Pray For Peace Foundation News
January - April 1997
| EDITORIAL: Does Pot Threaten Organized Religion? In a recent issue of a local publication, writer Vincent Vicara publishedhis thoughts on "Religion in the 21st Century" (Cement Squeeze, Phoenix, Winter 96, #6). It's probably true, people are feeling more spiritual thesedays, with the 'new age' starting up and all. We especially get 'newage fever' here in Arizona, because Sedona is in our back yard and newageismtends to be contagious. However, many of us have had bad experiences with"religion," and I think V. Vicara described the problem perfectlywhen he wrote: "Why is it most organized religions don't prevent violence andhatred? . . . World War I is a good example of the madness of religionon all sides. These highly Christian nations slaughtered their youth bythe millions and one wonders where was religion to stop Hitler and Stalin?We find that religious institutions actually tended to side with warriorsand encourage the killing of those who were different." Religious institutions and the people who follow them have behaved miserablyin the 20th century and it makes me wonder how the legalization of marijuanawould affect mainstream religion. Perhaps the religious patriarches arefearful that intuitive insights from smoking pot would open people's eyes,leading to the unraveling of their institutions. They want parishionersto be devout & attend church, but they hardly expect them to starthaving mystical experiences. Too much spirituality would rock the boat. At this time we (old & new hippies) face overwhelming oppositionto our form of religious expression, but Pray For Peace Foundation continuesto pray for inclusion and acceptance for those of us who use plant sacramentsin our practice. America was built on religious freedom & that alsogoes for minority religions like ours. Let's pull together as a community,to ask for our rights. Besides religion, there are other industries that would suffer fromlegalized pot: liquor, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, drug testing companies,prison builders, politicians, and others in the enforcement business. Someindustries that would suffer from legalization of industrial hemp: cotton,logging, petro-chemical, agri-chemical, and others. Editorial: Do We Need a War on Gangs? quality hotel LourdesIn his State of the Union address, President Clinton suggested thatthe government start a "war on gangs." The United States alreadylocks up a greater percentage of her population than *any* other countryin the world, so we wonder if this can actually help. Our elite leaderstell us we are free, but less of us are free than ten years ago. People join gangs for a sense of belonging when they feel alienatedfrom their communities, or perhaps from their families. Gangs are likesmall cults that provide a surrogate family; and many of us remember our highschool gang as being benign. However, in bad times a gang's isolation andjudgmentalism can lead to a way of life that includes drug dealing, violence,abuse, weapon stockpiling, and even murder. The rest of us are imprisonedin our homes for fear of violence on the street; we buy guns to protectourselves, and this is true cultural poverty. Another war can only makethings worse. Instead of another expensive war, Pray For Peace Foundation proposes an outreach and a truce. Let's work to bring isolated citizens back into themainstream. It costs less to put a person through college than it doesto put them in prison. Providing counseling, job training and acceptanceis the answer. Even though it seems impossible to change the course ofour warlike government, prayer can help. So can letters, phone calls and faxes. PFPF News Editorial: What is the Sound of a Big Lie Crashing? Drug education and drug treatment are buzzwords of the government'swar on drugs. But what if the "education" sounds more like propaganda?We read about die-hard drug warriors lying to kids about marijuana, tryingto make pot sound like it's as addictive as heroin. We are certainly opposedto minor aged children using marijuana, but will they believe the liesand stay away? "It's 20 times stronger than what your parents smoked it and causesgenetic defects!" Categorizing marijuana with hard drugs is like cryingwolf. Many kids will dismiss the hype over marijuana, and likewise ignoreus when we talk to them about heroin, cocaine, LSD, methamphetamines, inhalantsand dangerous prescription drugs. Pray For Peace Foundation encourages teenagers to base their decisionson facts, not Reefer Madness insanity. We challenge teenagers: If you dislikechemicals in your air, water and food, then why swallow, sniff or smoke a drugmade by chemists and promoted through the AMA, FDA and international pharmaceuticalcompanies? Pray For Peace Foundation advocates spiritual solutions to the drugcrisis. We urge teenagers who drink or use drugs (or anyone with addictivebehaviors) to attend 12-step groups, look into what bothers them, and tryto work it out. Drug addiction medicates the emotional pain of personal problems.It's based on habit (some people put their kids on drugs from anearly age), something the government agencies of the criminal justice systemhave proven they cannot control. Pfpf News Opinion: Marijuana--A "Gateway" Drug? In a recent column, Ann Landers published three letters pro and conthe legalization of marijuana. This was openminded of her, although shetakes a decidedly conservative stance on the issue herself. One of theletters, from Senator Paul Coverdell of Georgia, said, "Marijuanais a gateway drug" and "by legalizing it, we would increase thenumber of cocaine and heroin addicts as well." Another reader asked,"Why not ban alcohol, since most people drink before they start tosmoke pot?" What is it about pot that makes it more frightening than alcohol? Toexplore this controversy more fully, let us take a closer look at the gatewaymetaphor. Imagine hideous wrought iron gates at a dark fork on the road,that lead to burning marshes of sloth and drug indulgence. The moral foradolescents is that along the road of life, if they are foolish enoughto approach these gates, they will be sucked in by pot's whirlwind, fallinto the quicksand of drug experimentation, and be lost forever. At anearlier fork on the same road, a young person may encounter tobacco cigarettes,alcohol, or prescription drugs, but these substances are more sociallyacceptable. Societyexcuses these vices as bumps on the path, rather than "gateways"to drug addiction. So why does pot get all the blame? Antidrug propaganda hypes the plant's"mind expanding" powers to imply that once an otherwise innocentteen has tasted smoke-induced nirvana, their morals will fall away andthey will become uninhibited, irresponsible zombies, suddenly vulnerableto all drugs. This is reefer madness propaganda. Blaming pot for heroin addiction is a form of denial that prevents usfrom addressing the real problem. In this editorial, PFPF offers a peaceful, alternativemetaphor for America's drug crisis. Instead of a "war," let uscall drug abuse a "disease," like alcoholism. The abuse of anysubstance (including pot) can be dubbed a "health care problem,"rather than a criminal justice or national defense problem. Honest and realistic cultural metaphors will foster peaceful solutionsto the war on drugs. We hope government officials will stop fueling paranoiaand lies about the hemp plant. Instead of wars and iron gates, let's visualizepeace and healing, and reach out to those who are suffering from the war ondrugs. Frat Houses Go Dry hotel rooms StavangerExcerpts from the Los Angeles Times Sunday, April 6, 1997, Front Page: "A fledgling temperance movement is knocking on the Animal House door,arising from a renewed commitment to quell hazing, vandalism, date rapeand other misbehavior associated with binge drinking. "The Greek-letter organizations themselves . . . their leaders and alumnihave been sobered up by the cost of house repairs, insurance premiums andthe lawsuits that result . . . they talk wistfully of returning to thehigh ideals of their founding fathers: scholarship, leadership and publicservice. "To date, only a few dozen of the 5,700 fraternity chapters have become'substance free,' meaning no booze, drugs or smoking on the premises.But hundreds are poised to follow." Pfpf comments: Good work men! Just say "no" to hazing, vandalismand date rape associated with alcohol binges. PRAY FOR PEACE FOUNDATION est. 1995 Pray For Peace Foundation was founded to spread awareness, educationand devotion to the Great and Holy Mystery that is God. We accept all pathsas true; all religions are but branches of the same tree. We promote interfaithdialogue and exchange programs to develop tolerance between religions. Pray For Peace Foundation is dedicated to nonviolence (vegetarian diet)and daily meditation. Pray For Peace members are committed to the legalizationof sacred natural medicines for spiritual healing, for all people. |