High Tea: Sounds Good, But May Not Be... re: recent Supreme Court decision

[SeveneightyWhoa]

High Tea: Sounds Good, But May Not Be...

February 27 2006
Counterbias.com
MEL SEESHOLTZ


The February 21, 2006 CNN headline read “Court sides with church on hallucinogenic tea.” The story reported on the “first religious freedom decision under Chief Justice John Roberts”:

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that a small congregation in New Mexico may use hallucinogenic tea as part of a four-hour ritual intended to connect with God. Justices … 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.

Sounds great. A cup of tea sure beats wandering in the desert for forty day and forty nights hoping to achieve the same “peak experience.” The decision does keep government out of religion – at least this particular religion in this particular case – but will the newly configured Supreme Court keep religion out of government? Or will the new Court, under the guise of “religious freedom” and “judicial restraint,” enable Christian fundamentalists to legally enforce their faith-based bigotry and discrimination with impunity?

Continue.. http://www.counterbias.com/574.html

[babylonsister]

1. woah, I've found the lawd!

I kid, but these are very smart people!

[Historic NY]

2. What no crumpets?

[no_hypocrisy]

3. The decision gives the appearance of prefering one religion over another.

In the 80s the Supremes ruled that taking peyote during a Native American religious rictual was forbidden as a violation against the federal prohibition of controlled substances. In this case at hand, a different bunch of Supremes give their blessing (pun intended) to a CHRISTIAN sect that ingests tea in their religious rictual, which gives an equivocal mind-alteration experience as peyote. Different religions, different societal groups (Native American, hispanic Christians), and different substances ingested.