How should drug use for religious reasons be viewed?

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There are instances when psychoactive plants or fungi have had some sort of spiritual significance like in some animistic belief systems. For instance there’s the coca plant in the Incan based belief system (it significance is still present in the syncretic “folk Catholicism” in parts of western South America|) and *soma in the ancient Vedic tradition ( a historical precursor to Hinduism).For more recent examples there’s *peyote use in the Native American Church and marijuana use in the Rastafarian movement.In all those belief systems there is a proper way to use those living things to execute the intended spiritual experience although there are clearly the risks of these substances being used for self-centered non-religious use (ex.coca plants for cocaine,peyote for mescaline,various fungi for its psilobyin compunds and marijuana for…well a bunch of stuff).How should (out of lack of a beter word) drug use in different religions be viewed as (if a all)?.Good,bad,neutral or something else?.

*No one knows what it might actually have been.Speculation ranges from opium to the Psilocybe cubensis/Gold cap mushroom.

**It’s use is legally regulated for ceremonial purposes only.

***except maybe for the Rastafarian movement which I’m not so sure about.I’ve heard that relative to the non-Rastafarian perspective it promotes lenient marijuana use.
 
Drug use is between the user and themselves. It should be of no mind to you just as their dietary or dress habits. :confused:
 
At the very least, I would think it should be viewed as a really bad idea. If you have to be under the influence of something in order to see your god, it’s obvioulsy not really God! Is it immoral? I guess it is, to the extent that it’s a behavoir that seeks a God that doesn’t exist, then I’d have to say yes. However, it a person is doing it in a way that does not immediatly endanger himself or others and is able to procure such drugs in a way that is legal, safe, and not likely to cause harm to others, then I can’t think of any reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to.
 
sidetrack said:
There are instances when psychoactive plants or fungi have had some sort of spiritual significance like in some animistic belief systems. For instance there’s the coca plant in the Incan based belief system (it significance is still present in the syncretic “folk Catholicism” in parts of western South America|) and *soma in the ancient Vedic tradition ( a historical precursor to Hinduism).For more recent examples there’s *peyote use in the Native American Church and marijuana use in the Rastafarian movement.In all those belief systems there is a proper way to use those living things to execute the intended spiritual experience although there are clearly the risks of these substances being used for self-centered non-religious use (ex.coca plants for cocaine,peyote for mescaline,various fungi for its psilobyin compunds and marijuana for…well a bunch of stuff).How should (out of lack of a beter word) drug use in different religions be viewed as (if a all)?.Good,bad,neutral or something else?.

*No one knows what it might actually have been.Speculation ranges from opium to the Psilocybe cubensis/Gold cap mushroom.

**It’s use is legally regulated for ceremonial purposes only.

***except maybe for the Rastafarian movement which I’m not so sure about.I’ve heard that relative to the non-Rastafarian perspective it promotes lenient marijuana use.
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Personally, I would like to muster the courage to try psilocybin. It’s never going to happen though. I get scared on a skateboard.

Your friend,
Sufjon
 
Allegra said:
At the very least, I would think it should be viewed as a really bad idea. If you have to be under the influence of something in order to see your god, it’s obvioulsy not really God! Is it immoral? I guess it is, to the extent that it’s a behavoir that seeks a God that doesn’t exist, then I’d have to say yes. However, it a person is doing it in a way that does not immediatly endanger himself or others and is able to procure such drugs in a way that is legal, safe, and not likely to cause harm to others, then I can’t think of any reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to.
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My own personal opinion, drugs have no place in worship as we must cultivate that “stilling” of our hearts and Listen the the Voice of God…IMO drugs while temprorarily may “enhance” a religious experience…I do no believe their continuous use will bring one closer toe the Light…it may in fact “dim that of God within” to a flicker as we become resistant to Listening as Quietly and as Clearly than when under the influence of mind altering substances.

IF…IF they are used, it should be only by an experienced practitioner of an ecstatic tradition which historically has used mind altering substances…but it is the conviction of Friends, such drug use is not true to our Testimony that God is ever Present with His People…He dwells among them.
 
To be honest, it doesn’t affect me, but I would assume that the traditional cultures who make use of these plants know how to do so in a safe and responsible manner. A lot of the time wine is served at communion, do people drink all the wine in the chalice? I should hope not, and yet there is a risk of getting drunk (or at least tipsy) if it’s drunk in excess. Does that mean we should ban wine from being used in churches? Of course not!
 
Lokabrenna said:
To be honest, it doesn’t affect me, but I would assume that the traditional cultures who make use of these plants know how to do so in a safe and responsible manner. A lot of the time wine is served at communion, do people drink all the wine in the chalice? I should hope not, and yet there is a risk of getting drunk (or at least tipsy) if it’s drunk in excess. Does that mean we should ban wine from being used in churches? Of course not!
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Well, even if someone DID perchance drink all the communion wine in the chalice in one gulp they would not be particularly intoxicated - chalices are never, in my experience, more than half-filled, so we’re talking half a glass of wine at most. We don’t serve it by the flagon or anything!

By the way, how on earth can one ensure ‘responsible’ use of magic mushrooms, peyote or the like? These are not grown or processed in any standardised way such that one can get a precisely controlled dose of active ingredient.

And even if one could, it hasn’t been established that there IS such a thing as a safe dose of the active ingredient of mOst of these drugs, and if so what that safe dose is.
 
I have seen this problem recently in a family member. There are several problems with it. Drug use, just as alcohol use, decreases the inhibitions. Thus, one may have more potential to act out on unacceptable impulses. Relatedly, it makes a person more sensitive to the influences of the devil.

Now, there may be positives to this. Having experienced these things, the individual experimenter, beginning as agnostic, may end up running into the protective arms of Jesus. However, why put yourself intentionally into such a situation, when all you have to do is turn towards Him?

Doctor-prescribed medications are much safer.
 
God gave us our five senses to experience His world, gather information, analyze and study it, and conclude that God is real and present. Paul put it this way:
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Anything that distorts those senses, for no medical purpose, is man’s way of saying he knows better than God and will follow his own path.
 
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