Getting High On Religious Freedom

Posted by: on Apr 3, 2015 | One Comment

the-first-church-of-cannabis

Getting High On Religious Freedom

You had to know this was coming or at least you had to hope this was coming, just for the potential chaos. Personally, I thought it was going to be bunch of Rastafarians trying to pull this off but it looks like someone beat them to it. Indiana’s Freedom of Religion Act has given rise to a new church – The First Church of Cannabis, Inc.

This Church is founded on their 12 guiding principles, which they call The Diety Dozen:
1) Don’t be an asshole. Treat everyone with love as an equal
2) The day starts with your smile every morning. When you get up, wear it first.
3) Help others when you can. Not for money, but because it’s needed.
4) Treat your body as a temple. Do not poison it with poor quality foods and sodas.
5) Do not take advantage of people. Do not intentionally hurt anything.
6) Never start a fight…only finish them.
7) Grow food, raise animals get nature into your daily routine
8) Do not be a “troll” on the internet, respect others without name calling and being vulgarly aggressive.
9) Spend at least 10 minutes a day just contemplating life in a quiet space.
10) When you see a bully… stop them by any means possible. Protect those who can not protect themselves.
11) Laugh often, share humor. Have fun in life, be positive.
12) Cannabis, “the Healing Plant” is our sacrament. It brings us closer to ourselves and others. It is our fountain of health, our love, curing us from illness and depression. We embrace it with our whole heart and spirit, individually and as a group.

Call me crazy but I kind of like these better than the ones everyone else preaches.

And here’s the best part. The state of Indiana, where cannabis is illegal, actually approved their application. And the 2nd best part is that the church’s leader, Bill Levin, is an atheist. If George Carlin were alive, he’d be having a field day with this – a church led by an atheist where the sacrament is pot. You can’t make this shit up!

By attempting to fight one growing social issue, Indiana may have just flung the door wide open on another one, which I’m sure will freak some people out almost as much (and not just the folks in the Hoosier State). I wonder how the pizzeria owner who refused to serve gays, will feel about his customers having the munchies. Or better yet, asking for their pizza to be made with cannabis oil for religious purposes.

Just like Indiana’s Freedom of Religion Act, citing cannabis for religious purposes is nothing new. Other pro cannabis groups in other states have tried this before with little or no success. With all the publicity (some would say unnecessary mass hysteria) surrounding this newest freedom of religion law (and there have been many others without the mass hysteria), the question is how much fight does Indiana have in them to battle this group and how much fight does this group have in them to battle Indiana?

Of course, you can’t have a church without a “good book” and The Church of Cannabis is no different. Just like other religions, this church does have a good book – The Emperor Wears No Clothes: Hemp and the Marijuana Conspiracy. Originally written in 1985 by Jack Herer, the book is described as a “thorough documentation of the petrochemical industry’s plot to outlaw this renewable source of paper, energy, food, textiles, and medicine.” My own opinion is it isn’t so much the petrochemical industry that has been fighting cannabis as it is big pharma. Why take a Xanax when you can have a brownie which does the same thing, and you can make your own.  But I digress (as I often do).

In the span of one week, Indiana (which I’ve been told is really a great place to live, which I don’t doubt) found itself at the center of one social issue storm, and could potentially find themselves in the middle of another. I guess it just depends if the Church of Cannabis takes in a little bit too much of their own sacrament or they decide to live by their 6th commandment – never start a fight…only finish them.

What my hope is that the good people of Indiana will flock to the Church of Cannabis, partake of the sacrament, and basically not really care what people do in their Constitutional given right to pursue happiness. Not even God can dictate what makes people happy, which is what our country was founded on (and which some folks seem to have forgotten).

To my tribal friends, Happy Passover (if that’s the way you roll).
To my friends of other faiths, Happy Easter (if that’s the way you roll).
And to those folks in Indiana who have joined this new Church, I’m pretty sure I know the way you roll, or at least what you roll.

 

 

 

 

 

1 Comment

  1. Larry Bashe
    April 4, 2015

    Your description of a new Church has enhanced my celebration of the holiday. Thanks. By the way, my kids are ready to join the new church. I have never seen them this committed to religion.