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Is Smoking A Sin?
According to the American Heart Association, in 2004 there were some 25.1 million men and some
20.9 million women smokers in the United States. They go on to say that smokers have an increased risk of heart attack and stroke and I think we already know that.

If you look up statistics published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), you will find some equally alarming statistics:

Men With High Serum Cholesterol - 16.6% of the population
Women With High Serum Cholesterol - 16.2% of the population

Overweight Men - 70.7% of the population
Overweight Women - 61.4% of the population

Let's get back on track. We were trying to determine whether or not smoking is actually a sin. The first place I would look would be in the Book, the Bible. What does the Bible say?
Here are three passages of scripture taken from the King James Version to consider:

1 Corinthians 3:16 & 17
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."

Matthew 15:11
"Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man."

Seems like we are in quite a quandary here, doesn't it? Obviously when a person lights up a cigarette or cigar and inhales all the smoke, nicotine, carbon monoxide and all the other bad chemicals we are taught is contained in cigarette smoke, we will most likely cause some damage to the "temple". But, have we actually sinned?

I don't think smoking is any more of a sin than stopping by Wendy's on Friday afternoon and picking up a sack of hamburgers.

Smoking is most definitely not good for anyone, but if we truly looked at smoking as a sin, we would not sit down to Thanksgiving dinner.

Learn more about this author, Ken Bradford.
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