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Freedom Of Religion Should Be Extended To The Use Of Drugs In Spiritua
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy replied on Tue Oct 20, 2009 @ 4:33pm
databoy
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by Alexander Beiner

In the heavy, moist air of the Amazon rainforest, I sit waiting as an old shaman pours an ancient sacrament into a cup. The brew he has prepared is ayahuasca, a blend of two plants that provides a visionary experience of such sublime, boundary-dissolving beauty that it changes the way you see the world for ever. The shaman is participating in humanity's oldest form of spiritual practice. Not only does the use of visionary plants predate organised religion by tens of thousands of years, but many anthropologists believe that the presence of hallucinogens in the diet of our hunter-gatherer ancestors had a significant influence on the way our brains evolved. Millions of people, me included, use these substances for spiritual growth, metaphysical exploration and healing.

However, shamanism cannot be described as a religion or a faith. No faith is needed in a visionary experience; in these states, the individual receives direct personal experience of the divine, becoming unified with their own subconscious and with the rest of the universe. In a timeless moment you realise that God is not an angry patriarch somewhere in the ether – God is within. We are the arbiters of good and evil, entirely responsible for creating our own reality. This ecstatic realisation cannot be enshrined in dogma, requires no priests and does not ask one to have faith in the ancient ideas of other people. It is no surprise that hallucinogenic plants and chemicals are also known as "entheogens", a word derived from Greek that means "that which generates the god within".

Entheogens are illegal in most countries, but the same societies that condemn entheogens actively promote the use of alcohol, a drug that – according to a study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health – may be responsible for 1 in 25 deaths worldwide. Plant medicines are incredibly safe by comparison and inspire peaceful and productive behaviour, which suggests that drug laws are based more on cultural conditioning and preconceptions than on reason.

The legality of alcohol and cigarettes indicates that the danger of a drug is not the primary factor in deciding its legality. What matters is that the drug does not interfere with the dominant cultural ideology of a society. Entheogens destroy an individual's cultural conditioning, freeing them from a fixed perceptual framework and encouraging them to think independently. Western cultures cannot incorporate experiences like this into their cultural framework because to do so would be to risk a serious transformation of culture itself. One only has to look at the effect that mass use of LSD had in undermining the moral assumptions of the US in the late 1960s to see why governments are terrified of these substances.

The tragedy of prohibition is that entheogens have the potential to be the most successful psychiatric medicines known to man. Fortunately, the medical community and some governments are beginning to recognise this, and there has been a resurgence in psychedelic research in the last five years. Organisations like the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in the US have studied the use of MDMA, psilocybin and other psychedelics for a range of illnesses and conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder and drug addiction.

As someone who uses psychedelics as a spiritual technology, I am not surprised by the very promising results of these studies. My first psychedelic experience completely changed my life and convinced me that the use of hallucinogenic plants is a human birthright. To find spiritual peace in this way and be told by your society that you were wrong for seeking it is saddening and frustrating. No one has the right to tell another person how they can experience the divine. Freedom of religion is an inalienable right, and until this right is extended to the oldest form of spiritual practice, our ability to explore who we truly are will be severely limited.

[ www.guardian.co.uk ]
I'm feeling no sleep till tuesda right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» fortierpro replied on Thu Oct 22, 2009 @ 10:53am
fortierpro
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i agree!
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini replied on Fri Oct 23, 2009 @ 11:31am
basdini
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the freedom of religion aspect of the legalization debate is really interesting because if someone says for example that smoking marijuana is part of their religion (ie praying to Ja) how can anyone deny him that right in clear conscience.
I'm feeling surly right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» FUCKERS replied on Fri Oct 23, 2009 @ 12:22pm
fuckers
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anyone with a clear conscience is not religious .. epic fail!
I'm feeling porny right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» WhiteLight replied on Sun Oct 25, 2009 @ 6:51pm
whitelight
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Well, I'm all for leglisation...
But if we accept drugs due to religious use, where is the limit for religious "privileges" ?

Should an extremist muslim have the right to kill an impure atheist?
I'm feeling the bass right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy replied on Sun Oct 25, 2009 @ 9:43pm
databoy
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I think harming others should be off limits for all religions.
I'm feeling no sleep till tuesda right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini replied on Wed Oct 28, 2009 @ 5:47pm
basdini
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Originally Posted By WHITELIGHT

Well, I'm all for leglisation...
But if we accept drugs due to religious use, where is the limit for religious "privileges" ?

Should an extremist muslim have the right to kill an impure atheist?


obviously you shouldn't be able to kill people , that's infringing on their rights (the people you are killing)
I'm feeling surly right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» AYkiN0XiA replied on Tue Nov 3, 2009 @ 12:44pm
aykin0xia
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taking drugs : a crime with no victims...
I'm feeling psy-minded right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Screwhead replied on Tue Nov 3, 2009 @ 1:17pm
screwhead
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I guess you've never had to put up with people having "life-changing" revelations on drugs, or tried to go do something else after someone on speed has started talking to you...
I'm feeling like a drama magnet right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» WhiteLight replied on Tue Nov 3, 2009 @ 4:35pm
whitelight
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or tried to escape having a fight with a dude fucked on too much cocaine who didn't quite understand that you weren't looking at his girl.

I'm totally for some more drugs related freedom, but saying drugs don't make victims, or assuming everyone is able to handle their drug use is totally wrong.
I'm feeling the bass right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini replied on Wed Nov 4, 2009 @ 3:01am
basdini
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freedom to put whatever you chose in your body is fundamental...in some senses it actually is the most important right you have because it makes the clear statement that your body belongs to you and only you, not the state and not society.

in many ways a lot of the other rights we take for granted find their foundation in this conception of your body as belonging to you. Don't be fooled by what other people may say about this you have the right to put whatever you chose into your body, just like you have the right to end your life if you chose

i don't like what a lot of people do to themselves with drugs, but we can't protect people from themselves and self destructive behavior, that's what socialists think and that's crap, and we all know that.
I'm feeling surly right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy replied on Thu Nov 5, 2009 @ 7:08pm
databoy
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Originally Posted By BASDINI

i don't like what a lot of people do to themselves with drugs, but we can't protect people from themselves and self destructive behavior, that's what socialists think and that's crap, and we all know that.


The war on drugs was initially sponsored by the American republican neo-cons (remember R.Nixon?). They are the ones who want to control every other part of human existence in the name of safety and morals, except for wall street, that is. Cant touch that.
How you can peg cohesive drug laws on "socialists" is beyond me. Unless you are referring to community services aimed at minimizing the effect chronic users have on society, like safe injection houses and needle exchange services. In witch case I understand even less.
Living in Canada and all, what do you have against socialists?
And no, I'm not a dim republican that equates socialism to communism.
I'm feeling no sleep till tuesda right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» MolocH replied on Sat Nov 7, 2009 @ 1:51pm
moloch
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Originally Posted By NAMASTE

taking drugs : a crime with no victims...


First off, y'all know mah views deh drugz.
I luffs them great manies.
There.

That beeing said, I have to poop on your parade tough.
I was horrified when I made aware of how many people are made "un-alive" or "Srsly harmed"
in the process of getting dem produkts on the market.

Srsly.

That fact won't hinder my usage, But I'll never say again it's purely victimless.

Kthksbye.
I'm feeling up to no good right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Deadfunk replied on Mon Nov 9, 2009 @ 8:01am
deadfunk
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Originally Posted By NAMASTE

taking drugs : a crime with no victims...


thats so false!
I'm feeling hardcore right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy replied on Mon Nov 9, 2009 @ 8:59am
databoy
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Think of the children...
I'm feeling no sleep till tuesda right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» qwertyu replied on Mon Nov 16, 2009 @ 10:43pm
qwertyu
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'' hey officer, hold it right there, this is my religious K. Now fuck off. ''

Lots of different drugs have spiritual meanings for people. Religious implys a religious organisation. What if i'm using psilocybin for spiritual/enthogenic/whateveryounameit purposes alone then? And when and where does the '' use of drugs in spiritua '' begins and ends.

There will always be people using these drugs for kicks. Some poeple will use them both for kicks and for spiritual purposes. It's not just about psychedelics, even alcohol is used in certain religious rituals.

So how do you regulate that? And if they're made legal for '' use in spiritua '' do they stay illegal if you injest them for kicks? hum..
I'm feeling like a superhero right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» fortierpro replied on Thu Dec 3, 2009 @ 1:56pm
fortierpro
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Originally Posted By WHITELIGHT

or tried to escape having a fight with a dude fucked on too much cocaine who didn't quite understand that you weren't looking at his girl.

I'm totally for some more drugs related freedom, but saying drugs don't make victims, or assuming everyone is able to handle their drug use is totally wrong.


Right!
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» qwertyu replied on Fri Dec 4, 2009 @ 5:56pm
qwertyu
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What if a priest bless an eightball of coke? Then i'd be religious?
I'm feeling like a superhero right now..
Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» system_glitch replied on Fri Dec 4, 2009 @ 7:32pm
system_glitch
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If drugs become accepted as religion, will drug dealers start raping little boys?
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Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» qwertyu replied on Sun Dec 6, 2009 @ 2:47am
qwertyu
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Originally Posted By STRANGEDAHLIA

If drugs become accepted as religion, will drug dealers start raping little boys?


hahahahhahahaa that's too great hahahahaha
I'm feeling like a superhero right now..
Freedom Of Religion Should Be Extended To The Use Of Drugs In Spiritua
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