“Idolatry is committed, not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils; by making
men afraid of war or alcohol, or economic law, when they should be afraid of spiritual corruption and cowardice.” -GK Chesterton, ILN
I begin to wonder about a nation which has decided that consenting adults smoking tobacco of their own volition is a greater evil then any other possible act. Coming from Oregon I like to tell people that my state is such a place where you can take your sixteen year-old girlfriend to get an abortion without parental consent then later in the day take your grandmother for euthanasia with the family physician and end such a hard day with a live sex show. You cannot, however, under any circumstances smoke a cigarette in a bar. Likewise, a few years ago we witnessed a great out cry against the behavior of James Bond and the example he set for children everywhere, never mind that children should never watch 007 anyhow. As it were, do you suppose that the out cry was against his excessive drinking, his womanizing, problem gambling, or senseless violence? Well, no, those things are necessary functions of MI6, but everyone wondered if he had to smoke after doing it.
Recently the modern idolatry has demonized President Obama for his occasional use of cigarettes. In all honesty, I wonder how serious the media wants me to take them when this is the only issue they can take with our President. The President smokes and, certainly, we ought to be bothered that he punishes smokers everywhere with legislation, but his own legal and private vice is just that: a vice that is legal and quite private. This is truly modern madness at its finest: society is more perturbed by responsible adults using a legal substance than by any sign of weakness or corruption of the soul. Do not be surprised, my dear reader, if it turns out that tobacco becomes the new prohibition and you find the timeless insanity of idolatry failing the test of time once more.
June 26, 2009 at 10:52 am
[...] 26, 2009 by Der Wolfanwalt I’d like to take a moment and echo the recent observations of Mr. Lichens regarding smoking. As usual, I am probably going to issue my declarations with a proportionately [...]
July 22, 2009 at 1:41 am
How true what you say … how sad!
But what can one expect from a society that has put God aside and believes that it is well above God.
In all these things I see the decadence of our Western society. Which society is more civilized? – the modern one without God or the medieval one when God was in everything?
July 25, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I go back and forth on which is more “civilized” but I may say that our nation and our civilization is consumed with barbarism much like that which we condemn from the past. However, it is a refined barbarism and much less bloody. Still, heartbreaking.