Gary :
You are listening to a special edition of Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Still to come in this revisit to our 2000 series, Religion in the News, plus answers to your questions in Contending for the Faith, and in Understanding the Scriptures Dave and Tom will continue their discussion of God’s salvation. In addition to this radio program we publish a monthly newsletter which we make available free of charge. We also produce and distribute a wide variety of teaching materials including books in print, e-book and audio book formats, CD’s, DVD’s and other items to encourage the serious study of God’s Word. For a complete list of materials, or to get a copy of today’s broadcast, write to us at POB 7019, Bend , Oregon 97708 , call our toll free order number, 1-800-937-6638, that’s 1-800-937-6638, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org . If you would like a copy of this broadcast on compact disk, ask for Program #3808, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. And if you would like to watch Dave and Tom, our weekly broadcast is available on DVD; ask about a subscription when you contact us. You can also download both audio and video podcast at our website. We’ll repeat this information at the end of the program. We continue now with our special revisit to the year 2000. Now:
RELIGION IN THE NEWS
A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s feature item is from the Associated Press dated April 16, 1997 : American Indian troops who eat peyote and hallucinate during religious ceremonies can follow their faith while on active duty under new guidelines adopted by the Armed Forces. If they are using peyote in their religious practice, it’s a sacrament not a drug, just as sacramental wine is not considered a drug, Air Force Major Monica Elloesio, a Pentagon spokeswoman said Tuesday. The new peyote policy applies to any of the 9,262 American Indians in the service. That’s .06% of the military population who use the drug to follow their faith. This opens some doors for our church and it marks the first sanctioned use of a hallucinogen by members of the Armed Forces, said Frank Dayish, president of the Native American Church of North America. The policy change stems from the 1994 American Indian Religious Freedom Act which allows Indians to use peyote as a religious sacrament. In 1996, the guidelines became part of US code and the Defense Department began rewriting guidelines. The new guidelines say this: American Indians who wish to enlist can answer no when asked if they have ever used drugs. Peyote may only be used by enrolled members of Indian tribes. Peyote may not be used, possessed or brought aboard military vehicles, vessels, aircraft or military installations without permission of the installation commander. Military personnel must notify their commanders of use upon return to duty. Additional limitations may be imposed overseas to comply with foreign laws. Chaplain Captain Mel Ferguson, Executive Director of the Armed Forces Chaplains Board, said he’s giving chaplains a verbal go-ahead to let Indians use peyote in religious services while the guidelines are being finalized. When people are allowed to practice their faith and nourish the spiritual dimensions of their lives, that promotes and enhances military readiness, said Ferguson . Peyote is a small cactus with psychedelic properties that grows naturally in southern Texas . While it is illegal for most people, federal law permits use by the 250,000 Native American church members in 20 states. The theology center on the belief that peyote brings peace of mind, helps people think good thoughts and heals illnesses if one sincerely believes and concentrates. Peyote is usually eaten but can be smoked. It causes sweating, heightened attention, wakefulness and sometimes but not always, hallucinatory visions. Leonardo Mercado, who founded the Peyote Foundation in Karney, Arizona, a year ago, said the changes reaffirmed the sacred, important status peyote has in individuals lives. If I was having somebody to defend me here at home, I’d rather have them on peyote than alcohol he said.
Dave:
Well, that’s very interesting, Tom. Of course, it’s part of the whole delusion about indigenous people and native religions. They can be brought into the public schools but Christianity can’t because Christianity is religion and this is culture, although their culture is their religion. The Bible, New Testament, comes down very hard on something called sorcery.
Tom:
Right—pharmacia.
Dave:
Right, it’s a Greek word, pharmacia. And it indicates that it would be revived in the last days and the world would refuse to repent of it. So, here we have the spread of pharmacia. LSD, of course, was taken illicitly and some of the salosamon and some of the other drugs were taken illicitly. But now we have the licensing, I mean, peyote, which catapults you into a spirit dimension where you meet spirits, spirit guides, spirit beings, spirit saviors, spirit destroyers, even. But that’s okay—these are actually demons—but that’s okay because this is a religious ceremony and it’s part of Native American religiosity. Now, I guarantee you, if we had a LSD cult formed or some other drug cult formed and it got to be a big church, well, that would be a growing church, a lot of people—just think—you could take heroin legally now if you belonged to a heroin church. So, it doesn’t make sense but it shows some of the pressure that is being put upon, because of the guilt I presume, that we feel of having displaced the indigenous people, the First Nation People, they call themselves now. So now, we’re going to make special dispensation for them even though we know that this drug is harmful, even though we know that it is hallucinatory, nevertheless this is a sacrament of theirs. And, of course, to liken it to the wine taken in communion—I mean, what do you take—a little sip of wine that has what? eight percent alcohol.
Tom:
And mostly, it’s grape juice.
Dave:
To compare that with peyote it’s—but, here we go.
Tom:
Yes, but this is the occult invasion, isn’t it? This is what we are accepting more and more and this is really a sign of the last days.
Dave:
Well, drugs, that’s one doorway into the occult.
