Posted by KMH
In completing the letters of St. Ignatius, there is something that stood out to me which was separate from the main theme. Weird herbs were mentioned twice - once as "strange herbage" and then again as "noxious herbs." I wish to explore this a little in relation to the threat that the promoting of drug use has on Christian culture.
It may seem obvious to us as Catholics that recreational drug use is forbidden by the moral law. But we do have the catechism to guide us in interpreting scripture. As you know, when it comes to justifying sin, there are very ungodly people who will try and twist God's word however they see fit to comply to their own wishes. And without a solid foundation in teaching the weak poorly catechized are easily led astray (as I have been many times in the past).
That is why I am so happy to see, within these letters, such a clear and direct speaking out against the use of drugs. Because if the early church fathers can be quoted on the matter, who had the best ability to interpret scripture compared to us in contemporary times, then there can be no logical denial of the doctrine being sound.
Believe it or not, there are people, who claim to be Christian, that not only try and claim that the bible does not forbid recreational drug use, there are also pretend believers who take it even further that have attempted to show examples of recreational drug abuse being used by the faithful in God's word. Obviously, such a concept is just as ridiculous as those who claim that space aliens are in scripture. But it is still dangerous to those unaware and easily manipulated. This is why the truth should be spread with courage. Because when the truth is out there, it is far more difficult for the enemy to spread lies - at least among those who desire truth.
In the 1960's, many were led astray by drugs because they had never been taught their danger - and some had never even come across the concept until offered to them. Vans of terrible irresponsible people were even handing out LSD to children for free. It is so sad to see our culture go from being enlightened by Christ to the apostate society we are now. I have heard it said that you can tell the difference between a pagan society and an apostate society by the fact that the latter will always blaspheme God's name. And judging by the fact that a show can hardly be watched without even one use of the Lord's name in vain (even PG13 movies), such a saying rings very true.
That was a bit of a side tangent. But I'd be interested to know everyone else's thoughts on the matter. Thanks for taking the time to read my words. God bless.
Your friend in JMJ,
Keith
