Drugs Vs. Religion:

8 Pages 2076 Words

usually consisted of natives gathering around a fire located in the center of a teepee, ingesting peyote, singing, chanting, and praying until the following morning. Their belief is that peyote allows them to see, interact, and praise the spirit of the Creator (Snake & Smith 49). Based on a blending of Christian theology and shamanistic rituals, The Native American Church emphasized a communal ceremony of chanting, meditation, and prayer. The church’s devotional peyote ritual mainly involves singing in their native tongues, but includes phrases like “Jesus only” and “He’s our savior.” The church has no professional, paid clergy; and members are free to interpret Bible passages according to their own understandings (Fikes 1).
Government policy has affected use of this drug in a variety of ways. In 1990, a case was brought to the U.S. Supreme Court based on an unemployment dispute. Alfred Smith, a Native American Church member and employee of a private drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, was fired. Subsequently, he was denied unemployment benefits because he admitted to having ingested peyote during a traditional religious ceremony of the Native American Church. His case was based on the fact that his situation fell under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. The state of Oregon, however, believed the use of peyote fell under the controlled substance law. The Supreme Court’s opinion ruled that the First Amendment did not prevent Oregon from taking peyote usage out of its criminal prohibition laws. It went on to say that the clause doesn’t prohibit Oregon from denying benefits to people fired for use of such religious sacraments. The divided court did leave room for political process to intervene. It did not take long for that intervention. Congress soon overturned portions of the decision when they enacted the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and President Clinton signed th...