Overlyconscious has objected to the general consensus that smoking is immoral (seriously or not) because it harms the body that we are bound, naturally and supernaturally, to nurture and non nocere. Now we can begin a good discussion.
While there are substantial principles upon which Overlyconscious may have based his objection (some of them subconscious perhaps), let us deal first with his use of Deuteronomy 14:26, from which he concludes that God encourages smoking, as he does drinking, as long as it is done "before the Lord."
The text of Deut. 14:26 should be considered, as all Scripture should, in its context.
Deuteronomy 1 begins with "These are the words that Moses spoke to all Isreal beyond the Jordan in the wilderness... Moses spoke to the people of Isreal according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them... Moses undertook to explain this law..."
Deuteronomy 12 begins with "These are the statutes and ordinances which you shall be careful to do in the land which the Lord ... has given you to possess." The enumeration of the statutes, now referred to as the "Old Law," continues for many chapters. Here are some examples:
Deut 12:15 "You may slaughter and eat flesh within any of your towns, as much as you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord..."
Deut 14:3 ff "You shall not eat any abominable thing. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat... And the swine, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is undlean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch... You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk."
Deut 21:10 ff "When you go forth to war against your enemies... and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you have desire for her... then you shall take her home to your house and she shall shave her head and pare her nails... If you have no delight in her, you shall let her go where she will, but you shall not sell her for money... since you have humiliated her."
These, and others, are very interesting prescriptions, and we wonder if Overlyconscious follows them all, including Deut 24 - Moses' prescription for divorce (which Christ explained was allowed for the Jews' "hardness of heart" [Mt. 19:1-ff). The point is that the Old Law lays an enormous burden upon man which, according to St. Paul, did not have the power to save anyway. You can't choose part of the Old Law to justify your practices without swallowing the whole of it. And its bloody hard to swallow.
But Deuteronomy 14:26 doesn't allow for smoking in even the remotest senses of interpretation. Look at verse 22-23: "You shall tithe all the yield of your seed, which comes forth from the field year by year. And before the Lord, in the place which He will choose, to make His name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, your oil..." Moses is prescribing what should be done with the tithed portion of an Isrealites property or wealth. As he goes on to prescribe in 24-25, if you live too far away to carry it all, turn it into money, and then, in your verse 26: "spend the money for whatever you desire, oxen, or sheep, or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves; and you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household." And, being overly conscious, we wouldn't forget the next verse 27: "And you shall not forsake the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you."
It's obvious that what is being laid out is what to do with the tithed portion of the yearly harvest. What you could possibly conclude about cigarettes from this verse is this : once in the place where the Lord has chosen, that you can buy them, if you use your money (preferably silver) obtained from exchanging the tithed portion of your yearly harvest (or income). When you have bought your cigarettes, you may eat them, in the presence of the Lord, all the while, of course, rejoicing.
Monday, October 11, 2004
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Ark of the New Covenant, pray for us
Today is the feast of the Holy Rosary. It behooves us all (as Thomas a Kempis would say) to reflect a little today on the great gift we have in the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Christ and our mother. I would like to offer a brief consideration of the ark of the covenant in the Old Testament as a type for Mary in the New.
"Ark of the New Covenant" was a term coined by St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, Confessor and Doctor of the Church; born c. 296; died 2 May, 373. No one doubts the orthodoxy of such an early and notable church father, nor his close chronological and geographical link with the apostles themselves. That's why I think it's not fantastic to interpret Revelation in the following way.
Let's turn to St. John's Revelation 11:19 and read,
"Ark of the New Covenant" was a term coined by St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, Confessor and Doctor of the Church; born c. 296; died 2 May, 373. No one doubts the orthodoxy of such an early and notable church father, nor his close chronological and geographical link with the apostles themselves. That's why I think it's not fantastic to interpret Revelation in the following way.
Let's turn to St. John's Revelation 11:19 and read,
- Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm.
-
St. John is writing to Christians who were Jews, who knew Scripture and Jewish history better than we've ever known anything. The ark of the covenant, crown and glory of the people of God, victory in war and seat of God Himself, had been missing for some 500 years. For John to say that he saw it in his vision is no small thing. "Tell us more, John!" is an appropriate response. But he goes on, in the next verse, to say
- A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
- She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
-
"Wait a second, tell us more about the ark, John!" That's exactly what he's doing.
The ark of the covenant was a box of acasia wood, covered in gold, with two huge cherubim on top and an empty throne-like seat, for which the box was like a footstool. Inside the ark were placed three things: the tablets of the ten commandments, manna (the miracle bread), and the rod of Aaron that had blossomed. These are what made the box holy, holier than the holy of holies in which it was kept.
Is it not apparent that Mary was made holy, infinitely holier than the wooden ark, by what was inside her? The wooden box held the word of God in stone, she held the Word of God made flesh. The box contained the miracle bread, the manna from the desert; she held the Bread of Life Himself. The staff of Aaron was the power of the priesthood; Mary held the Eternal High Priest in her womb. She was thus the seat of the Godhead, sanctified by Sanctity within her.
The similarities are endless. Mary, like the ark in 2 Sam 6, went up in haste to the hill country of Judah. David leapt before the ark, as did a preborn John the Baptist... and on and on.
It's neat to think of the holiness of Mary (St. Thomas says she's holier than the combined holiness of every creature below her) and at the same time remember that Christ gave her to us on the cross.
The ark of the covenant was a box of acasia wood, covered in gold, with two huge cherubim on top and an empty throne-like seat, for which the box was like a footstool. Inside the ark were placed three things: the tablets of the ten commandments, manna (the miracle bread), and the rod of Aaron that had blossomed. These are what made the box holy, holier than the holy of holies in which it was kept.
Is it not apparent that Mary was made holy, infinitely holier than the wooden ark, by what was inside her? The wooden box held the word of God in stone, she held the Word of God made flesh. The box contained the miracle bread, the manna from the desert; she held the Bread of Life Himself. The staff of Aaron was the power of the priesthood; Mary held the Eternal High Priest in her womb. She was thus the seat of the Godhead, sanctified by Sanctity within her.
The similarities are endless. Mary, like the ark in 2 Sam 6, went up in haste to the hill country of Judah. David leapt before the ark, as did a preborn John the Baptist... and on and on.
It's neat to think of the holiness of Mary (St. Thomas says she's holier than the combined holiness of every creature below her) and at the same time remember that Christ gave her to us on the cross.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Food for the smoking soul
Smoking cigarettes is strongly associated with numerous medical disorders, most of which are the top killers in North America. Many of us think that smoking only leads to cancer, which it does. But the evidence also suggests that smoking is largely responsible for the rising rates of heart disease, chronic respiratory disorders and diabetes (Type 1 and 2). These guys kill more poor fat North Americans than lung cancer does; they deal death a little slower and a little more painfully.
Now, considering the Aristotelian ethical tradition which considers good health somewhat of a responsibility and certainly a necessity for happiness, as well as the Christian revelation which reveals that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, what next? What shall we conclude objectively as to the personal moral legitimacy of smoking...
Bloggers, comment away.
Now, considering the Aristotelian ethical tradition which considers good health somewhat of a responsibility and certainly a necessity for happiness, as well as the Christian revelation which reveals that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, what next? What shall we conclude objectively as to the personal moral legitimacy of smoking...
Bloggers, comment away.
Friday, October 01, 2004
Personally Opposed on Sept. 29
Just don't think and you can entertain a proposition and its opposite at almost the same time.
I was in the "women's clinic" for a rotation the other morning. I met one of my Catholic collegue medical students, who's working in the clinic for a month. "You know they do terminations here?" she mentions. I know. I've dreaded coming into this dungeon-like basement unit for months. But today is the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, and with Mass and communion minutes behind me, I waltz into the valley of darkness. "I spent an afternoon watching them," she continues. The terminations, that is. Putting together the little pieces in a cold steel bowl to make sure nothing is left behind in ... mom.
What did she think? "Pretty disturbing" was quickly followed with, "but I'm glad it's an option for women who aren't ready to have babies yet." Good girl. You know what you're supposed to say. "I wouldn't do something like that myself," she assures me. Very interesting. OK, Catholic girl, let's have it out right here in the office of the women's clinic, across the hall from the (thankfully) empty abortion suite.
If these little hands and feet you've had to "fit together" are just tissue, abortion is a great choice, really. But if it's a baby who's being dismembered, whose pieces you're fitting together, and whose limbs you're counting in that bowl, then abortion can't be a choice. You can't be allowed to choose to murder. And you know, because you feel pretty disturbed, that it's a baby. End of story.
I was in the "women's clinic" for a rotation the other morning. I met one of my Catholic collegue medical students, who's working in the clinic for a month. "You know they do terminations here?" she mentions. I know. I've dreaded coming into this dungeon-like basement unit for months. But today is the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, and with Mass and communion minutes behind me, I waltz into the valley of darkness. "I spent an afternoon watching them," she continues. The terminations, that is. Putting together the little pieces in a cold steel bowl to make sure nothing is left behind in ... mom.
What did she think? "Pretty disturbing" was quickly followed with, "but I'm glad it's an option for women who aren't ready to have babies yet." Good girl. You know what you're supposed to say. "I wouldn't do something like that myself," she assures me. Very interesting. OK, Catholic girl, let's have it out right here in the office of the women's clinic, across the hall from the (thankfully) empty abortion suite.
If these little hands and feet you've had to "fit together" are just tissue, abortion is a great choice, really. But if it's a baby who's being dismembered, whose pieces you're fitting together, and whose limbs you're counting in that bowl, then abortion can't be a choice. You can't be allowed to choose to murder. And you know, because you feel pretty disturbed, that it's a baby. End of story.
