WOW
I hadn't been aware of that, thanks very much for posting.
A great linked site as well, which I've bookmarked.
Posted on 07/17/2008 12:42:01 PM PDT by Stoat
Smoking ban leads to new religionWednesday 16 July 2008 Café owners in the Netherlands are joining religious movement known as the One and Universal Smokers Church of God, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday. ‘We stand firmly behind the church’s teachings and that is smoking,’ Cor Busch, owner of the former Lindeboom café in Alkmaar told the paper. ‘Smokers are being discriminated against… but a beer and a cigarette belong together.’ Smoking has been banned in Dutch bars since July 1. Several dozen bars have joined the movement which claims the Dutch constitution and European rules give it legitimacy under the right to freedom of religion, the paper says. People who join the church get a membership card entitling them to smoke inside the building. Worshippers believe in the trinity of smoke, fire and ash and honour their god by smoking. Church founder Michiel Eijsbouts says café owners who are trying to get round the ban on smoking will not be allowed to join. The church, he says, takes smoking very seriously. ‘It has ritual aspects, it is something you experience and we follow our faith very strictly,’ he told the Telegraaf. |
That is not the subject.
I haven't eaten in an Albuquerque restaurant since the city-wide smoking ban took effect in July of 2005 and I haven't eaten in a New Mexico restaurant since the state-wide ban took effect in June of 2007.
Don't intend to, either.
Amen.
I don't know, but I'm guessing that since they're all Socialist to varying degrees they all allow it at some level. I have no doubt that there are some around here who can tell you precisely what the drug laws are in every country of the world, as it's quite an active and immediate concern to them. When I visit a foreign country, my concern is to stay AWAY from the druggies, not gravitate toward them
:-)
The liberals here want to legalize it too,but they would prefer to outlaw tobacco.We need to outlaw liberals.
Agreed. I keep trying to do that every time I go to vote and every time I make decisions as to what businesses I spend my money with.
If that's what she said, then that's how old she is.
I learned long ago to NEVER argue with or question a lady about her age, and if you are forced into a position of having to guess then NEVER make a guess above half her obvious age. Doing anything else makes one risk being the recipient of her everlasting wrath, which can manifest itself in astonishingly wide-ranging, catastrophically expensive, breathtakingly painful and occasionally lethal ways. I can think of a million better ways to die than what such a scenario would visit upon me.
Let's hope so....I'm guessing that you have to be VERY sneaky to be able to circumvent Socialist judges and prosecutors, and I have my doubts that this magnificent ploy will end up being sneaky enough to skate by in Holland. They have my blessings and goodwill, however, and I wish them every success in their noble endeavor.
What a creative way to get around non-smoking idiocy.
Indeed it is. Hopefully the Dutch Supreme Court will be able to explain the reason why this Church is not acceptable to them but Islam is welcomed with open arms.
I wait with bated breath, but I'm guessing that the bureaucrats will simply say "no, you're not a Church and we'll put you in jail if you don't stop" rather than going into any advanced and far more meaningful philosophical essays.
No, I don’t smoke.
I have encountered lots of people who don't smoke yet loathe the antismoking Nazis. A feeling of revulsion toward Fascism is the sign of a healthy mind, and whether that mind chooses to smoke or not has little bearing on the validity of an antifascist position. :-)
WOW
I hadn't been aware of that, thanks very much for posting.
A great linked site as well, which I've bookmarked.
Full Disclosure: I don't, but I dislike nanny-state government.
Cheers!
That’s why I maintain that we are in a Hitlerian society.
And the corresponding situation that both FDR and Churchill wouldn’t be allowed to indulge in a club, while Herr Shicklgruber could waltz merrily in.
Even Hitler couldn’t implement his desire in this case, but we happily accept it.
“”Ashes to Ashes,
Dust to Dust.
Light up a stogie,
for smoke we MUST!”
I’m so old I remember the original of your posted poem.
Still here,still smokin’,and still scratching my head at the insanity of the anti smoking zealots.
>>haven’t eaten in an Albuquerque restaurant since
You have more willpower than me; I smoke, whaddya expect.
Most restaurants in the Boston area had gone nonsmoking anyway, by the mid90’s latest, apart from large chains and some others. Their call, but I do know I started skipping the dessert, brandy and coffee routine which could add significantly to the tab.
But what was really vindictive and a knifetwist, and demonstrated the was banning in the bars, after all, this was the last haven and when a particularly simple solution was available - simply allow each establishment to decide.
Never will happen.
When the history of this country is written, people will ask what prompted people to vote away their property rights in the early 21st century?
The answer is that some people who refuse to think but nonetheless vote, did not like the smell of tobacco smoke.
really vindictive and a knifetwist, and demonstrated the was banning in the bars,
really vindictive and a knifetwist, and demonstrated the spiteful mindset of the tabakfreis was the banning in the bars,
The element of sadness hangs in the air, as we've intruded upon individual behavior and cultural and social habits in such a manner as to virtually invite far more intrusions, both qualitatively and quantitatively into our lives.
The precedent has been set, if a human activity is deemed "bad", then all kinds of state controls can be applied.
We're seeing it in food, and will probably see it in the whole climate change thingie - remember the proposal in California to have remote control of your thermostat?
A holy alliance? I would call it an unholy alliance. A Christian’s body is God’s temple. Any Christian who smokes is defiling God’s temple.
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