Orthodoxy and Tobacco

Today we will discuss tobacco. Is it acceptable for Orthodox people? (Source: ruvera.ru)

First, to debunk a few myths - Old Believers are not like Mormons. Drinking coffee, tea, alcohol, etc, are fully accepted as long as it stays away from addiction and drunkenness. For a while, some priestless abstained entirely from coffee, but they eventually declared drinking coffee acceptable and not sinful.

But tobacco is different, historically.

Tobacco, before the Raskol,  was prohibited by Patriarch Philaret in 1634 for all use. It was considered a mocking of incense, a foul smoke and a prayer to the Devil.

It was also believed to slowly kill the user (Who would have thought?) and some towns imprisoned users. 

In 1697, Peter the "Great", a famous westernizer and Nikonian, lifted all bans. He encouraged the importation of tobacco, giving Britain a monopoly in the country. He was a known smoker. He demanded all his acquaintances smoke.

Peter used it as incense in his blasphemous mockery of the Divine Liturgy he held with friends. He used it to consecrate a friend's palace in the name of the pagan god (demon) Bacchus.

Tobacco grew to the Nikonian monasteries in the middle 19th century. One Nikonian stated that tobacco was the smell of the "Orthodox person". Many saints of that church smoked: Nicholas II, Theophan the Recluse, Seraphim of Sarov, etc. It became enshrined as something minor, or even something holy.

Old Believers considered smoking a terrible sin. One has to confess tobacco smoking as an Old Believer. They also believed, and still believe, that tobacco is addicting and will kill the user, something confirmed by modern science. 

A legend about tobacco:

There lived one slutty, depraved woman. Drunk, she fell asleep on the road. The dogs gathered around her and entered into a vicious relationship with her. At the very place where this shameful affair took place, a beautiful flower with a pleasant, fragrant scent grew. Some because of the smell began to collect these flowers. At first, people did not know what to do with them. Some tried to eat them, but the flowers were poisonous, and people began to die. This continued until someone realized that they would dry these leaves and roll them up for smoking. Since then, this blight has spread, and to this day people can not keep up with this evil.

Apparently debates over the sinfulness of tobacco were common in discussions with New Believers.

In 1916, the Ancient Orthodox Church condemned tobacco use as a sin, addictive, and harmful to health. 

During the First World War, there was a cigarette drive started by the Nikonian church. Its hierarchs encouraged shipping of tobacco, and the Old Believers were horrified. 

Metropolitan Innocent (Usov)

Metropolitan Innocent (Usov) of Moscow wrote a polemic against this:

I am talking about the fact that many collect toxic, harmful to the soul and harmful substances to health. On the soldiers, for example, tobacco. And, moreover, it is very successful and generous, as if tobacco is as important as cartridges, gunpowder and other equipment. In the cities there are signs “We collect on the tobacco”, “on the shag” and so on. Entire organizations, individuals, men, women, large and small, donate to this rubbish. In some schools, teachers invited boys to donate to tobacco, and girls to sew pouches. Even the clergy (of course, not Old Believers) took part in supplying the army with this soul-breaking potion. Many magazines and newspapers, both conservative and liberal, have opened a subscription and collection for tobacco, and their employees advertised, praised this trash so hard that one would think that they sold out to tobacco companies ...

In fact, tobacco on a warrior is just as necessary as a dog's fifth leg, which, of course, would only prevent her from running, or like a fifth wheel in a cart. Even worse. As everywhere, especially in military service, tobacco, except harm and destruction, brings nothing to anyone. Scientists, doctors, hygienists and moralists have investigated and proved that smoking tobacco, as well as the use of other narcotic substances, lowers the body’s resistance to harmful substances, predisposes to consumption and other chest diseases, has a detrimental effect on nerves, heart and other important organs of the body, dulls the mind, weakens memory and reason, paralyzes in general all mental activity of a person. Simply put, a person becomes stupid from tobacco and is more likely to fall ill.

Thank you for reading.