm's 104:14-15 "He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth, and wine that makes glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart." In responds to some uptight dad bitchin about his kid smoking weed, saying god causes weed to grow to make glad the heart of man & the only thing wrong with it is that it's illegal & the Bible tell us to obey the law but that's just a suggestion for our own good & not a commandment. Am I wrong?
You seem to mean well. There's a verse in Genesis that Rastafarians often quote on the weed issue. Genesis 1:29-30King James Version (KJV) 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. So if these folks believe in God, they clearly think they know better as they have decided to ban a seed bearing herb.
Somewhere in there it says--"all is given." (Smoke 'em if you gottem'.) I notice that the more primitive a culture, this is understood without ever having heard of it. Too drastic a change in consciousness bodes ill for the modern requirements of playing the current game for those who run it. Short of doing harm to others, say and do as you wish and don't fret about those that disagree with you. They're legion.
These quotes are not in direct context with weed. Can you make this same connection with opium also then? I think you can also argue that the "seeds and herbs" can be attribitued to the devil.
What? I don't understand what your trying to say. First off I do make the same connection with opium & how do you mean you can argue that the seeds & herbs can be attributed to the devil?
Opium is a valuable medicine. Without it, there would be no effective pain relief for terminal cancer patients. And all plants are part of a balanced eco system. They are ethically neutral. To attribute plants to the devil, whatever that means, seems ludicrous in the extreme. Personally, I don't believe in the bible. I just thought the OP seemed to be asking for advice based on his own beliefs so I quoted that verse which has been quoted to me by herb smoking Rastas I know.
yeah, just for the sake of playing devil's advocate I was going to say - if you believe in creationism - god put lots of plants on earth that can easily kill a grown man. Just because it comes from the ground doesn't mean its meant for human consumption. its not really a good argument to persuade Christians. Just stick to the main talking points of safe weed use - its highly medicinal, cannot cause an overdose, and as far as mind altering substances go its pretty benign.
Even God's deadly plants serve a purpose some may not be for consumption but there're there for a reason.
Opium has been perversed into a dangerous drug that could be linked to the devil. As the Satan as he did in the Garden corrupted.
Many things are both dangerous and useful at the same time. The opium poppy is one of them. It is an complex plant chemically and produces over 20 different alkaloids, of which morphine and codeine are the best known. Millions of people worldwide benefit from such medications. The fact that a thing gets abused is no argument against the thing itself. Cars can be abused by people who drive drunk. Knives, matches - a million things can be abused but that doesn't make them bad necessarily. Or that they are linked to some imaginary demon.
Id have to review that forums rules and guidelines before I can form an opinion whether or not you were wrong to post it.
you can only attribute anything to a devil if you believe there is one. one more reason i'm not a christian. the god i believe in is not at war. with anything. at all. what so ever. as for what anyone does to themselves, as long as they're not screwing up the world i, they, and everyone else, has to live in, i could give a rats ass one way or the other. and the same goes for what they go to bed with, where, when or how often. and if someone wants to kill themselves for the sake of their pleasure, better they do that, then to destroy the planet the existence of our species depends on.
Regardless of the religious implications, parents know all too well that quoting Psalms isn't going to do a thing for someone dealing with the law. Many parents do their best to keep their children from crossing legal lines, especially after they turn 18. Like it or not, pot is the easiest thing on the planet to detect and testing methods only get better every year. So telling a father concerned that his kid might fuck up his life legally before he even gets into college that it's cool because of Psalms is pretty trite. Too bad they kicked you out. I bet a wave of comments would have come your way. I've been toking since 1976 and I don't want my kids to cross that line. Why? Because it has fucked me over and over again. Still, it's much better than my speed or coke habits before the kids came into being. I have stepped into piles of shit in my life. I'd like to steer my offspring around them. Pot is unfortunately one of them. It can end some careers instantly. The world is still a hotbed of discrimination so it becomes another layer of ammo. Disgusting as it is. But I'm a realist. Teenagers approaching 18 aren't gaining anything. They are losing freedom (in the US anyway). It only means that you go to the big people jail easier than ever. So complicating that with pot is a terrible risk in the days of computerized records. People lose student loans, government housing and food assistance over pot in the US. Some people lose their children, over pot. Not because pot is SO dangerous. Only because it gives the law leverage to cash in. Why expose your kids to that on the words of a book written when pot was legal?
