Graham
Hancock gave a recent TED talk about the ayahuasca psychedelic plant brew,
which when given to alcoholics and drug addicts in a controlled, therapeutic
environment in South America, helped 50% of the patients overcome their
addictions and turn their lives around as a result of a spiritual
transformation.
Growing
up in a fundamentalist, Pentecostal church-cult setting, I periodically heard
testimonies of alcoholics, drug addicts, and other unfortunates who had turned
their lives around completely after having a come-to-Jesus conversion,
spiritual cleansing, and renewal.
However,
after taking a course called "Introduction to New Testament" at a liberal
seminary and after doing other independent religious research, I would now say
there may not be a Second Coming or
a literal God who has infinite love, knowledge, and power. Furthermore, reincarnation may just be a warm and fuzzy
fantasy--not literally true--as described in the Hindu, yoga, and Buddhist
scriptures.
"The
peace that passes all understanding," agape, or unconditional love, and the shikinah
glory mentioned in the Old and New Testaments; the blissful, "enlightened"
state of loving-kindness described in Eastern traditions; and the euphoric,
psychedelic experiences of other truth seekers--all such experiences can provide
hope and a sense of well-being, and they can even improve a person's psychological
adjustment and social relationships. But
it is when a person becomes dogmatic and intolerant of the beliefs of others--when
no one knows anything with absolute
certainty about these perennial questions--that conflicts arise. When religious, political, and economic
beliefs become institutionalized and publicly sanctioned, any brave and
courageous "free thinkers," who break free of their social conditioning, are
criticized and shunned. In previous
centuries, they could be executed.
The US
government does not want marijuana and other drugs legalized if the CIA can
covertly sabotage democratically elected, often socialist, governments (that
are perceived as a threat to US transnational corporations) using illegal drug
money. Drug legalization would make the
prices go way down, which means the government would not be able to easily
engage in illegal political activities, unbeknownst to the average
American.
But
there also is an entirely different reason that consciousness-altering drugs are
illegal for mainstream consumption. They
cause individuals to think independently and to question the official, cultural
myths about what is true and valuable--myths that keeps the masses obedient and
subservient. Individuals who have had mystical or spiritual experiences from
marijuana and psychedelics often do not buy into consumerist materialism and
war addiction mentality that the mainstream media and government promote.
If the
constitution, our supreme civil document, can be amended and abolished more
easily; if hemp can be legally cultivated, as it was before 1937, for
industrial, medical, and agricultural reasons; and if marijuana can be
legalized for private home use and spiritual purposes in every state--we the
people can create a new civilization that is ecologically and culturally sustainable.
Roger Copple is 63 years old. He retired 3
years ago in 2010 from teaching general elementary, mostly 3rd
grade, and high school special education in Indianapolis. He now lives in the Bradenton/Sarasota area
of Florida. He lives in one of those 55+
communities and misses seeing young people when he looks out the window. He is deeply grateful that he stuck it out to
get a teacher's pension and started getting his Social Security early at age
62. He now hopes to make a contribution
to society through further study, reflection, and writing.
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