A lot of people actually think jesus was a ‘stoner’ and that weed is for the people of god to enjoy and use.
I’m unsure about that. I do not smoke weed or promote it, but did god actually
smoke/get high off of it?
It also says that god did use marijuana for many purposes:
hightimes.com/news/ht_admin/139
and this:
cannabisculture.com/backissues/cc11/christ.html
The argument is ridiculously stupid. Exodus 30:23 includes as one of the ingredients in the anointing oil
qaneh besem.
Besem (קָנֶה) means “sweet,” while
qaneh (בֶּשֶׂם) means stalk or reed. The phrase was translated as “sweet calamus” or “sweet cane.”
Somewhere along the way, somebody noticed that qaneh-besem sounds (really vaguely) like cannabis, and decided – based on that evidence, and little more – that the plant we now call cannabis must be the plant they used to call qaneh-besem.
you mentioned that there were a “lot” of verses in the links. And that’s true. There are a LOT of Bible verses which talk about anointing, and one verse which talks about the ingredients. That verse doesn’t say anything about cannabis, so those other verses become irrelevant. Here’s how your own link tries to “prove” its case:
This holy anointing oil, as described in the original Hebrew version of the recipe in Exodus (30:22-23), contained over six pounds of kaneh-bosem, a substance identified by respected etymologists, linguists, anthropologists, botanists and other researchers as cannabis, extracted into about six quarts of olive oil, along with a variety of other fragrant herbs. The ancient anointed ones were literally drenched in this potent mixture.
So far, there’s no evidence at all - just “lots of people we at High Times think are smart said something we like.” Does High Times *really *have the credibility to decide someone is a “respected etymologist,” etc.? Let’s continue:
Carl P. Ruck, the scholar who coined the term “entheogen,” is a professor of classical mythology at Boston University, and has researched the history of psychoactive substances in religion for over three decades, working with such luminaries as the father of LSD, Albert Hoffman; entheobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, and mycologist R. Gordon Wasson.
Riiiight. Carl Ruck, as it says, made up the word “entheogen” to describe the process of “waking the God within.” Albert Hoffman invented LSD. Schultes worked with Hoffman, as did Wasson. Wasson, Hoffman and Ruck co-authored a book claiming that the Eleusinian Mysteries also involved psychadelic drugs. Oh, did I mention that they were using magic mushrooms and LSD at the time? Because they were.
So you have a bunch of drug users who want to feel like this is “natural,” so they make up a bunch of false history, and go with the slimmest threads of evidence. You’ll note that none of the people listed were historians or (more importantly) etymologists.
The question is: how should Exodus 30:23 be interpreted? We have some good evidence, from how Hebrew-speakers in the past translated it (“sweet calamus”). In response to this, we don’t get solid linguistic or historical evidence, but crazy false-knowledge about how native peoples all do drugs.
The whole debate is beneath serious scholarship, so don’t be surprised if all the sources you can find on it look like they were made by a person on drugs at the time.
Just kidding. 