In the Name of the High and Holy Cannabis

In Indianapolis a self-anointed priest founded a "cannabis church," and a few days ago he celebrated his first “service.” Yet instead of hashish he smoked only a cigar.

There are churches in the U.S. that have little to do with the traditional rituals of the house of God. One among them was celebrating its inauguration this week in Indianapolis. [Congregants] call [the space] the First Church of Cannabis, and they pray less to God and Jesus than to the “holy powers" of marijuana.

At first that may sound like blasphemy or a bad joke, but the state has already officially acknowledged it as a benefit to the public, and like with the Protestant and Catholic churches, it has relieved them from its large tax burden. In addition, their members can deduct their donations [to the church] at the tax office.

The Church Already Has 100 'Believers'

“This is an honest-to-God religion,” says Bill Levin, the self-appointed priest of the new congregation in the Eastside metropolis of 850,000 inhabitants, reported The New York Times. “Other religions have guilt and sins. We’re going to have a really big love-in ... We will celebrate life’s great adventures.”

Levin, a skilled carpenter by his own account, founded America’s newest parish in March, [composed of] some 350,000 people in the United States. He already counts more than 1,000 members as part of his First Church of Cannabis, and it’s a rising trend. On Wednesday, Levin held his first service in one such church, financed through donations for “church building.” More than 100 believers gathered there. There was little prayer and hardly a sermon, but [there were] colorful balloons, and above all much dancing and music. There the churchgoers sang, supported by a band, hymns from the friends of marijuana, [a group named] “Mary Jane."

In Indiana the Possession of Marijuana Is Illegal

About a dozen policemen in the church didn’t really want the good mood to spread. They were definitely not coming to hear the preacher with long white hair. The authorities monitored whether the friends of cannabis would pass around a joint at the end of the ceremony. The possession of marijuana remains illegal in the state of Indiana. But the feared arrests didn’t occur during the church’s opening celebration. Levin, who philosophized before a projected pot plant on the wall limited it to symbolic art, and at the end of the ceremony he lit a cigarette. “We must fight for our right to pot before the court and not from in prison.”* He dismissed his "flock" with the words, “Light up, folks.” And there were truly no cigarettes.

Bill Levin, who named himself after the bigwig “Grand Poobah” in the comic opera “The Mikado,” supports his cannabis church through a new law, which would come into effect this week in Republican controlled Indiana. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act should thereby re-establish the allegedly endangered freedom of religion, and prevent the state from interfering with constitutional rights.

“We Want to See What the Limits Are”*

The new ruling in April made for statewide protests. U.S. President Barack Obama entered the discussion. What sparked the anger of the critics was the fact that the initiative was under the pretext of religious convictions used when discriminating against homosexuals — a throwback to bygone days.

The weeklong shit storm in branding Indiana as medieval, which spread quickly over America via social networks, was successful. After also pitting the economy against the initiative, Gov. Mike Pence saw the demand to revise the law once more and the controversial discriminatory sections then disappeared.

Bill Levin, who during the heated debate about the new law publicly called the politicians “clowns” and said the government "polluted and embarrassed” [his state], will now make use of the protection of religious freedom. Through his church of cannabis, he wants to get pot legalized. “We want to see what the limits are here,”* said the 59-year-old.

“I Don’t Believe it Is a Religion”*

Jurists have doubts about whether smoking a joint can really be protected by religious freedom. The local authorities in Indianapolis have warned the self-proclaimed pastor against the illegal use of cannabis. A single churchgoer could be punished by law just for the presence [of it]. After all, these people are "visiting a common nuisance,” said Indianapolis Lt. Richard Riddle.

“I don’t believe that this is a religion,” said Bill Jenkins, a preacher in the neighboring protestant church community, as reported by Time. “It is a drug house. Religious freedom does not give you the right to break the law.”* They believe a little in demonstrating, for which they have gathered during the church’s opening. “What comes next,” says Shari Logan, “the church of heroin? These people are mocking Christianity and God.”*

The Gift of “a Superior Superpower”*

Bill Levin does not let himself be put off by critics. “Cannabis is the healthiest plant in the world and a gift from a superior superpower. Men and women should use it to better humanity."*

Until Levin gets the right to offer a joint instead of wine in the church as Holy Communion, this could last a while. Until then, he will draw on his own rules as a preacher of the “divine dozen.” In addition to his other commandments, it includes “Begin the day with laughter,” “Do no harm,” or “Do not poison your body with bad food or soda,” as well as the following demand: “Don’t be a troll on the Internet.“

*Editor's note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.