To be a lawyer, one must
be exceptionally talented
at twisting the meaning of
words. Our current drug
policy at the federal level is
enabled by the intentionally
ambiguous language of law,
and centuries ago, lawyers
in fancy robes used their
word-twisting skill to falsely
interpret the Holy Bible of
the Christian faith.
If a Christian does not have compassion, by definition he is
not a Christian. Yet the legalist focus on morality, propounded
by some dogmatic “Christians,” places so much emphasis on
rules that it often loses the central essence of the faith.
Ignorance caused by distractions in the world — such as
money, politics, war — may lead a wayward church to engage
in outright religious aggression and oppression toward society.
Any priest spouting hateful dogma is unknowingly fighting
on the wrong side of the cosmic stadium, because Christ
himself, whether he be myth or history, never spoke a word of
hate. Jesus cavorted with rogues and lepers in the Bible. Today
he would be living among the junkies.
Sex is indisputably essential to the human species, yet
within sexuality there is a moral spectrum between two real
extremes. Law of some kind is necessary for orderly and moral
existence on this earth, but there is certainly a spectrum of
morality separating the just and noble statesman from the
average U.S. politician. All systems, structures and organisms
on this planet are inherently neutral, and it takes human
beings to give agency and morality to any part of them. The
same holds true with inebriants: You can use, or abuse, anything.
The Bible forbids any physical sensuality that distracts
one from experiencing the greater glory of God. If someone
smokes pot just to escape reality and feel artificial pleasure,
then it seems the holy book would disapprove. If the smoker
already feels a blissful connection with the universe and uses
an intelligent state of inebriation to further glorify God, then
that smoker has a legitimate case under canon law. Spiritual
stonerdom is neither drunkenness nor sorcery, and thus need
not preclude one from entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
But then again, even once you’ve convinced Jesus, the U.S.
federal government will still say you’re full of shit. Here begins
another philosophical paradox of Christianity: the relationship
between Christians and a governing authority. Romans
13:1 is a biblical passage that deals with this relationship, and
it has been translated and interpreted into two distinct English
phrases. One version, that of King James, has Saint Paul
declare, “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For
there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained
of God.”
The other translation, the New International Version,
equates this to mean “Let everyone be subject to the governing
authorities, for there is no authority except that which
God has established. The authorities that exist have been
established by God.” All I know is this: If the rulers of the last
2,000 years were really representatives of God, then God must
truly be a figment and a myth, otherwise God might be evil
himself.
Yet Jesus was killed by his government, along with many
early Christian martyrs, and the final battle of Armageddon
in the Book of Revelation details the many “kings of the earth
and their armies” whoring themselves in alignment against
Christ and his band of spiritual anarchists. One of the most
severe distortions of Biblical interpretation in the last twenty
centuries has been to make Jesus Christ serve the authority of
the state and the hubris of executive power.
The shining focus at the center of all of religion’s bullshit
is the idea of transcendence, and psychedelic natural drugs
is one approach humans have used to achieve transcendence
throughout history. Gratitude for the glorious creation
that adorns the earth and sky transcends religious legalism
and allows a Christian to be truly like Christ — a natural
Anarchist.
If that sounds odd, consider how the righteous final judgment
is depicted in Corinthians 15:24: “Then cometh the end,
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority
and power.”
Amen.
Daily Nexus drug columnist Kevin McCarty is smoking a
blunt to the glory of God.

Print