Mystical Angels

Freedom of Religion?

First things first I do not smoke pot. First Amendment states:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The Rastafari movement (also known as Rastafari, or simply Rasta) is a new religious movement[1] that accepts Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as God incarnate, called Jah[2] or Jah Rastafari. For Rastas, smoking cannabis, usually known as ganja or herb, is a spiritual act, often accompanied by Bible study; they consider it a sacrament that cleans the body and mind, heals the soul, exalts the consciousness, facilitates peacefulness, brings pleasure, and brings them closer to Jah. In america use of pot is illegal. So how can the first admendment be true if it does not allow you to fully practice the rasta religion?Plz only serious answers

Public Comments

1. If your religion tells you to kill people who have a physical impairment because they are imperfect, then should we allow that too?
2. The Supreme Court has held that religiously neutral laws that affect all people equally do not violate the right to freedom of religion where there is a legitimate public interest in regulating the conduct that the law forbids. To use a more extreme example than yours, the followers of a very old religion - Thuggee - used to find lone travelers on the roads of India and kill them as a sacrifice to the Goddess Kali. (That's where our word "thug" comes from.) Should we allow Thugs to practice their religion freely in the USA in the name of freedom of religion? As Justice Blackmun said in a case regarding the use of Peyote in Navajo religious ceremonies: "This court over the years painstakingly has developed a consistent and exacting standard to test the constitutionality of a state statute that burdens the free exercise of religion. Such a statute may stand only if the law in general, and the State's refusal to allow a religious exemption in particular, are justified by a compelling interest that cannot be served by less restrictive means." Richard
3. Because the laws against pot were not passed to persecute a religious belief. Religions cannot go against the law, like if a religion believes in human sacrifice, that is not a "right" protected under the law, get it? It's sort of the same idea with pot. I have never smoked pot, but I don't think it should be illegal, but ... there it is.
4. Smoking pot is a ritual of Rasta. The activity itself is not a religion. It's illegal for the same reason the ritual of human sacrifice is illegal.
5. That is so impossible.................and honestly just like you I really don't the answer to that am very sorry because..............actually this is an serious answer...........I am not playing around!
6. Religion does not allow you to break laws.
7. The 1st Amendment protects freedom of religion within the confines of the law. The first amendment doesn't give you the right to smoke marijuana just because you claim your religion considers it a sacrament. If some nutjob started a religion that said that it was ok to rape and murder people they would not be allowed to rape and murder even though they claim it to be part of their religion. If you wanna smoke pot, then why don't you work on trying to get it legalized? Instead of making up a ruse to say its ok because of your religion.
8. There is a big debate over not just the words of the Constitution, but also the intent of those words; and it comes in large part because many people have arguments similar to yours. But think about this; if religious freedom means what you seem to be implying, i.e. that there should be no stopping a religious group from performing acts that it considers a religious act, then there is no way human sacrifice could be considered wrong, as long as there is a willing victim, and some religion claiming this is a religious act. I am not of the Christian faith, but it seems quite clear that the framers of the Constitution, whether they called themselves Christians, Deists, or otherwise, framed the Constitution with a majority Christian people in mind. And the customs of a religious people are not necessarily condoned by the actual religion. There are some Christian groups who call themselves snake-handlers, but snake-handling is not supported by Christianity. Most religions have a religious book, and they have the example of the life of the main leader or originator of the religion. I have not looked it up, but I think Haile Salassie never smoked weed, neither did Jesus, so if they are imitating their 'god' or whatever they truly call him, then they are actually doing something that is not condoned by thier religion.