Cancer Cures Smoking

The Post Chaplain at Ft. Riley had this sign posted in his office: "Cancer Cures Smoking." It really caught my attention. Both he and I had been smokers.

If you smoke, it doesn't offend me. So, please don't get mad. I am not on a crusade to stamp out smoking. I want to support you and be your friend.

Some psychological studies tie smoking with breast feeding. Psychologist John Drakeford stated that when he sees a person smoking, he pictures him in his mind's eye as having a big pacifier in his mouth. People who have been breast fed find it easier to quit smoking. Those who did not receive the affection and closeness of a mother have more difficulty quitting. Therefore, smokers should be supported and not alienated.

While in the Navy (ca. 1955), I smoked up to two packs of cigarettes per day. At that time, medical science had not caught up with what some churches were teaching—that it is a sin to smoke. I believe that the Holy Spirit was telling us that smoking would harm our bodies. The Holy Spirit gave me something better than smoking when I, a young 18-year-old rededicated my life to Christ. He placed God's love in my heart. God and his love were what I had been searching for all the time:

. . .God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us (Romans 5:5, NIV).

If he did this for me, he will do it for you!

This is one of the few areas that the "politically correct" position is really correct, even if they do go overboard by trying to force people to quit without giving them something better!

Remember that Adolf Hitler also taught that smoking was bad. Maybe Hitler and the radical left have something in common. They both tried to offset murder of a class of people by the psychological mechanism of compensation.

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