The Archregimancy wrote:Socialist Czechia wrote:So what about tobacco?
I was quite surprised when I found out, that Church tried to ban tobacco, then regulate it at very least, and tobacco users were often punished, even by penalty of death in some more rigid places like Russia (especially by very conservative 'Old Believers').
It mostly changed in 17th and 18th century when tobacco became too valuable product to try ban it.
It might be helpful if you offered specifics and sources.
You do have a habit of making sweeping generalisations about Christian history and Christianity, so actually backing up some of these discussion points with specific citations and quotes could be helpful.
And I'm really not sure as to whether prohibitions on tobacco and smoking are necessarily wholly a religious issue; not unless you think the existing smoking bans in public spaces in much of the industrialised west (and here in Dubai, for that matter) are primarily motivated by theological objections.
Well, I wrote long essays about tobacco using, so I guess I can offer some particular literature about connections between religions (christianity included) and tobacco.
Burns, Eric. 2007. The Smoke of The Gods. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Breen, T. H. 2001. Tobacco Culture. Princeton, Woodstock: Princeton University Press.
Goodman, Jordan – Norton, Marcy – Parascandola, Mark (eds.). 2005. Tobacco in History and Culture. Detroit: Thomson Gale.
Romaniello, Matthew P. – Starks, Tricia (eds.). 2009. Tobacco in Russian History and Culture. New York, Abingdon: Routledge.
Shechter, Relli. 2006. Smoking, Culture and Economy in the Middle East. London, New York: I.B.Tauris.
If you don't wanna read it now, there are plenty links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_smokingYup, Wiki always saves the day
http://www.churchesofchrist.net/authors/Grady_Scott/tobacco.htmLooks like some Christian tried to find out if Tobacco is sin.