MarijuanaNews.com : Religious Leaders Finally Beginning To Organize Opposition To The Drug War, “A Mutiny for Mercy,” But For Christians There May Be A More Compelling Reason Than They Realize.

Posted December 23, 2002

Analysis by Richard Cowan

In keeping with the season, I think it is appropriate to
end this year’s work with a Christian perspective, or more precisely, this
Christian’s perspective.

One of the most interesting things that I have done in
my many years of studying cannabis prohibition was writing the forward to Chris
Bennett’s book,

Sex, Drugs, and Violence in the Bible.

Although, as a Christian, I do not agree with everything
in the book, it gave me an invaluable insight into what I now think is the real
reason for war on cannabis.

The various secular explanations that have been advanced to explain cannabis
prohibition are inevitably specific to the time and place in question. As such,
none can explain its recurrence at different times and places.

Many opponents of
cannabis prohibition try to find the “real reason” for it in economics. Even in
the most secular context, I find that simplistic. I have always thought that
hunger for power, more than money, was the best explanation, and the worst
danger.

However, if,

as Bennett documents, cannabis was used in anointing the Christ, then the
war on cannabis is literally “the anti-Christ” and its suppression becomes all
the more understandable in every time and place, and why such extraordinary acts
of evil are committed toward that end.

It also explains why an
administration with an Attorney General who anoints himself with Crisco, would
be the most obsessed with demonizing cannabis.

Most secular observers look upon John Ashcroft’s use of
Crisco as simply more proof that he is a “religious nut” – which they find
frightening per se, as though the content of religion made no difference.

But if cannabis has sacred uses, then it makes perfect
sense.

Here is man claiming to be a
Christian, who then violates the most basic tenets of Christianity in the
suppression of the plant that was used to anoint Moses and the Prophets and
Jesus. His Christianity is as counterfeit as is his anointing oil.

Indeed, his presumption in anointing himself at all is
breathtaking, so let me emphasize that I do not recommend the promiscuous use of
cannabis in acts of self-anointment. Set and setting are as important for that
as in the sacramental use of wine.

The improper use of cannabis in a spiritual context is
perhaps the most dangerous game. One might end up like Ashcroft and Walters.
Moreover, it must be recognized that this explanation will be either frightening
or irrelevant or both to most Christians and non-Christians alike.

Nonetheless, I think St. Paul may have offered the best
description of what we are doing in
Ephesians 6:12 – “For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places.”

I am grateful to George W. Bush for having reintroduced
the word “evil” to the public discourse, because it is the only adequate term in
this context.

Unfortunately, that may also explain why religious
leaders have been silent for all too long on the evils of the Drug War.
Organized religion has been corrupted by cannabis prohibition as much as
official science and medicine.
See

Medical Marijuana and the Degradation of Science — NIDA Funds More Than 85
Percent Of The World’s Research On Health Aspects Of “Drug Abuse” And Addiction
and Suppresses Medical Marijuana.
and

Live Free or Die – In Pain. The Ignorance and Arrogance of the Quacks Who Deny
Pain Relief to the Sick and Dying.

Happily, the silence of the clergy may finally be coming to an end, and that may
be the most important and underreported development in 2002.

A few days ago, I received a report on a conference of
Religious Leaders who are organizing to oppose the Drug War.

Needless to say,
they were not focused on the sacramental uses of cannabis, but this is a major
development in the struggle “against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places.”

Here is the latest from the spiritual front, excerpted
from Religious Leaders Conference on drug policy:

By Noelle Davis

nellybelle74@hotmail.com

December 15, 2002
Summary of Religious Leaders Conference

Approximately 100 people were in attendance. There were ministers, academics,
health care professionals, and drug/criminal justice reform activists
representing cities from coast to coast. Dorothy Gaines attended, as well as
Sally and Charles McGee who were featured in the PBS documentary “Snitch”
because four of Sally’s brothers were arrested in a large Uniontown, Alabama
drug raid in 1997. Texas was well represented by Alan Bean, Charles Kiker, Bob &
Connie Ramsey and myself. Rev. Sanders and co-coordinator Rev. Janet Wolf did a
wonderful job of introducing speakers and keeping us as close to on schedule as
possible.

The first speaker was Howard Moody, founder of Religious Leaders and former
pastor of a Baptist church in NYC. He started the conference by calling for an
end to the churches participation in the “conspiracy of silence” surrounding the
drug war. He pointed out that the National Council of Churches used to be at the
forefront of reform efforts. Believes we are called to clear the air of
futility.

Next, North Carolina Prison Chaplain Nancy
Hastings Sehested spoke about
mercy in a merciless world. “Where is the mercy?” she
asked, and then called for a mutiny of mercy.

There are so many shamed
and humiliated spirits in the prisons who should be on a path toward restoration
but are shown only retribution. She challenged society to teach another kind of
force. The heart of the gospel is transformation. We cannot demonize law
enforcement.

Transformation is possible. We must bring the problem into our sacred spaces
and make it community business. Every church should have a copy of

“Shattered Lives”. Say to the congregants, “You’re afraid, and I understand
that. But this is not a community based on fear.”

Monday morning we heard from Dr. Walter Wink, a Professor of Biblical
Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary in NYC. A copy of his speech
was included in our folders. I found the following excerpts to be particularly
interesting.

“The Christian commitment to nonviolence has direct
implications for the
United States’ failed drug war. For it is spiritual law that we always become
what we hate. Jesus articulated this law in the Sermon on the Mount when he
admonished, “Don’t react violently against the one who is evil” (Scholars’
Version).

The Sense is clear: do not resist evil by violent means.
Do not fight evil with evil. Do not mirror evil; do not let evil set the terms
of your response. Applied to the drug issue, this means, “Do not resist drugs by
violent methods.”

When we oppose evil with the same weapons that evil employs, we commit the
same atrocities, violate the same civil liberties, and break the same laws as
those whom we oppose. We become what we hate. Evil makes us over into its
double. If one side prevails, the evil continues by virtue of having been
established through the means used. This principle of mimetic opposition is
abundantly illustrated in the case of our disastrous drug war.

The drug war is over, and we lost. We merely repeated the mistake of
prohibition. The harder we tried to stamp out this evil, the more lucrative we
made it, and the more it spread. We tried Prohibition once. We know it did not
work. Our forcible resistance to evil simply augments it. An evil cannot be
eradicated by making it more profitable.

We lost that war on all three fronts: destroying the drug sources, intercepting
drugs at our borders, and arresting drug dealers and users.”

“This nation is addicted to the use of force, and its armed resistance to the
drug trade is doomed to fail precisely because the drug trade perfectly mirrors
our own values. We condemn drug traffickers for sacrificing their children,
their integrity, their human dignity, just to make money or experience pleasure
- without recognizing that these are the values espoused by the society at
large. In the drug war, we are scapegoating addicts for what we have become as a
nation. Drugs are the ultimate consumer product for people who
want to feel good now without benefit of hard work, social interaction, or
making a productive contribution to society.

Drug dealers are living out the
rags-to-riches American dream as private entrepreneurs desperately trying to
become upwardly mobile. That is why we could not win the war on drugs. We
Americans are the enemy, and we cannot face that
fact. So we launched a half-hearted, half-baked war against a
menace that only mirrors ourselves.”

“No one wants to live in a country overrun with drugs, but we already do.
We cannot stop drug violence with state violence. Addicts will be healed by care
and compassion, not condemnation. Dealers will be curbed by a ruined world
market, not by enforcement that simply escalates the profitability of drugs. A
nonviolent, non-reactive, creative approach is needed that lets the drug empire
collapse of its own deadly weight. Public attitudes have swung against
drunkenness and driving while intoxicated; now anti-smoking sentiments are
burgeoning. We have every reason to believe that the public will continue to
censure addiction to drugs.”

“It is time the churches weighed in on this issue. We have too long avoided
our prophetic role in regard to the problem of drugs. We have been letting
our violent resistance to drugs beget the very thing we seek to destroy.
When Christian tradition offers an alternative to our failed drug war,
shouldn’t we consider trying it?”

Before lunch we watched part of “Snitch,” then heard from Dorothy Gaines and the
McGee’s. The afternoon was dedicated to workshop sessions that ran twice so we
could all attend two. My first session was “Race, Class, ‘Family Values’ and
Drug Policy”. We talked about the importance of putting faces on the numbers and
getting people to the capitol to testify. Make the legislators look at these
powerful spokespeople. However, when highlighting individual stories be careful
not to take attention away from the larger issue.

Religious organizations can act as a bridge between
their communities and law enforcement by starting a dialogue and
pursuing/persuading alliances. Reach out to the district attorney’s office and
work to have people diverted.

Religious leaders need to call the D.A. and say “Call me
if you get a person from this neighborhood before you convict them.”

Is justice being served when police don’t raid rich neighborhoods because they
know they would probably get in trouble with their chief? Who is behind the
bars, rich or poor? Could this be a classist war?
See

The Prohibitionist Police State Versus The People. Analysis By Richard Cowan

The second session I participated in was “Building a Movement” and I took notes
on the ideas our group came up with.

Create end goals - what do you want and when do you want it to happen by?

Make accurate information on drugs readily accessible.
Break down the difference between use, abuse, and addiction. Share examples of
European models that separate hard and soft drugs.
See

Dutch Government Reconfirms Coffee Shop Policy. Drops Any Mention of Closing
Border Shops. The Justice Minister Is Educating the Prime Minister.

Create a safe space for individuals who have been burned
by current drug policies to share their stories with people who need to be
educated about the need for change.

Write letters to the editor (and congress) with a
religious hook.

Host forums and collect names Build coalitions

As per Rev. Sanders example,
urge religious organizations to include a drug reform message during set
services several times a year. If many groups in a community do this at the same
time it will be a strong media hook.

Leaders should be ready to consider the cost of speaking up on these issues.
Members may voice serious opposition and some may leave the organizations in
protest, but in the long run having the courage to break the silence will pay
off for the whole community.

Have patience and listen. It takes time to build
relationships and trust.

Think globally and act locally.

The closing speaker was Will Campbell, a Southern Baptist preacher. He reminded
the audience that the major vocation of the church was working for the poor. Our
prisons are full of the poor - why do we put up with that?

I am thankful to the Religious Leaders team for hosting such an uplifting event.
I hope everyone who attended feels as invigorated as I do!