Christians appear hellbent on hating Cannabis despite the growing trend towards a more rational policy on this contentious issue. One need only look at the current antics taking place in and outside the Pretoria High Court to witness an example of a group which is currently imposing its moral will on others, all in the name of religion.
Now before anyone gets on their high horse and crucifies me for putting all Christians in the same box, that certainly isn’t the case. Life is not a binary thing where we all wear generic social, cultural or religious labels that finitely define who we are. We are all multifaceted individuals who have more than a simple single dimension to our personalities and roles within society. Although I wish I could say the same about this small section of old testament fundamentalists who are currently dragging their religion through the mud. These dudes can certainly never be accused of putting the “fun” in fundamentalist.
Cannnabis means many things to many people. The same can be said for religion, particularly Christianity as it is by far the dominant player within our mostly religious nation. And you know what? That’s perfectly fine with me. Praise who ever you like, follow whatever moral guide floats your boat or don’t. That is completely your choice to make and feels like the neighborly thing for me to do. Live your life in consideration of those around you and hopefully receive the same consideration.
What does grind my cheese though is when when the advocate representing this edge of the “judeo-christian” anti-cannabis wedge refers to one of the world’s leading drug and drug policy experts, Professor David Nutt, as a “moron” after many frustrating days of being unable to crack Nutt’s testimony. This was admittedly a moment when Willis was not expecting the courtroom mics and cameras to accidentally still be running during a tea break. This wrong place at the wrong time comment will only therefore be relevant in the court of public opinion, but the bong water has been spilled none the less and may leave a lingering odour over the proceedings. That the Doctors For Life advocate had also earlier requested that the Judge not interrupt him was probably the first indication that it may be a rough week for Adv. Willis.
Anti-Cannabis protesters outside Pretoria High Court
What we should however be a upset about is when there are folks possibly being funded, unwillingly, by you and me to protest against legalisation outside the court. The government Department of Social Development is allegedly sponsoring free shirts, trips and lunches to any souls who are willing to hold up an anti-cannabis banner and sing that Jesus is the only thing anybody should get high on. They are apparently even pulling government employees away from their work to rather have them spend the day chanting and blocking traffic in the capital city. Whether these large public gatherings are even legal or signed off by the provincial authorties is another debate that’s likely to grow over the coming weeks.
Another concern are the wings of anti-dagga disciples proudly flocking to schools and knocking on doors in their bright yellow ribbon t-shirts, while never missing an opportunity to take a selfie during their self-righteous questing. The public sharing of sensitive information such as pictures online of children and their contact details unfortunately seems to be a finer point of social etiquette that has also been lost on these folks who are way too absorbed in the pipe dream of a drug free world to be aware of anything other than that sole achievement, despite their claims that everything they do is in the best interest of the youth.
Cannabis, what about the children?
All of this this does make me wonder though… What Would Jesus Do about Cannabis in South Africa? I could sit here all day and write snarky quips about him probably turning my stank to dank, but seriously. Caging people and calling the cops on your neighbor for responsibly consuming a plant just doesn’t seem like something he would do. When I asked the courthouse protest and school petition organiser in chief, Dereleen James, whether she believed her self confessed drug addict son should be treated like a criminal she replied that he should not, and stated that this consideration should however only be applied to her child and not to anyone else.
This is what lies at the very heart of what I am struggling with. Having such mad respect for the work and hustle of these well intentioned folk, but just not feeling the vibes of how they shout there message at us. Equally we see some pro-cannabis folk using Cannabis legalisation as a platform for their egos to also take flight from, which makes the Trial Of The Plant all that more needed. It is an opportunity for strong debate and evidence to be presented to the court about Cannabis’ role in society and how we treat those who interact with this plant. That the protesters have allegedly been instructed by the organizers not to speak to the media and that Doctors For Life have definitely been shutting down public debate on their end speaks volumes about why we should be wary or listening to those who refuse to allow others to be heard.
Just as it would be unwise to accept the words from a passionate few on either side of the fence as the gospel, it would be unwise for me to assume that the religious drive of the likes of Doctors For Life, Advocate Willis or Dereleen James are a true reflection of the majority of considerate Christian South Africans. So I will leave you with this question.
Do all Christians hate Cannabis?
[…] other side of the coin, as we’d so far only been treated to tax funded and rehab sponsored anti-cannabis protesters on the courthouse steps. Although it would have been nice to witness a sing-off between the two […]
Apologies JOY MAGAZINE –
Maybe us Christians who use cannabis and have positive stories to tell should come out of the Cannabis Closet and speak out. I was horrified to read an article in June issue of JOY MAGAZINE- read by many Christians. The article was a load of rubbish quoting stats from 1999 that had been discredited over and over. The article was apparently “The Bible’s view” but so fake and full of lies. Quoted as an expert is the owner of NouPoort Christian Rehab and we all know what happened there?Kids were physically abused and locked naked in cold isolation rooms with an acid mix thrown on the floor. This is open news – so how dare You Magazine write such rubbish. They owe it to their readers to apologise.
Well Pierre
The MEC is exactly right they DO stand to make millions out of the children and even more out of their parents compared to the BILLIONS BIG PHARMA makes out of them WHY DO ALL OF YOU THINK “DOCTORS FOR LIFE” got involved ???
DFL is trying to protect their CASH COW WE THE PEOPLE, they make billions out of health care BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS and they are on the cusp of starting to lose their income little by little.
And Charl you are brilliant I do not think anybody could have said it better !
I am a believer in Christ and a proud smoker of cannabis. I have been smoking on and off for over 25 years, over 40 now. The only medical bills I ever paid for was car and bike accident “repairs” (stitches) :)
Have not paid medical insurance for over 20 years now.
I don’t believe that using cannabis is against the Christion religion. (Or any religion for that matter.)
I believe Christians have been MADE to believe Cannabis is evil and bad due to the Stigma created around it, by pharmaceutical companies, as an evil drug.
Cannabis is a natural herb. It’s like using Dandelion root as a liver tonic or using Parsley for fluid retention, or ginger for Nausea, or Lavender or Chamomile for sleep. There is no difference.
I’m a Christian and I FULLY support the legalization of cannabis use for medical and recreational use (Medically for all who need it, and
recreationally for 18 yrs and older) I’ve suffered from cancer myself, and I had to sneak around, and feel like a criminal and risk getting arrested, just trying to source cannabis oil to treat my cancer.
I was in a cancer home for a while receiving radiation treatment, and most of the people who were there at the same time who received Chemotherapy, have either passed away or are currently in worse condition than before. NOT ONE OF THEM WERE CURED or got better.
Have you ever seen a drip bag for Chemotherapy?
There is a huge freaking Biohazard sticker on it that says, Warning Highly Toxic!, and other labels saying “CARCINOGENIC May Cause Cancer”. But the state continues to pump sick patients full of poison and Chemo, Burning their arteries and making them even more ill. and Charging them Thousands of rands to do it, and then they still lie to them and tell them its the only way to beat cancer.
Then they ban Cannabis, the one Herb that can Treat and Heal Cancer patients safely and naturally for a fraction of the price, with ZERO negative side effects.
Cannabis is a brilliant herb with Countless Amazing health benefits.
But Pharmaceuticals are happy to make money off the sick and dying by charging them thousands of Rands to make the sick, sicker. and the only way they can keep their biggest competition off the market (Cannabis) is by Villinisiing it and creating a vicious and negative stigma about cannabis being a dangerous gateway drug, and tell people they will burn in hell if they use cannabis …
But unfortunately, Money talks and Bull$hit walks.
nicely stated Charl, I heard the MEC on 702 yesterday she said the dagga couple are ” fighting to make millions of Rand off school children” – is that because you can’t MEC? you certainly can’t educate the children! and the “esteemed” Drs – are you scared you’ve been prescribing Big Pharma reactive and ineffective, if not down right poisonous products and you are going to loose face?
the only valid statement she made was about Nyaope, which appears to be a nasty little animal. So dagga is an ingredient if not a medium in which to carry the other toxins in the mix. By the MEC logic, that means we should ban all teaspoons because smack-heads MAY cook their goo in one , or any metal or glass tube must be criminalized because a crack or meth head MAY use it for their stuff.
What they fear is losing their grip and hold over sheeple, they control through fear, not hope. Any Psychedelic knows God is greater than the limitations imposed by Christian doctrine to control Nature
No bud, all Christians don’t hate Cannabis! I am a Bible believing, born again follower of the Risen King and I don’t hate it at all! In fact, it has given me my life back! I am living with Bipolar Disorder (in the past I suffered from it, I now live with it…) I would be on between 3 and 6 psychotropic medications at any given point in time – mood stabilisers, anti-depressants, tranquilisers and anti-psychotics (the latter to knock me out at night as conventional schedule 5 sleeping pills couldn’t). My body was taking a hammering because of all these “legally prescribed drugs”, I started gaining weight rapidly, my prostate enlarged and my liver became fatty to name but a few. Since committing to Cannabis I have been weaned off of EVERY SINGLE pharmaceutical drug. My general well being has never been better, I sleep like a baby, I have energy and my mood has never been more stable (and I’m saving Discovery R1,300/month, which was my chronic medication bill). Jesus said in the new testament that NOTHING you put into your body can defile it, it’s what comes out of the heart that defiles a person (Go read Mark 7). I personally think that Christians that have an issue with Cannabis hasn’t really thought it through, they’re just parroting what they were (wrongly) taught growing up. Think about it, if you believe God created the earth, then surely he created this plant. So according to these people Cannabis was God’s one mistake and they feel the need to “protect” me from it. Really? My heart breaks when I hear other Christians judging and slandering the way they do. Maybe read Mark 7 again and see where you fit in there, maybe our hearts have become evil, because the plant definitely is not. Many times I feel very ashamed about the things that have been done on this planet under the banner of Christianity, but I believe my Father, through his Spirit will fix His Church and restore what has been lost through the work of the enemy and the brokenness of man, it’s time to start loving like Jesus did. To all the doctors I would like to say: “Please just accept the fact that the drugs you peddle couldn’t heal me, it couldn’t even stabilise me, but I have found a “new drug”, not made in a lab by man, but put on earth by God that is actually doing what your drugs promised to do”. That’s my two cents anyway. Peace be to ALL who read this.
Well said man. Totally agree with you there especially your point about said plant that’s created and placed on this earth by God. It makes perfect sense to me that we can find all our medical needs in plants, fruits and veg etc. God does say that he provides for us so why are we running to man made medicines when your garden is already full of it? My few cents to add
Charl, what a beautiful, heartfelt and honest comment. I pray – in my own way as I am not religious – for you and your health and that your God fills you with Light and Love. Absolutely LOVE your quote: “NOTHING you put into your body can defile it, it’s what comes out of the heart that defiles a person”. Just what I needed to hear right this moment. Yes, there are many plant based drugs, but they all need to be transformed and severely processed to create the drug. Cannabis is just cannabis. It can be processed to extract oils, like processing seeds for their oils. But what we end up with is a raw product. Glad to hear not all Christians have been brainwashed and understand their religion to be a part of supporting a better life.