Creating a religion for Sally

[bah_roke]

  I'm interested in creating a religion in which Salvia would be a sacrament.  If you have any ideas concerning this please post them here. Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that Ayahuasca could be used in the US because it is part of a religious practice.  I realize that this may be a long shot but why not give it a try?

[riske]

dont you know you cant just start a religion? Someone else had to have started it before you were alive otherwise its just bullshit. other people can say god told them to start a religion, but if its you, you were just high. silly druggie.

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

I would think that starting a religion / church would be fairly straight forward. Just a matter of filing some paperwork to send in to the gov't so that it recognizes it. While I don't know enough about the law here to speak firmly, I believe it could work... I would assume that the newly formed religion would have to conform to all the current laws. If the law later changes to make Sally illegal, then the church would have the power to say "We have been using Sally in our religion since it was legal, and here is our documented proof". I am no law student, but there would probably have to be some kind of documentation that shows how the church uses Sally for religious purposes and have it dated and notarized while the law is still legal.

JARG

[Cheveyo]

Sadi for mana points?

[mconlonx]

There's all kinds of legal obstacles in the way of starting your own religion, and people have been shot down in court for such in the past. If the Rastas can't even argue for weed, I doubt a new religion based on salvia would have a chance.

Aya is a different case, in that the court case was decided in favor of the religion because it was proved to have existed for a while. Also, it's based on Christianity...

If you want to do it legit, go to Oxaca, hook up with a Mazatec holy person, and get invested in the religion in which salvia is traditionally used. Otherwise, it won't pass the straight face test in court, no matter how unfair that sounds...

[longjourney]

I think the last thing we need in this world is another religion.

[Sorbus666]

I think the last thing we need in this world is another religion.

Amen.

You can use SD for shamanic purposes without coming up with fake mambo-jambo, just follow the trail of your thoughts. Besides, saying that you want to create a religion contradicts the meaning of the word, religion itself.   

There should be better basis on keeping Salvia legal than a made-up cvlt.

[longjourney]

I think the last thing we need in this world is another religion.

Amen.

You can use SD for shamanic purposes without coming up with fake mambo-jambo, just follow the trail of your thoughts. Besides, saying that you want to create a religion contradicts the meaning of the word, religion itself.   

There should be better basis on keeping Salvia legal than a made-up cvlt.

Well said Sorbus, well said!

[MstryShovel]

yes creating a religion with the intent of creating a religion is different than creating a religion with the intent of protecting the plant. this has been discussed before here in the arcives

[longjourney]

yes creating a religion with the intent of creating a religion is different than creating a religion with the intent of protecting the plant. this has been discussed before here in the arcives

Be careful what you wish for, very bad idea!

[Jonsul]

Hey I don't think it's such a bad idea.

But it should be similar to Buddhism in that you can remain in another religion while believing in the teachings of Buddha. Like you could be ChristianBuddhist   

It should be a religion in which you believe in the teachings and benefits of Salvia, but can be say christian at the same time.

I could go for that. I'd be SalvianChristian lol

[SalviaCrazy]

To much work and money and the government would not allow it.  You could have a religion among yourselves or go to mexico.

[JD1stTimer]

It has pretty much been made clear that there will never be any legal approval for sacraments of a religion whose religious belief is primarily based around consumption of the sacrament, and the religion was originally founded with that primary purpose (To consume the sacrament, like if your church was founded for the sole purpose of eating bread and drinking wine.  If bread and wine were illegal, you couldn't say "Let's start a church where you have to eat bread and drink wine" to get them legalized for you and your congregation.  That's basically what the government lately has said, and they will likely deny your religious status if you organize for the purpose of preempting the law.  I think it would be the logical next step for the drug warriors.  You would probably have to use a religion that already exists, maybe a Oaxacan local religion?  And then the government would probably make your congregation prove an appropriate ethnicity (As in the Native American Church for peyote and I believe also the União Vegetal).  Can anyone say law unequally applied on the basis of race?  Where's the ACLU to get Rastafari recognised with a sacrament of ganja allowed to ethnic Jamaicans (Maybe on the basis of Caribbean native ancestry?), and then to file a civil rights lawsuit for race discrimination.  This may actually be a viable way to mitigate the damage done by the drug war to the United States as a republic and our Constitution as the most primal body of American law.

[Jonsul]

Well we're not talking about making a religion on something already illegal, Salvia is still legal in the majority of the US. But it'll definitely help to keep it from becoming one.
Plus it wouldn't be just for the sole purpose to use it. It would be for the purpose of spreading well informed knowledge of the plant, it's spirituality and it's many health and emotional benefits.