You mention two items here. Let me address the first one.
The Bible didn't mention weed because they didn't have a problem with weed. The problem doesn't mention LSD either, so I don't see using an argument of silence in the Bible as a very good argument.
If you just quickly skim over that post again, you'll see that I didn't use the Bible's silence as an argument. I simply explained that our approach to identifying sin must be different when looking at things not mentioned in the Bible to our approach when looking at things specifically prohibited by/in the Bible.
Lets look at some facts. Mainly, I want to concentrate on the fact that weed can and does alter ones thought process. I believe this is well documented.
What does the Bible say about being sober minded? Much. A simple word search produces 12 results on the word sober. It is apparent that to the NT writers, being sober is important.
When one has too much to drink, he is called drunk. Being drunk is not being sober. Why? Because your thought process has been altered.
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.
Does this make wine off limits? Certainly not.
1 Ti. 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.
It's pretty straight forward. Don't use wine for the reason of getting drunk, but use it responsibly fir medicinal purposes. And if you want to talk about that, then fine, lets talk about that. But in most cases, there are better drugs out there than weed.
In this way, we can compare weed to wine. It's ok to use it for medicinal purposes, but it's not ok to smoke it, or bake it in brownies so you can get high. Also, most average weed can get you stoned in about 2, maybe three hits and the really good stuff can get you stoned in just one hit. It's that concentrated now. So we've left the realm of wine, and we've traversed into the territory of Vodka. And Vodka isn't going to cure a tummy ache.
Firstly, I just wanna say that I disagree with the emboldened text in that being drunk is
not simply a state of altered thought processes. Or rather, that we cannot consider any altered state of mind to be a "drunken" or "non-sober" state of mind: our thought patterns are altered when we meditate, when we pray, when we sing, when we dance, when we sleep, when we read, when we partake in sport, when we study. Now,
I'm not equating these to cannabis. What I'm saying is simply that the alteration of thought processes
itself does not constitute sin: there are numerous other activies which are not sinful and which also alter thought processes. Perhaps a certain
degree or
type of alteration does, but mere alteration does.
Anyway, let's take a closer look at this issue of sobriety, shall we? When the Bible talks of sobriety and drunkenness, it is not referring to cannabis (by your own admission). We know that the "high" cause by cannabis is
very different to that caused by alcohol. So, is it fair to use these verses in this context as blanket prohibitions? Probably not.
What we need to establish, then, is what constitutes Biblical "sobriety". What is it about the high of cannabis that leads you to believe that a person in this state of mind cannot give glory to God?
I'm unsure how relevant this is, but, having heard some of your background, I'm sure you've been around many people who are high on cannabis. Is it not the case that people often take part in philosophical-come-theoligical discussions? Does this lend no length of defence to usage? People can still focus (and, indeed, are perhaps caused to focus) on the bigger uses in life after smoking.
Also, out of curiosity, why do you accept medicinal use? It still has exactly the same effects... are you saying that the pros outweigh the cons in this case, or just that motive is important, or something else entirely?
