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Prisoner#1 said:
I feel the nations drug laws tread upon my freedom to exercise me freedom

shouldnt that be more than enough

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sun_spots said:
To me, drugs have nothing to do with religion, but I can see how they do to some people.  And I don't think the government should be allowed to dictate that.

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laserpig said:

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Prisoner#1 said:
I feel the nations drug laws tread upon my freedom to exercise me freedom

shouldnt that be more than enough

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This is exactly how I feel.

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sun_spots said:
  I eat them, like most people do.  But only on occasion, because everyone knows shrooms make you gay.

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laserpig said:

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Prisoner#1 said:
I feel the nations drug laws tread upon my freedom to exercise me freedom

shouldnt that be more than enough

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This is exactly how I feel.

OneMoreRobot, I hear what you're saying, but frankly I think that labeling your enterprise with life and psychedelics as a "religion" debases the enterprise.

We are human beings trying to explore and make sense of our experience, and drug laws are infringing on our right to do this.
No need to bring religion and all of its baggage into it.

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OneMoreRobot3021 said:
I reject as false the charge that bringing religion into this debases the enterprise. Instead, I raise the charge that we have let ourselves become too dismissive of words and concepts like religion.  I do not think that religion, or even spirituality, should be the vocabulary with which we fight the drug war - such an attitude would only invite even greater fears on the part of the powers that be, and certainly a fear of "cult" like behavior.

I simply refuse to let that stop me from being honest about my own experiences, my own feelings.

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OneMoreRobot3021 said:

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laserpig said:

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Prisoner#1 said:
I feel the nations drug laws tread upon my freedom to exercise me freedom

shouldnt that be more than enough

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This is exactly how I feel.

OneMoreRobot, I hear what you're saying, but frankly I think that labeling your enterprise with life and psychedelics as a "religion" debases the enterprise.

We are human beings trying to explore and make sense of our experience, and drug laws are infringing on our right to do this.
No need to bring religion and all of its baggage into it.

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I definitely agree with you all that the core issue here is sovereignty of the self. No one should be able to tell me what I can and cannot put into my own body.

However, I reject as false the charge that bringing religion into this debases the enterprise. Instead, I raise the charge that we have let ourselves become too dismissive of words and concepts like religion.  I do not think that religion, or even spirituality, should be the vocabulary with which we fight the drug war - such an attitude would only invite even greater fears on the part of the powers that be, and certainly a fear of "cult" like behavior.

I simply refuse to let that stop me from being honest about my own experiences, my own feelings.

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fapjack said:
If religion makes people better human beings than it certainly is useful.  If religion makes people's lives better its useful.

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It helps answer the questions that can't be answered.

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ToolTroll said:
Wow, interesting thread. Lots of good points brought up.

I think that if this thread was titled "Do you feel that this nation's drug laws tread on your freedom?" then we could all agree on such a broad, general statement. But then you tack on "religion", which is a hotpoint, and lines get drawn in the sand. It reminds me of your Vocab Thread. When one says the word psychedelic, no matter what rational argument came before, people think of lava lamps and glaze over. In this thread, once the word religion gets thrown in, blood pressure rises and arguments flare up.
That being said, I totally agree with you. I think there will always be those out there (us) who do what they want despite the laws, and always will. But so many people are bound by fear of persecution and prosecution that even when they experience psychedelics, there fear affects both the Set/Setting and the Post-Trip Integration. Psychedelics could be much more beneficial to many more people if they weren't afraid of the arbitrary consequences. Anyway, great post OMR. Peace - TT

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Thanks much, TT!  I definitely thought about all that when I made the post...I knew we could all agree on the "freedom" element of it, but I was interested to see what the response would be to the "religious" element.  After all, there is a section of the psychedelic community (and it's all just a big Venn diagram anyway ) that feels that way.

I absolutely agree that fear gets in the way of psychedelics being even more beneficial from people. Even if you aren't thinking about it on a supraconscious level, there is certainly that element of fear, that knowing you are "breaking the law" and that your livelihood could be greatly imperiled if you get caught doing so.