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Alabama church using psychedelic drugs to worship
May 20, 2016
WARRIOR, Ala. —Cannabis, Psilocybin mushrooms and peyote cactus are being used as sacraments taken to worship God at the Oklevueha Native American Church of Inner Light in Warrior.
And it's legal, according to the church's leader Chris Rushing.
"Our medicines are anything that Mother Earth grows from her," Rushing said. "The Creator gave us Mother Earth and she grows everything that we need for health, mind, body and spirit. The Bible backs that up in many places as well."
Rushing and his 125 church members carry federally-registered church membership cards that he said allows them to take the psychedelic medicines.
"Different cultures had different medicines that the Creator gave them that we've used for tens of thousands of years, and somehow in this culture that has gotten lost," Rushing said.
Instead of meeting at a church establishment, most of their gatherings are outdoors and are one-on-one settings.
"We are guides and we do not take the medicine. They are the only ones who take it," he said.
Many of their sessions take place in state parks.
"It's a therapeutic session where they have a closed eye, like a mask, sleeping mask. And they have headphones where we control the environment through music and they don't have outside stimuli," he said. "We believe that's the best way for a personal connection with the Spirit. And our elders have told us that these medicines are personal because the Creator knows who will eat then when He makes them grow from the ground."
But even with their church membership cards in hand, Rushing said a few members of the church have had trouble with the law.
"There's been a couple members who have been arrested for minor possession. But we're dealing with that," he said. "It's just about dealing with the authorities. We have to let them know who we are. They don't know."
The cannabis and peyote used for worship are not grown in the state, Rushing said. They're brought into the state from church elders and medicine people outside of Alabama.
"Elders or medicine people are the only way they can federally transport and bring these medicines into, anywhere," he said. "Our protections go across the United Nations as well as the United States."
Rushing said he studies the New King James Bible, despite what those who cry sacrilege say about his church.
"We believe in Christ. We are a Christian church. We believe in the gospel of Christ, the gospel of truth and love, nothing more and nothing less," he said. "A lot of the different denominations are based on lies and corruptions of the gospel of Christ and what we're doing is trying to bring back the truth."
Rushing said he founded this branch of the church in March 2015. He said they rely on donations and as of now do not have a building that houses their services.
continued with video http://www.wvtm13.com/news/alabama-church-using-psychedelic-drugs-to-worship/39657932
May 20, 2016
WARRIOR, Ala. —Cannabis, Psilocybin mushrooms and peyote cactus are being used as sacraments taken to worship God at the Oklevueha Native American Church of Inner Light in Warrior.
And it's legal, according to the church's leader Chris Rushing.
"Our medicines are anything that Mother Earth grows from her," Rushing said. "The Creator gave us Mother Earth and she grows everything that we need for health, mind, body and spirit. The Bible backs that up in many places as well."
Rushing and his 125 church members carry federally-registered church membership cards that he said allows them to take the psychedelic medicines.
"Different cultures had different medicines that the Creator gave them that we've used for tens of thousands of years, and somehow in this culture that has gotten lost," Rushing said.
Instead of meeting at a church establishment, most of their gatherings are outdoors and are one-on-one settings.
"We are guides and we do not take the medicine. They are the only ones who take it," he said.
Many of their sessions take place in state parks.
"It's a therapeutic session where they have a closed eye, like a mask, sleeping mask. And they have headphones where we control the environment through music and they don't have outside stimuli," he said. "We believe that's the best way for a personal connection with the Spirit. And our elders have told us that these medicines are personal because the Creator knows who will eat then when He makes them grow from the ground."
But even with their church membership cards in hand, Rushing said a few members of the church have had trouble with the law.
"There's been a couple members who have been arrested for minor possession. But we're dealing with that," he said. "It's just about dealing with the authorities. We have to let them know who we are. They don't know."
The cannabis and peyote used for worship are not grown in the state, Rushing said. They're brought into the state from church elders and medicine people outside of Alabama.
"Elders or medicine people are the only way they can federally transport and bring these medicines into, anywhere," he said. "Our protections go across the United Nations as well as the United States."
Rushing said he studies the New King James Bible, despite what those who cry sacrilege say about his church.
"We believe in Christ. We are a Christian church. We believe in the gospel of Christ, the gospel of truth and love, nothing more and nothing less," he said. "A lot of the different denominations are based on lies and corruptions of the gospel of Christ and what we're doing is trying to bring back the truth."
Rushing said he founded this branch of the church in March 2015. He said they rely on donations and as of now do not have a building that houses their services.
continued with video http://www.wvtm13.com/news/alabama-church-using-psychedelic-drugs-to-worship/39657932
