Anyone want to join the fight for Australian Legalisation?

[GregKasarik]

OK. Enough is enough! I am sick of being forced to break the law every time I want to engage in the exersise of my religious belief.

But Section 116 of the Australian Consitution makes it very clear that the: "Commonwealth not to legislate in respect of religion".
"The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth. "

So why is my religion illegal? Why is taking safe, non toxic and non addictive substances that open one to the full experience of the Divine Mind illegal? Simply because nobody has had the courage to stand up and fight for what they believe in. This ends here, this ends now!

While I currently live in Victoria, it is my intention to force the issue within the Australian Capital Territory, in order to either have the legislature of that Territory change its drug legislation to allow the production and use of recognised Entheogens, or failing that to engage in acts of civil disobedience such that I will be arrested and be able to take the issue to the Australian High Court, where the overabundant wealth of evidence and the low evidential requirements (The scientologists got religion status. How hard can it be?), will undoubtedly force the court to demand that the ACT government allows my consitutional rights to be respected.

I am wanting people to support me, both in terms of moral and potentially financial support. I intend to set up a not for profit, with tax exempt status that will promote my spiritual philosophies and to which people could donate to, should there be a requirement for funds to pay for legal costs. I am looking into how best to do this as we speak.

There is a reason why I am wanting to act within the Australian Capital Territory, and this is because of the unique nature of the Australian Consitution and states rights which exists within Australia. In this country, each state has its own constitution and because article 116 was not mentioned as applying to the states, it doesn't. This means that because state consitutions don't contain similar clauses, they can discriminate against religion as much as they please. State based anti-discrimination legislation isn't much of an assist as they mostly contain clauses intended to prevent unintended consequences, such as these. These clauses state that the anti-discrimination legislation doesn't overide other law. So for everyones sake, don't go running a public wattlehuasca ceremony unless you want to get yourself into more trouble than it is worth.

Acting in the ACT means acting in a jurisdiction in which only the Federal Consitution applies. It keeps things simple and straightforward. Once a victory is achieved there, the states will most likely have to fall into line and allow the religious use of recognised entheogens. Or, I can take the campaign to the states, through whatever legal chanels are open.

This report will make more sense of it for those of you with academic, or other access to the journals database. It also makes it clear that my success is by no means guaranteed. But if I don't at least try, my failure is assured.

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/conten ... 0802260369

Also, note that I have no intention of fighting for the legalisation of unsafe, potentially toxic, or highly addictive substances that might have entheogenic properties. My goal here is to advance my religious rights and beliefs and I don't for a second believe that something that kills you, or makes you its slave is worthy of being called an "Entheogen", or of being legalised as part of this action.

 

[_Avatar_]

Who is the founder of your religion and how long have people been congregating in the context of this religion?

Santo Daime is accepted as a religion because it was founded in the 1930s and is clearly a type of Christianity. In some countries members may legally ingest the sacrament within the confines of the church.

Unless your religion has a clearly defined history and is more or less focused on particular divine being, or God, and ceremonies take place in a confined space (church, mosque, temple) it's unlikely that your efforts will be fruitful.

 

[IJesusChrist]

if I was not in college & lived in australia, I would be at your doorstep :wink:

 

[GregKasarik]

Who is the founder of your religion and how long have people been congregating in the context of this religion?

Santo Daime is accepted as a religion because it was founded in the 1930s and is clearly a type of Christianity. In some countries members may legally ingest the sacrament within the confines of the church.

Unless your religion has a clearly defined history and is more or less focused on particular divine being, or God, and ceremonies take place in a confined space (church, mosque, temple) it's unlikely that your efforts will be fruitful.

Not the case in Australia. Our High Court has already defined religion:

"For the purposes of the law, the criteria of religion are twofold:

first, belief in a Supernatural Being, Thing or Principle; and

second, the acceptance of canons of conduct in order to give effect to that belief, though canons of conduct which offend against the ordinary laws are outside the area of any immunity, privilege or right conferred on the grounds of religion."

As you can see, length of time in existence is irrelevant.

And as far as who the founder of my religion is, it is me. I'm a mystic, so it is by definition impossible for me to follow somebody elses, religion. Having said this, the "founders" of the mystic tradition stretch back into the dawn of history. All of the sacred plants, and the shamans and mystics, who utilised them form the cultural foundation on which my beliefs are built. Indeed, should it go to court, I am hoping that will be able to inundate them with a huge number of expert witnesses who can attest to the facts of the issue, and that is that the consumption of these substances is an integral part of the free exersise of my religious belief.

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected] ... endocument

http://www.cdi.gov.au/report/cdi_chap20.htm

 

[_Avatar_]

So there's the catch: "though canons of conduct which offend against the ordinary laws are outside the area of any immunity, privilege or right conferred on the grounds of religion." You have the freedom to practice your religious beliefs, as long as they are not in contradiction with the law.

And as far as who the founder of my religion is, it is me. I'm a mystic, so it is by definition impossible for me to follow somebody elses, religion.

There has never been any legal protection of mystics. You only make a chance if you have a large congregation who share the exact same beliefs and follow the same ritualistic procedures. That's what freedom of religion is all about. What you are talking about is spirituality, mysticism or gnosticism.

 

[GregKasarik]

I can certainly understand your skepticism, however, I am willing to give it a go.

The fact is that the current existence of laws that discriminate against my ability to practice my religion are irrelevant as that will be the very point of law under consideration by the High Court. To presupose they are legal is to prejudge the case before it has even commenced! The constitution is very explicit in saying that I have the right to free exersise of my religion and as such the best conclusion would be that any laws passed in contravention of this right are illegal.

My main concern is to be able to demonstrate to the court that my religious beliefs meet the test laid out in previous decisions. This can be done in two ways. Firstly through demonstrating an adequate philosophy of belief and code of conduct that mirrors that philosophy, which I am doing through writing my own book and my discussions with others. Secondly, is to demonstrate that this is not an issue that is unique to either myself, or to others and that it can only relate to certain limited range of substances that are unequivocably Entheogenic. Psilocybin is in, crystal meth is not. This can be done through the testimony of expert witnesses, submission of relevant research and even trip reports submitted as sworn statements, by identifiable people, although the latter would be risky unless they occured in a jurisdiction where legality was not an issue. I'll even fly the whole court to Peru for an ayahauasca ceremony if I have to.

And just because there has never been protection of mystics, doesn't mean that it isn't about time that this changed. We've been pursecuted and reviled by all sides of the spectrum and never had the strength to fight back. This changes very soon!

In any case, even if the number of followers is the issue, I am certain that I will attract significant numbers, as the fundamental aspects of my belief are something that many psychonauts would already adhere to and many in the larger community would find agreement with. But more on that later.

 

[_Avatar_]

I certainly don't want to diminish your enthusiasm. It's just that I feel a direct confrontation with law enforcement and the judicial system is likely going to be fruitless and might get you into serious trouble. Writing books is fine, of course. Or writing articles. Whatever helps to raise public awareness about these unique compounds.

Here's an interesting podcast by Martin Ball titled "Shamans, mystics and the law":
part 1
part 2

Another podcast is titled "Jonathan Goldman, Santo Daime, and Religious Freedom":
part 1
part 2

 

[GregKasarik]

Thanks for those links.

I don't intend to get into serious trouble with the law. The idea is that I am wanting to get in enough trouble to ensure that I will have the opportunity to take my case to the High Court, but not enough to actually land myself into serious trouble, or a lengthy stay in jail.

I also won't be doing this in the immediate term, as I need to gather suitable supporters in order to ensure that I have adequate funding for the court case. I'll also need to complete writing my book, which will lay out the nature of my religious belief and provide a theological foundation for the use of entheogens.

If something is worth doing, it is worth doing well!

 

[Crimzen]

It will be a looooong fight
i doubt it will be legalized in my lifetime

i live in perth
our premier is actually trying to make the cannabis laws here stricter
its decriminalized here at the moment
and you can grow 2 plants without receiving a fine or anything, they just confiscate them if they're found

i think theres no chance for your religious usage argument
remember this is australia, the prejudice here is retarded man

 

[buffachino]

If you consider psychedelics as catalysts for the revaluation of base human ideals and assumptions, contrasted with the current prohibitive model of denying the exploration of consciousness and all its boundary dissolving ramifications, then I struggle to see how the two can be consolidated.

Even by acknowledging the potential for the beneficial use of psychedelics, or any substantive catalyst for that matter, the stratum of our delicately balanced set of social values would buckle under the egis of the exploration of human potential.

This acknowledgment combined with the actual effects of these tools on the evaluation of what it means to be human would spell death to the house of cards that is our social paradigm. They fear this; this is why there illegal.

Also considering that the redefinition of one taboo group of substances would open the door to the re-evaluation of all drugs of taboo, and that an international monopoly on those drugs (most of which are drugs of dependence) would risk losing billions if they were to be taken off the black market and the profit was to diminish, the impetus to maintain their illegality would be immense to say the least. Not to mention the law enforcement and legislation budgets which rely on the drug war to exist.

So I think with this in mind that any attempt to gain acceptance by the society and the culture of denial that it entails is doomed to failure. It only adds fuel to the proverbial fire.
But, if it is your passion by all means try.
Sometimes you can send a greater message by fighting an uphill battle.
Revenge of the underdog!

I think what we can do is explore, enrich and expound information, education, understanding and gnosis of the transcendence of our self imposed suffering through the re-absorption into the cosmic matrix from which our minds were born.

Asking for the hand of culture to deliver our freedom on a silver platter when its own legitimation and subsistence is maintained by our disempowerment and dehumanisation is folly.

We have to be the change we want to see; be the exemplars of the un-limits of human potential, and simply to let our light shine through into a world filled with too much darkness.

Peace.