When drugs and religion collide

The Supreme Court this week heard arguments in a case that brings up the question of whether the nation's drug laws should ever trump religious freedom. In Gonzales vs. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, the court could reportedly grapple with what happens when a religious ceremony requires consumption of a drug outlawed under the Controlled Substances Act.

The case involves a New Mexico religious sect of 130 members that uses a tea made of hallucinogenic substances banned in the U.S. But this sacramental tea has been likened to the wine at a Roman Catholic Mass or unleavened bread at a Passover Seder. What do you think? Do the nation's drug laws supersede religion in this context?

While I can see why the government would want to restrict hallucinogenic tea or any mind-altering drug in a religious service, I don't believe that U.S. drug laws supersede religious expression. Native Americans are allowed to use peyote, so why shouldn't the 130 or so practitioners of this Latin American religion be allowed to use their drug of choice in a religious service?

My thoughts in this controversy are shaped by the separation of church and state that we have in this country. If the government is allowed to tell its citizens what is "correct" religious practice and what is not, then we would be in danger of losing our precious freedom of religion guarantee in the First Amendment. I am reminded of the quote, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." If this "different" religion from South America sacrificed a human being at its services, then it would be in Caesar's interest to prohibit the practice, not to mention an offense against one of God's Ten Commandments. But drinking a little mind-altering tea, or smoking a little mind-altering peyote, or even drinking a little mind-altering wine in a religious service is none of the government's business. Again, who says what an "OK" religion is? In America, it can't be the government!

THE REV. C.L.

"SKIP" LINDEMAN

Congregational Church of the Lighted Window

United Church of Christ

La Cañada Flintridge

From as early as the 19th century, the courts have distinguished between religious beliefs and religious practices or actions. While beliefs are granted the full protection of the constitution, not so with actions, as is evidenced in the current issue regarding the use of "sacramental drugs."