Not all Christians are the same. This I understand and appreciate as it would be wrong to generalize based on religion. Christian scripture (aka The Bible) contains a lot of conflicting and sometimes scary information, much of which simply cannot be applied in today’s world. Yet I respect that one be allowed the freedom to practice their religion privately and not harm others in the application of their religion, even if there are aspects of it which I may not personally agree with.
The crunch comes through when political parties such as the African Christian Democratic Party perch upon their religion as if makes them morally superior to others and then feel that their personal beliefs entitle them to make unfounded, ignorant and otherwise deliberately misleading statements to the public. Statements that are severely at odds with their religion which they have based their political tenants on. Sure, you cannot be expected to kill your neighbor because he or she worked on a Sunday or be entitled to sell your daughter. But what about a defining aspect of your religion, an aspect on which your very religion is named?
The sweet and short on the origination of the word “Christian” is that it means followers of the anointed one (aka The Messiah or Jesus). But as we all know, the devil is in the details. What do you think was a key ingredient of this holy anointment oil? I’ll give you three guesses. You probably only need one though.
Did you guess that the magic ingredient was cannabis? Then you are correct. So here we have a religion which is based on cannabis being a part of the many pivotal aspects of their Messiah’s good deeds. Throw in the aforementioned origination of the word Christian and we see how relevant cannabis was to the foundations of Christianity. Do I think that this means Christians should therefore by default support and promote the use of cannabis? No I do not. Just because Jesus also made booze out of water, does not mean that I would expect them to support the consumption and promotion of the stuff. .. even though they do by teaching kids about the holy relevance of wine.
A recent article of mine highlighted how absurd it was for the ACDP to continue supporting the prohibition of cannabis, as it is becoming increasingly clear that cannabis prohibition does not work and creates more problems than it attempts to resolve. Unlike their views on the matter, I have long provided supporting objective studies regarding the need for an end to this failed and expensive social burden. But what help is it playing study poker with an organisation that prides itself on putting its personal beliefs before facts and ignores the very foundations of these personal beliefs on its mission to have its bible buttered on both sides.
I only hope that this political party does not continue to reflect so negatively on its fellow Christians. Besides, judging by the longstanding religious violence that continues to plague our planet it would appear that smoking some grass is not as bad for your health as it is to be Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc.
Yet people are afforded the freedom to subscribe to a religion without being considered criminals, even if it costs them their lives. The ACDP has made a fundamental mistake in thinking that the cannabis legalization movement is about promoting cannabis use when it is in fact a movement that is against the persecution of responsible adult cannabis users and intends on ending the damage done by a law that’s harm far exceeds its intentions.
The discussion is being had one way or another, will the ACDP continue to make themselves completely irrelevant by spouting cherry picked and outdated news stories or will they face the facts and help in the discussion towards a legal, regulated and constructive South African cannabis industry? What would Jesus do?
For more info on the cannabis culture or the fight to free the weed, please visit www.belowthelion.co.za
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