Smoking or cheating? (Full Version)

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backrowbaptist -> Smoking or cheating? (8/26/2008 8:24:08 PM)

This article is by my favorite talk show host, Dennis Prager. What would you answer for your kids?
quote:

Prefer Your Teen to Smoke or to Cheat?
By Dennis Prager
Decades of lecturing around America and of speaking with parents on my radio show have led me to an incredible conclusion: More American parents would be upset with their teenage children if they smoked a cigarette than if they cheated on a test.
How has this come about? This is, after all, an entirely new phenomenon. Almost no member of my generation (those who became teenagers in the 1960s), let alone a member of any previous generation, could ever have imagined that parents would be angrier with their teenage child for smoking than for cheating.

Article con't - http://www.jewishjournal.com/articles/item/prefer_your_teen_to_smoke_or_to_cheat_20030725/



Mrs.X -> RE: Smoking or cheating? (8/26/2008 8:33:36 PM)

It's a lot easier to quit cheating than it is to quit smoking. I did a little of both as a kid, ten years later--still smoking, but I don't cheat.

Do you also want to discuss whether smoking is immoral or simply unhealthy, or would that be off topic? That seemed to be a biased theme in the article.



backrowbaptist -> RE: Smoking or cheating? (8/26/2008 10:23:38 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mrs.X

It's a lot easier to quit cheating than it is to quit smoking. I did a little of both as a kid, ten years later--still smoking, but I don't cheat.

Do you also want to discuss whether smoking is immoral or simply unhealthy, or would that be off topic? That seemed to be a biased theme in the article.

There's already a thread about that in morality/ethics. Careful, though, it's gotten a little nasty.
His point is to contrast our societies growing emphasis on healthy bodies, which are temporary, with our lowering emphasis on character, which is eternal.



Mrs.X -> RE: Smoking or cheating? (8/26/2008 10:34:02 PM)

Hey that makes sense in that light. Hadn't thought about it that way. That'd be a tough choice then.

I didn't realize there was a thread already on it. I'll have to go check it out.



MrsDC -> RE: Smoking or cheating? (8/27/2008 12:48:22 AM)

For sure and without hesitation, I'd be upset about both! [:D]

Totally agree with MrsX about it being easier to quit cheating than smoking, but smoking can be caused by stupidity, whereas cheating is a heart issue.

In our home, the higher priority is put on honesty. If you got caught smoking, you'd be in trouble. If you then lied about smoking, you'd REALLY get in trouble.

I think I'll avoid the other thread. I'm not in the mood for internet bickering![;)]



peculiar_lady2 -> RE: Smoking or cheating? (8/27/2008 9:45:08 AM)

depends why the smoking started...if it is out of rebellion or peer pressure or any other number of things then it too is a heart issue just with a different physical manifestation...same as cheating. The cheating and the smoking both point to there being a heart issue that needs to be dealt with.



bluestone -> RE: Smoking or cheating? (8/27/2008 9:49:43 AM)

Our society values health, which is good, but does not value character, which is disasterous.

Times have changed, too. We know much more about the problems with smoking than previous generations, so of course the concern would be greater.
Situational ethics have ruined the concept of character.



JimboFletch -> RE: Smoking or cheating? (8/27/2008 10:28:38 AM)

Mr. Prager just seems to be ranting venting about society's backlash against smoking. His logic is all over the place and barely holds together. In Mr. Prager's youth, smoking was only vaguely considered dangerous and only known to be addictive by those few who tried to quit.

I grew up in the same time frame as Mr. Prager did and my dad would have beat me senseless (I'm exagerating a bit, okay) if I had been caught cheating - as he would have if he'd found out I was smoking, even though he smoked most of his life - and hated the addiction. I would not have accepted either behavior in my children.

Which is more acceptable, smoking or cheating? Only an unbeliever or someone with an agenda pose such a silly question. Neither going into adulthood morally crippled nor physically hooked on a dangerous habit are acceptable for the children of Christians.



Hislittleone -> RE: Smoking or cheating? (8/27/2008 2:05:40 PM)

quote:

JimboFletch: "Neither going into adulthood morally crippled nor physically hooked on a dangerous habit are acceptable for the children of Christians."


Exactly. We wouldn't tolerate either behavior in our children.

ETA: And this is coming from an ex-smoker. Yes, it's very hard to quit smoking but it's also very hard to change a dishonest heart.



backrowbaptist -> RE: Smoking or cheating? (8/29/2008 7:04:36 PM)

quote:

bluestone
Our society values health, which is good, but does not value character, which is disasterous.

Truly disastrous. In my teaching days, so many of my students were actually encouraged by their parents to cheat if they could get away with it, and if they were caught, the parents would fight any consequences for them (even Christian parents). Most of these same parents would have hung their kids if they were caught smoking. The contradiction is a symptom of a larger breakdown of priorities in society, christians included. This is wuy the question intrigued me, and is why I passed the it on to you all. IMO Concern for health is good, but building Godly character should be our #1 priority.

quote:

ORIGINAL: JimboFletch
Which is more acceptable, smoking or cheating? Only an unbeliever or someone with an agenda pose such a silly question.

And only someone who is insecure in his beliefs would impune the spiritual standing of those who dare to question the conventional wisdom.
But, looking past that unpleasantness, I gather from the responses that y'all pretty much equate, in this instance anyways, physical well being with moral well being. As the author states, that's a departure from generations past, for better or worse. I wonder, would we apply that to other temporal aspects of our children's lives? Education, achievement, wealth, adventure/experience, security, approval - all things we might crave for our children that might over-shadow pursuing Godly character and furthering the Kingdom. But maybe that's another thread.



Dred -> RE: Smoking or cheating? (9/1/2008 4:02:52 PM)

I love reading Dennis Prager. He makes a very good overall point in this column. However, I don't quite follow him with his analysis in the following 'sentence':

"Because health and living long are our greatest values."

I don't think those are our culture's greatest values and I don't think the emphasis placed on them is the cause of the particular example of moral confusion pointed out in his column. As a case in point, consider obesity. It is running rampant, is in close competition with cigarette smoking when it comes to damaging one's health, but doesn't raise nearly the same ire as that which flows from the anti-smoking zealots. Abdominal fat, so often prominent in middle aged males, is an especially dangerous kind. It greatly ups the odds of not just circulatory disease, but also diabetes, dementia, cancer, etc.

But this only reveals more of the moral confusion of which he wrote. It seems that smoking preachers are unacceptable, but rotund preachers are just fine and we even help them get bigger after church. Smoking could be a bit worse among the two because there is no such thing as passive, second-hand eating with which to be annoyed; there is a moral obligation to be considerate of others. As stewards of creation, we should take care of our bodies, but I don't see either smoking or eating too much to be serious moral problems. Lying and cheating are serious moral problems. I, for one, would be much more upset about the cheating than the smoking. An honest, morally upright young person is in a position to gain the wisdom needed to learn to reject what is simply not wise.



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