drugs
Illegal combatants now legal
- Posted by Rob (#1) on February 22, 2006 08:30 CET
In a blow to the Bush administration, secularism and sanity, the US Supreme Court has decided unanimously that illegal activities are allowed in the name of religion.
Justices, in their first religious freedom decision under Chief Justice John Roberts, moved decisively to keep the government out of a church's religious practice.
Federal drug agents should have been barred from confiscating the hoasca tea of the Brazil-based church, Roberts wrote in the decision.
The tea, which contains an illegal drug known as DMT, is considered sacred to members of O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal, which has a blend of Christian beliefs and South American traditions. Members believe they can understand God only by drinking the tea, which is consumed twice a month at four-hour ceremonies.
Brilliant. As a libertarian I am in favour of legalisation of harmless drug use, but I have to disapprove of the actual argumentation in this particular case because it is based on religion and not harm done.
Apparently it is okay to ignore federal narcotics law and import treaties for the sake of foreign-based churches. Then where do we draw the line? What other laws and treaties should not apply to members of a religion?
How about the Geneva convention or the right to life. If memory serves me right, I recall a number of people who believe they can understand a bloke called Allah only by killing others while concealed in civilian clothing. We could call these people illegal combatants or terrorists or tyrannic fundamentalists, but perhaps government should be kept out of such foreign religious practices and admit a zero tolerance approach is not sensible.
Right. Let me tell you what's not sensible: a world where religious activities are exempt from law where similar secular activities (medical marijuana, anyone?) are not. I wonder whether Neil likes John Roberts, still.
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- Tags: George Bush, Christianity, SCOTUS, drugs, John Roberts
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