By Cara Anderson
IG: @carajojo
Is smoking weed a sin?
The Bible doesn’t mention cannabis directly, ever. However, the Bible doesn’t mention many taboo current day practices, as it was written in 6000 BCE (or earlier.) There’s an argument that if something hadn’t been discovered or invented before the writing of the Bible, then it’s open to modern interpretation. But… It turns out that cannabis has been utilized since well before the recording of the Bible.
The earliest proof use of cannabis dates around 10,000 BCE. Pottery artifacts found in a prehistoric site on Yangmingshan, an island off the coast of Taiwan, were adorned with hemp. Nearby dig sites also uncovered hemp fishing nets and fabrics that date to 5000 BCE. Hemp oil was utilized for cooking during 6000 BCE in China.
Read this excerpt from the Bible;
“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. (Genesis 1:29.)”
Historically, cannabis has been used in spiritual and religious practices. A few religions that utilize cannabis are Taoism, Hinduism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Rastafarianism. Cannabis was used in funerary rituals in ancient Greece. Some Native American tribes incorporate cannabis into rituals as a spiritual sacrament. The spiritual benefits, among physical and psychological benefits, are undeniable.
Pope Francis weighed in on legalizing marijuana in 2014; he’s not stoked on weed. While speaking on legalization, Pope Francis focused on the negative aspects of drug addiction. I’m happy to remind you that marijuana isn’t a drug, despite its federal classification as such, and that marijuana is non-addictive.
I guess, in Catholic interpretations, everything created by God is “good.” Good is subjective, though, and cannabis can be “evil” if it is utilized for such.
So… if you’re battling morality when you pearl up your next dutch, just remember to… Not use it for evil?
Image by Benjie Cooper.
