cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Church Claims Offend Believers





Marijuana Church Claims Offend Believers
Posted by CN Staff on July 24, 2006 at 19:03:47 PT
By Adam Gaub, Assistant Editor 
Source: Eastern Arizona Courier
Arizona -- Members of the Zoroastrian faith are prepared to defend their religion against claims made by those in Pima’s Church of Cognizance. Dan and Mary Quaintance of Pima claim they use marijuana - often mixed with milk - in their practice of the Zoroastrian faith. The Quaintances are awaiting trial after being arrested in New Mexico in February for having 172 pounds of marijuana in their possession.
While milk, and goat’s milk specifically, can sometimes be used in ceremonies in the Zoroastrian religion, Rustom Kevala, the president of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America, said marijuana has never been used as part of their religion.“We don’t want Zoroastrians to be associated with this kind of church,” Kevala said. “I guess they (the Quaintances) were trying to find justification for the use.”Kevala was so deeply offended by the Quaintances’ claims that he contacted the U.S. District Attorney’s Office in New Mexico to see if he can help in the case.“I can offer one of our priests to testify, if needed,” Kevala said.One of the crucial aspects of the Zoroastrian religion is that members are fire-worshippers and are forbidden to even light a cigarette, much less use drugs, Zoroastrian Association of Arizona secretary Parizad Patel-Pascuicco said.“It’s just such a hoax to me to label our Zoroastrian religion into their little marijuana (church),” Patel-Pascuicco, a Chandler resident, said.Another strike against the Quaintances’ claim is that Zoroastrians must be born into the religion, which can be traced back to before the time of Christ in ancient Persia. The religion, which is still today based mainly out of Iran and India, is very restricted to outside converts.“You have to be born into the religion and initiated by a Zoroastrian priest when they are 8 or 9 in a navjote,” Patel-Pascuicco said. A navjote is akin to a baptism. “My husband is of Italian descent and could not be Zoroastrian even if he wanted to.”There are about 20,000 Zoroastrians living in North America today, Kevala said, and while he said there are some who believe the biblical Tree of Life may be herbs growing in the Himalayas, there has never been the belief that the herbs are marijuana.Dan Quaintance, who was raised in the Methodist Church, told a Courier reporter earlier this month he looked into the history of the marijuana plant, which he refers to as haoma.“Archaeology has shown a correlation between cannabis and the Tree of Life in the Bible,” Quaintance said.Kevala said the North American Mobeds Council, a group of Zoroastrian priests who serve as an advisory body for the religion, disclaim the theory the haoma plant belongs to the genus Canna.“Firstly, we do not know for a fact what species the haoma plant belonged to,” the council states. “There is absolutely no factual evidence that haoma plant belonged to genus Canna (Cannabis). It is pure speculation.”Patel-Pascuicco was appal-led that the Quaintances’ church could ever be associated with her religion.“We’ve never heard of them,” she said. “They are being disingenuous and giving our religion a bad name.”Newshawk: MayanSource: Eastern Arizona Courier (AZ)Author: Adam Gaub, Assistant Editor Published: Monday, July 24, 2006 Copyright: 2006 Eastern Arizona CourierContact: tjking eacourier.comWebsite: http://www.eacourier.com/Related Article and Web Site:Church Of Cognizancehttp://coc.enlightener.net/Pot Church Takes a Hit http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21980.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #19 posted by aolbites on July 27, 2006 at 12:58:27 PT
Reader refutes claims made by Zoroastrians
Editor: In response to the article “Church of Cognizance out of line with Zoroastrian religion” by Adam Gaub:Despite the statements made in Adam Gaub’s article by modern-day American descendants of the Zoroa-strian religion claiming that marijuana was not the plant used for the sacramental haoma, the reality of the matter is this: The American Zoroastrian community itself acknowledges that the identity of the true haoma has been lost to time.In the case of Persian references, despite the claims of the North American Mobeds Council, a number of orthodox Zoroastrian sources see haoma as “very possibly ‘marijuana’ or ‘hashish’ (Cannabis Sativa).” (The Zarathustran Assembly)Interestingly, in our own time, the questions around the identity of the haoma have been answered by the archeological find of an ancient proto-Zoroastrian fire temple in the Kara Kum Desert just outside Iran. The excavation by Russian archeologist Victor Sariandidi of this site has answered the soma riddle by showing through fossilized plant material and artifacts that soma was a preparation of hemp and ephedra.-=snip=-Either way, ironically, in our own age, we find ourselves having to fight for the right to partake of a plant that can offer us many of the qualities of the ancient and mysterious soma\haoma and even may indeed be that very plant.Just as both the industrial and medicinal establishments have been forced to acknowledge the miraculous qualities of hemp, so, too, through study of ancient religious texts concerning the herb, and the righteous acts of her many adherents, hopefully the religious establishment shall come to recognize it as the great gift and sacrament that it truly is.Respectfully,Chris BennettVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Reader refutes claims made by Zoroastrians
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #18 posted by afterburner on July 26, 2006 at 13:30:30 PT
Christ (The Anointed One) Our Rock (The Church)...
against the sacrament, the Holy Anointing Oil. They should "weep bitterly."US IL: Christ Our Rock Adopts Random Drug Testing
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n972/a06.html
(Fri, 21 Jul 2006)
Salem Times-Commoner (IL)
 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #17 posted by afterburner on July 26, 2006 at 00:44:55 PT
konagold #6
"So because of the drug war stigma regarding the Holy Herb many religions the modern descendents of these ancient thought forms deny their Holy history."The church denying the Anointed One is nothing new:
 "you are [e]Peter [Greek, Petros], and on this rock [Greek, petra] I will build My church." Yet, who denied the Anointed One three times and then wept bitterly? Peter, the rock, the church:{Matthew 16:15-19 (Amplified Bible)  15He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am?  16Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.  17Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and [d]to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.  18And I tell you, you are [e]Peter [Greek, Petros--a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra--a [f]huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the [g]infernal region) shall [h]not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].  19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth [ i]must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth [j]must be what is already loosed in heaven.(B)}{Luke 22:1-8, 31-34, 56-62 (Amplified Bible)
  1NOW THE Festival of Unleavened Bread was drawing near, which is called the Passover.
  2And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to do away with [Jesus], for they feared the people.  3But [then] Satan entered into Judas, called Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve [apostles].  4And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and captains how he might betray Him and deliver Him up to them.  5And they were delighted and pledged [themselves] to give him money.  6So he agreed [to this], and sought an opportunity to betray Him to them [without an uprising] in the absence of the throng.  7Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover [lamb] had to be slain.(A)  8So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare for us the Passover meal, that we may eat it.31Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan [e]has asked excessively that [all of] you be given up to him [out of the power and keeping of God], that he might sift [all of] you like grain,(D)  32But I have prayed especially for you [Peter], that your [own] faith may not fail; and when you yourself have turned again, strengthen and establish your brethren.  33And [Simon Peter] said to Him, Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death.  34But Jesus said, I tell you, Peter, before a [single] cock shall crow this day, you will three times [utterly] deny that you know Me.  56Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and gazing [intently] at him, said, This man too was with [k]Him.  57But he denied it and said, Woman, I do not know Him!  58And a little later someone else saw him and said, You are one of them also. But Peter said, Man, I am not!  59And when about an hour more had elapsed, still another emphatically insisted, It is the truth that this man also was with Him, for he too is a Galilean!  60But Peter said, Man, I do not know what you are talking about. And instantly, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed.  61And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter recalled the Lord's words, how He had told him, Before the cock crows today, you will deny Me thrice.  62And he went out and wept bitterly [that is, with painfully moving grief].}
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #16 posted by FoM on July 25, 2006 at 17:39:18 PT
Whig
I want to believe that most people don't support Bush's war. It's his war. He stirred it up and didn't use any common sense and here we are now. When 9/11 happened I thought they will need some special troops to get the people who did this to us because it wasn't a country that did it to us but people. We go and bomb Afghanistan and then invade Iraq and we still haven't really penetrated the country that the highjackers were from. I guess because they are friends they don't have to help us. I know in time we will be forgiven but it might be a very long time for that to happen and I understand why. Look how many people are dead because of what Bush has done. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #15 posted by whig on July 25, 2006 at 17:21:55 PT
FoM
Post-Hitler, the German people aren't still hated everywhere, though there are many who will continue to do so. Most people realize that it was a time in the past and the German people today don't believe in that. There are actually more Greens in Germany than almost anywhere and a very strong opposition to what the United States is doing now -- because they recognize it very well.Post-Bush there will be time for people to understand, and even now it is recognized that most of the American people do not support this administration and want the nightmare to end.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #14 posted by FoM on July 25, 2006 at 16:25:27 PT
 museman 
I understand your concerns. Our country in different places are having power outages and extreme temperatures enough so that they said on a news show that the south won't be able to grow crops much longer because of the heat. All the growing will have to move north more. They are worried about growing grapes in California because of the increasing heat. Since Bush invaded Iraq and did it without any proof of WMD's the world won't ever trust us again. You just can't go oops on something this serious and go well you know we are a good country. All countries think they are doing the right thing. I would never travel outside the states. I never did but now I wouldn't because we are really hated. I'm not sure we can stop what our country under Bush started.PS: I hope I'm making sense.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by museman on July 25, 2006 at 15:48:58 PT
FoM
Oh.Heart melting. Could've been anyone of us. Was many. Still going on today. I am still angry today, some 34 years after the fact. The difference is I guess that I know where to put my anger better now than I did then.Viet Nam. Iraq/Afghanistan. WWIII. Armageddon?No. The Creator of this place surely has something to say about that - even if the Creator is ultimately us.Bad stuff though. That juggernaut carrying humanity over the brink of the abyss will not be halted, There is no stopping it. We cannot even slow it down.The only choice we have is to not be BOUND to it, and that lies in our choices and willingness to sacrifice the comforts of illusion in order to deal effectively with the harsher reality imminent in the world.When Babylon falls, if you are standing in it's shadow you will surely be crushed.The earth was made to sustain all life upon it. When small select groups of humanity control access to the natural providence of the earth, and profit from it's selective distribution, leaving poisonous refuse and destruction in it's wake, then they shall reap the storm, and the water, wind, and fire will purge them from the earth, who will open the deeps to swallow the cities which have become abomination, and those that remain will become desolate.How long? Looks grim all up the decade and into the next.
I once rode not at all on that leviathan, that behemoth that serves to carry the enthralled into true oblivion. Yet now I dangle from it's fringe for the scraps of survival. I pray that I may have the strength to jump far enough at the end to escape the plunge, but so many will not. And that is another very damn good reason to turn around and look at OUR FAMILIES.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by FoM on July 25, 2006 at 15:15:19 PT
museman
All I can think to say is we will all be a bunch of scrambled eggs cooked well done.I just watched a personal video about a Vietnam Vet. If you read this comment on the rust list you'll see. Now my nose is really stuffed up after watching it.http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/rust/message/166226http://www.farfromhome.rusties.net/
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by museman on July 25, 2006 at 15:08:13 PT
FoM
The heat is killing me."OK, one last time." Camera shows a couple of eggs.."This is your brain." Eggs get put in frying pan."This is your brain on global warming.." eggs, pan and stove flame up and melt into a flaming glob of molten metal and ash.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by FoM on July 25, 2006 at 14:59:39 PT
museman
Gotcha. You see I have a code in my noze and I can't figure out things while I am in this condition. I just seem to space around and sneeze and cough. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by museman on July 25, 2006 at 14:41:13 PT
FoM
I was being deliberately obtuse and facetious. Like the numerous 'expert' 'officials' who like to claim this and that as if it were gospel 'truth.'Sometimes things just seems so ridiculous I can approach them no other way.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by FoM on July 25, 2006 at 13:15:43 PT
museman
I am really not up on alot of the old testament. It was hard to absorb. I didn't know that God didn't like Vegetarians. God's Covenant With Noah 1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=9&version=31
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by museman on July 25, 2006 at 12:20:21 PT
in the beginning...
According to the xtian interpretation, (or 'rendering') of Genesis, God does not like vegetarians. He was into blood and guts. That's why Cain got so pissed at Abel.One of the first sons of Cain was Jubal, who is historicly referred to as the 'father' of music.So, though it is not included in the the commandments, except in the one that seems to be hardest to do amongst men of 'power'; "Thou shalt not kill," there is an underlying precedent of bloodletting at the core of the ancient "Lord" or "Baal" worship. ('Lord' means 'Baal'.)Vegetarians, or 'herbalists' as well as musicians are on 'Gods'' shitlist apparently. If biblical history is to be believed. (not my God, but a lot of fearful peoples')Hypocrisy is a human institution that has representation in every seat of power ever known to man. As soon as anyone believes themselves to be superior to anyone else, they have entered into the ongoing perpetuation of ignorance and spiritual darkness.Religion is an institution. Worship of power and money is a religion. The U.S. Constitution makes separation of 'church and state' LAW. But of course the Constitution claims a lot of things that the power elite circumnavigate at every turn.The U.S. Government is illegal, it is a perverted church of blood, greed, and power -truly an abomination before the REAL God whose NAME is LOVE. Shall we continue to prop up the putrid, decaying carcass or a corrupted state, or bury the damn thing?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by konagold on July 25, 2006 at 12:05:40 PT:
new religion??
AlohaI explored the use of Cannabis in many religions, including Zoroaster's, and the results of this exploration have been published on the web since 1994 [see http://thereligionofjesuschurch.org  - select "The Holy Herb”]Because of Cannabis being included in the original Hebrew description of the Holy Anointing Oil of Israel at Exodus 30:23, it is a Holy Herb at the foundations of three major religions Islam Judaism and Christianity.In fact the word Messiah means 'the anointed', its Greek equivalent, Christos, is the origin of the word Christ.The inclusion of 8 lbs of Cannabis [Kaneh Bos' in Hebrew] in this Holy Oil and rendered 'by the art of the apothecary' meant that if a priest were anointed with a 'horn' [aprox. one quart] of this oil, the anointed would receive the THC from about one pound rendered into hash oil and in a sticky oil in the hair and scalp. We know that THC is oil soluable and can be absorbed through the skin. Therefore the anointed had a heightened [pun intended] God acquainting experience. This gave a special meaning to the word Messiah because of the Cannabis influenced spiritual insights.Modern versions of these Cannabis influenced religions have lost the facts, mistranslation from the Hebrew Kaneh, meaning reed, for the Greek word for reed, kalamus, ended up with the English mistranslation of Calamus, a specific plant rather than a generic word for reed.So because of the drug war stigma regarding the Holy Herb many religions the modern descendents of these ancient thought forms deny their Holy history.Having gone through a RFRA trial [1994 through 1997 with three appeals to the Hawaii State Supreme Court] I know that the fact that one denomination denys the reinterpretation of their religious precepts is a powerful tool the prosecution will use.However what should count is the actual test by RFRA's four major points: 
1 is the belief sincerely held2 is it a legitimate religion not merely a 'belief'3 is there a compelling state interest to restrict the religious practice4 is the least restrictive means used with regard to any governmental interference.My prayers to these religionist and there attempt to secure their religious FreedomAlohaRev. Dennis Shields    
http://thereligionofjesuschurch.org
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by whig on July 25, 2006 at 08:41:41 PT
Max
I think the religious cannabis defense is perfectly appropriate (and correct) to claim in a Christian context, as long as you are clear about the difference between the early church (which still persists and has remained underground for as long as it has existed) and the more visible corruptions of Rome and Protestantism.Someone will always say you don't qualify, anyhow. And if you are talking about some new religion nobody has heard of they will claim it doesn't exist at all. I think we are better to speak of historically existing traditions than to invent anew, but everyone has to choose a context that is right for themselves. All are simply metaphors for understandings beyond human comprehension, while we may know some and enough to speak about it we cannot know how others may perceive it and we cannot give our own perceptions as absolute and complete, because they never are.What is important from a legal standpoint is only that the belief be honestly held. If you claim to be Rastafari but don't know anything about it except that Bob Marley smoked pot, you aren't going to prevail.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by Max Flowers on July 25, 2006 at 07:58:39 PT
Religious cannabis defense
To me this amazing story underlines yet again that if one is going to claim religious use and religious defense, one had better claim a religion that is new, of one's own invention, rather than trying to attach to a religion that already exists, because with an existing religion someone is always sure to be offended or will try to state that you don't "qualify." 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by Wayne on July 25, 2006 at 07:26:09 PT
peculiar
"Patel-Pascuicco was appalled that the Quaintances’ church could ever be associated with her religion. 'We’ve never heard of them,' she said. 'They are being disingenuous and giving our religion a bad name.'"What, peace-loving people who want to get closer to God through nature? The NERVE!! No, what really gives your religion a bad name is that you don't want to take on new members from the outside, and that you are willing to hand innocent people over to the authorities on a silver platter for doing no harm to you at all.Wow, a religion that doesn't want new outside membership... there's a first!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Hope on July 25, 2006 at 06:49:07 PT
Crazy beliefs?
Who were they harming? No one!Yet they are being harmed by the authorities and the self-righteous. When will this disgusting persecution ever end?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on July 25, 2006 at 06:19:43 PT
And the wine Jesus drank had no alcohol in it...
The Church of Christ believe that no true Christian church would allow musical instruments to be played in worship, so how about an article about how offended they are by all the false churches and their blasphemous, non-historical organ playing.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment