The Supreme Court of British Columbia denies the existence of God, in order to prohibit religions which advocate the sanctity of marijuana from exercising their constitutional rights.

The Holy Sacrament of Marijuana

    Just as the Old Testament Jews asked Pharaoh to recognize their right to freely worship their God, so too have Church of the Universe members been asking Canadian courts to recognize their right to freely worship God, through the holy sacrament of marijuana.
    The church's latest battle for religious freedom reached British Columbia's Supreme Court on April 7. Reverend Ian Hunter of the Mission of Ecstasy, also owner of Victoria's Sacred Herb hemp store, appeared before the Supreme Court of British Columbia to argue for his right to use marijuana and other psychoactive substances. He has been charged with possession of "magic mushrooms", possession and cultivation of marijuana, and possession of unsterilized marijuana seeds.

God is Good. Prohibition is Evil.

    Hunter intended to present evidence related to the first line of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees that "...Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of Law."
    Says Hunter, "If the founding fathers were creationists then they believed their God made all living things. Therefore, whether one believes in God or not, the Narcotic Control Act and the Food and Drug Act are in conflict with the Charter because they conflict with the right of these substances to exist, and are therefore, by their definition, in conflict with the 'will of God'."
    The freedom to possess and cultivate such sacred plants is an important element of Reverend Hunter's religious convictions. To Hunter, unnecessary legal restrictions on one's freedoms are akin to evil.
"If marijuana isn't harmful then why is it illegal?" he asks. "God to the extreme is good and law to the extreme is evil. Prohibition is taking itself to a potentially evil extreme with the prohibition of these psychoactive and healing plants. They were placed on earth for us to use them."

The Legal Argument

Part of Reverend Hunter's constitutional challenge questioned whether the Narcotic Control Act could be valid when it does not provide for freedom of religion.
    The chair of the church's Faculty for Legal Self Defence, Bishop Michael Baldasaro, notes that any law which does not provide for the full exercise of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (including freedom of religion) is supposed to be amended by the government. If the court refuses to recommend that the law be amended, then it is denying honest Canadian citizens their constitutional rights.
    Reverend Hunter was also questioning whether he should have been charged with possession of cannabis seeds, which are not specifically mentioned in the Narcotic Control Act.
    "If the judge did find me guilty of seeds, he would be going over his authority and going against Parliament," said Hunter. "He would end up adding a new substance to the schedule and judges don't do that."
As Bishop Baldasaro notes, the law provides that "a limit which is vague, ambiguous, uncertain or subject to discretionary determination is by that fact alone an unreasonable limit. If a citizen cannot know with tolerable certainty the extent to which the exercise of a guaranteed freedom may be restrained, he is likely to be deterred from conduct which is in fact lawful and not prohibited."

Christians Among Romans

    When appearing in the Supreme Court, Church of the Universe reverends traditionally wear long beards, blankets, and hempen hats. Breaking slightly with tradition, Reverend Hunter appeared in the Supreme Court in mutton-chops, a grey flannel suit and hemp boxers.
    "When in Rome, dress as the Romans do," he was quoted as saying.
Accompanying Ian Hunter to present evidence was Chris Bennet, who is also a Church of the Universe minister, and Reverend Henry Boston, a retired Anglican and United Church Minister.
During their week-long appearance, the reverends found themselves constantly faced with questions which subtly evaded the issue of freedom of religion.
    In an open letter written during the trial, Hunter says "It's four days into the trial and the Crown has had me and Chris Bennet on the stand as members of the Church of the Universe. The questions they keep getting back to are 'do you force your members to smoke pot? Do you require your members to wear hemp?'ÊThe answer Chris and I gave was 'people can do whatever they want.'"
    Chris Bennet, the author of Green Gold: The Tree of Life, was eventually denied the right to provide any significant evidence. Green Gold is a voluminous tome, detailing the use of marijuana in religion throughout recorded history, and a seminal work in the field of marijuana and religion. Yet Justice Drake ruled that Bennet was not an authority on the issue, and so wasn't qualified to speak about marijuana and religion in general terms.
    Says Reverend Bennet, "I kept trying to bring it back to historical information, like 'We believe that marijuana is for the healing of the nations and that includes all nations...' but they kept stopping it."

Drake Declares that God is Dead

    Reverend Hunter's argument hinged partly on a debate over the "supremacy of God clause" of the Charter of Rights. Reverend Henry Boston was to give testimony on the issue. "If the cultivation of these plants is a crime," said the seventy-five year old Boston, "then God is a criminal and Mr Hunter is only his accomplice."
Justice Drake refused to allow testimony concerning the supremacy of God, "There's nobody who could give evidence on whether or not God is supreme in Canada. Who is qualified to do that?" asked Drake.
    Logically, Drake's decision to disregard the supremacy of God amounts to a denial of God's existence, since God is defined within the judeo-christian tradition as a "supreme being".
    Historically, Drake's implicit attempt to deny God's existence conforms to a pattern of authoritarian abuse which has always been oppressive towards minority religious organizations. Since the first scribblings of recorded history we find figures like the ancient Pharaoh of Egypt, denying the existence of God as a means of refusing a people their freedom. "Who is the Lord?" asked the Pharaoh, "I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go."(Exodus 5:2)
    "I tried to get the judge to throw the Bible out of the courtroom," Hunter later recalled, "because it obviously doesn't mean anything anymore. The judge didn't go for it."

Court Decides Narcotic Control Act is Superior to Charter of Rights

    Chris Bennet recalls how Justice Drake dealt with the issue of freedom of religion.
    "The judge said that a professional theologian, like Henry Boston, wasn't able to discuss the supremacy of God over the Narcotics Act. Yet he [Justice Drake] is able, as a judge, to rule on what justifies a religion.
"He's saying that any religion that breaks a law is not a religion. Well, what happened with the peyote church? What happened with the Catholics giving wine communion to minors?"
    Chris Bennet is referring to other cases in which the laws of the land have been suspended to allow for the full exercise of freedom of religion. Instances in which freedom of religion has been recognized as supreme in Canada include the decision to allow Sikhs to carry concealed weapons, and to wear turbans during instances when the law would generally have it otherwise.

Reverend Hunter on Sabbatical

    When the Pharaoh refused to give Israel freedom, Moses called down plagues of frogs and filled the Nile with blood. Ian Hunter would rather not be compared to Moses - or any other religious icon. "I don't want a crowd following me, I don't want to be crucified and I don't want to pretend I know more than I do. I just want to do the right and moral thing and sleep at night."
    From his retreat in the small islands of the Strait of Georgia, Ian Hunter gathers his thoughts after the court battle. In a telephone call he shared his concerns, which reveal an unbeatable positive outlook.
    "I went in there expecting to lose this round and go to appeals. In terms of how the game goes, that's par for the course and that's good. I was kind of disappointed initially because the judge ruled that most of my argument was hugely irrelevant. I know it wasn't.
    "I'm pretty enthused right now. If I had won this round, then it would have remained as a local thing, it wouldn't have gone anywhere. Because they ruled against me, it can go to the higher court of appeal, and then to the higher court after that. So this allows the process to continue."
    If the courts continue to ignore Hunter's plea, the plague which will infect Canada will not be falling frogs or a river of blood. The plague will be a growing sore on the hearts and minds of every Canadian citizen, a lasting disrespect for a justice system which guarantees rights and freedoms, yet refuses to acknowledge them.

For More Info
Contact Ian Hunter at Sacred Herb Ñ The Hemp Store: #106-561 Johnson St, Victoria, BC, V8W 1M2;
tel (250) 384-0659; email ifhunter@islandnet.com; www.sacredherb.com