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I would appreciate getting opinions on the scriptural status of drug prohibition.
Is there any evidence that the early Christians had any prohibitions against using drug plants? If so please provide scriptural evidence to support the view.
As a result of my Bible studies I concluded that drug prohibition is a serious violation of the teachings and principles in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
I believe that drug prohibition is a sin against the fundamental teachings found in the Hebrew (Genesis to Malachi) and Christian (Matthew to Revelations) scriptures.
If anybody disagrees or sees an error in this thinking please let me know.
Please verify your ideas with Bible texts.
Sincerely,
Redford Givens
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The Bible condemns America's drug war on several important fundamental grounds:
1. Drug prohibition is a blasphemy against the Creator:
The Bible condemns prohibitionists as blasphemers because every time a drug crusader utters a lie about a drug plant they insult the Creator (ie. "Marhuana weed with roots in hell" and so forth). Saying that creations of the Almighty are evil and harmful is blasphemy by clear Bible definition.
Blaspheme means to "speak against God." Saying bad things about marijuana and opium poppies is absolutely a blasphemy because:
Matthew 7: 9 Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone; 10 or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Deuteronomy 32:3 For I will proclaim the name of Jehovah: Ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 4 The Rock, his work is perfect; For all his ways are justice: A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, Just and right is he.
James 1: 16 Do not be misled, my beloved brothers, 17 every good gift and every perfect present comes down from the Father of the [celestial] lights, and with him there is not a variation of the turning of a shadow.
Psalm 18: 30 As for God, his way is perfect: The word of Jehovah is tried; He is a shield unto all them that take refuge in him.
Job 36: 22 Look! God himself acts exaltedly with his power;
Who is an instructor like him?
23 Who has called his way to account against him,
And who has said, 'You have committed unrighteousness?
Psalm 19: 7 The law of Jehovah is perfect, bringing back the soul.
The reminder of Jehovah is trustworthy, making the inexperienced one wise.
Romans 1: 20 Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; 21 for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles.
Blasphemy is a much much more serious sin than being an alcoholic or a drug addict could ever be because the death penalty is mandated for insulting God while the scriptures do not command ANY punishment for being a drunk (God settles accounts with unrepentant drunkards). Blasphemy, on the other hand, is specifically mentioned as a death penalty sin:
Leviticus 24:15 And say to the people of Israel, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him; the sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. 17 He who kills a man shall be put to death.
The fact that murder, another death penalty crime, is mentioned in verse 17 indicates that blasphemy is a very serious sin.
When America's lunatic drug crusaders talk about marijuana "having its roots in hell" or rant about the "devil drug opium" (the poppy plant) or peyote or any of the dozens of other mind altering plants God Almighty created they blasphemy against Jehovah. Any disparaging lie about a creation of God is blasphemy.
Drug prohibition attempts to raise a philosophy of lies above the wisdom of God, which is a violation of all Christian and Jewish religions as far as I know.
Telling the Master Worker that He made a mistake in creating things runs against the basic Jewish and Christian premise that God is always right no matter what men may think.
Isaiah 55: 8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
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2. Drug prohibition is counterproductive
History shows that no one was robbing, whoring and murdering over drugs when addicts could buy all of the heroin, cocaine, morphine, opium and anything else they wanted cheaply and legally at the corner pharmacy. When drugs were legal addicts held regular employment, raised decent families and were indistinguishable from their teetotaling neighbors. Overdoses were virtually unheard of when addicts used cheap pure Bayer Heroin instead of the toxic potions prohibition puts on the streets. (See: The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs - Chapter 5.Some eminent narcotics addicts http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cu5.html)
Inflicting punishment on people because of a situation the prohibitionists themselves created is a violation of the commandment to "love your fellow man as yourself." Prohibition makes the prohibitionist a partner in the criminal activity he/she promotes and subsidizes.
MATTHEW 7: 15-20 "Be on the watch for the false prophets that come to you in sheep's covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves. 16 By their fruits you will recognize them. Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? 17 Likewise every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit; 18 a good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. 19 Every tree not producing fine fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those [men]." Jesus Christ
The very fact that drug prohibition is a failure marks it as a Satanic policy. God's plans work!
3. Drug prohibition is based on absurd lies
The marijuana ban is based on notions like
"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are
Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz
and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana can cause white
women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."
"The primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate
races."
"Marihuana influences Negroes to to look at white people in the eye,
step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice." (Hearst
newspapers nationwide, 1934)
"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity,
criminality and death."
"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."
"[Smoking] one [marihuana] cigarette might develop a homicidal mania,
probably to kill his brother."
Propaganda To Outlaw Marijuana
Not one reputable scientist, medical authority or sociologist currently supports any of the nonsense used to justify marijuana prohibition. In fact all of the "evidence" used to support marijuana prohibition is false.
The drug warrior's false witness about cannabis is a direct insult to the Creator and violates Bible teachings about honesty.
PROVERBS 19: 9 The false witness will not be free from punishment, and he that launches forth mere lies will perish.
EZEKIEL 13:8-9 "Therefore, this is what the Lord Jehovah has said: "For the reason that you men have spoken untruth and you have envisioned a lie, therefore here I am against you" is the utterance of the Lord Jehovah. And my hand has come to be against the prophets that are visioning untruth and that are divining a lie. In the intimate group of my people they will not continue on, and in the register of the house of Israel they will not be written, and to the soil of Israel they will not come; and you people will have to know that I am the Lord Jehovah."
JOHN 8:44 "You are from your father the Devil, and you wish to do the desires of your father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because the truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of the lie." Jesus Christ
The bans on drugs also have a racial bias violating Jesus teaching at
Galatians 3: 28(48) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for (49) you are all one in (50) Christ Jesus.
4. Drug prohibition violates the Bible standard of justice
Exodus 21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Leviticus 24:20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has disfigured a man, he shall be disfigured.
Deuteronomy 19:21 Your eye shall not pity; it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
According to my understanding, except for certain religious rules, such as blaspheme and temple violations, there always had to be an injured victim before there could be a criminal trial, a verdict and punishment. Without an injury to redress or a victim demanding justice there could be no proportional punishment and there could be no trial.
There had to be a victim and there had to be an injury before a trial was held.
The rule demanding proportional punishment is a vitally important principle and laws based on lies do meet the Divine standards for just punishment.
It is my belief that there could be no criminal trial for drug charges in ancient Israel. Therefore drug prohibition violates the divine code of justice established for Hebrews and Christians.
Self-injury was not considered a crime because there is no command to punish drunks in the scriptures even though being a drunkard is condemned. (I believe God settles accounts with unrepentent boozers.)
5. No good reason for a drug ban
My study of history reveals that there was no such thing as a "drug problem" before we had drug laws. For example, a thorough search of the microfilm records of The New York Times from 1910-1914 did not reveal any heroin overdoses or drug crimes before drugs were outlawed (i.e. robberies, murders etc done because of drugs). Crime and drug use became entwined after the drug laws went on the books, not before.
No one was robbing, whoring and murdering over drugs when addicts could buy all of the heroin, cocaine, morphine, opium and anything else they wanted cheaply and legally at the corner pharmacy. When drugs were legal addicts held regular employment, raised decent families and were indistinguishable from their teetotaling neighbors. Overdoses were virtually unheard of when addicts used cheap pure Bayer Heroin instead of the toxic potions prohibition puts on the streets. (See: The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs - Chapter 5.Some eminent narcotics addicts http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cu5.html)
Where drug crime was unknown we now have prisons overflowing with drug users. Where addicts lived normal lives, we have hundreds of thousands of shattered families. Where overdoses were extremely rare we have tens of thousands of drug deaths every year. The addiction rate is now five times greater than when we had no laws at all. (See: Snow Job The demonization of cocaine By Jacob Sullum http://reason.com/opeds/js092799.shtml)
MATTHEW 7: 15-20 "Be on the watch for the false prophets that come to you in sheep's covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves. 16 By their fruits you will recognize them. Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? 17 Likewise every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit; 18 a good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. 19 Every tree not producing fine fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those [men]." Jesus Christ
6. Drug prohibition is a false doctrine akin to the misguided witch hunts of yore.
By this I mean that drug prohibition has been elevated to a status superior to Bible teachings.
For example, a teacher is honored as "Teacher of the Year" for the third time, a teacher with rave reviews from parents and colleagues alike. Then a few days later this award winning super teacher is caught with a small amount of marijuana.
In the blink of an eye, this wonderful teacher was demonized, reviled as a wicked person and fired from her job of 20+ years.
In other words, the prohibitionist judges a person's morality by what he/she consumes instead of what comes out of their mouths and the deeds they actually do.
Even though no injury to anyone occurs individuals who transgress a phony drug policy are condemned as being worse than robbers, rapers, child molesters and even murderers.
Punishing for drug use violates the commandments against adding doctrines to the Bible
Revelation 22: 18 I am bearing witness to everyone that hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone makes an addition to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this scroll; and if anyone takes anything away from the words of the scroll of this prophecy, God will take away his portion from the trees of life and out of the holy city ....
7. The fundamental notion that prohibition is based on contradicts Bible teaching
The idea that a man is corrupted by consuming a drug runs against Jesus's words at:
Matthew 15: 10 Listen and get the sense of it: 11 Not what enters into [his] mouth defiles a man; but it is what proceeds out of [his] mouth that defiles a man." ............ 17 Are you not aware that everything entering into the mouth passes along into the intestines and is discharged into the sewer? 18 However, the things that proceeding out of the mouth come out of the heart, and these things defile a man. 19 For example, out of the heart come wicked reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications, thieveries, false testimonies, blasphemies. 20 These are the things defiling a man. ........ "
Drug prohibition is a false doctrine similar to the inquisitions and witch hunts of the past.
If anyone disagrees please show us the scriptural support for your position.
Ransford