Christian Democrats wrote:Your nation may either allow or disallow developing religions to use drugs in their rites. The determination of what constitutes a history should be interpreted by competent authorities in each nation; however, if such authorities abuse their powers to prevent legitimate new religions from being practiced, then such a religion's adherents can petition the Court of Religious Practice and will be allowed to use drugs in their rituals if they can prove that such drugs are integral to the practice of their religion and have been used from the religion's beginnings (
i.e., drugs are historically used by the group). If a new religious group can prove that its use of drugs is spiritual and not recreational, then the Court of Religious Practice will allow them to use such drugs. This also is a reason for the Committee of Religious Practice, which is:
Christian Democrats wrote:tasked with compiling a database which shall contain a list of organized religious groups that have histories of using intoxicants in religious practices and the specific intoxicants used by such religious groups. This database also should contain descriptions of the manners in which such intoxicants are used by specific religious groups.
"Oh, hi," a tall blond-haired man spoke softly on the microphone. "I presume you haven't seen us in a while. My wife's out breastfeeding our babies... I'm Dr. Knut Spicolli, husband of the Royal Nord-Brutlandese Ambassador to the World Assembly. She forced, er, commanded, er, told me to represent our country here and bring these plants."
Dr. Spicolli brought out a young potted sapling of a tree. "This, is the
rapetree. Scientific name
Psychopetalum stuprorum, native to the islands of Mordogudoro and the neighboring grant of Scilia in the Norden mainland. Its flowers and leaves are aphrodisiac in small doses. In larger doses, it can produce florid delusions of increased sexual prowess, a heightened feeling of sexual desirability, and sustained erections. Hence its name. The
rapetree, or
stupràrbo as we call it in
Nord-Brutlandese."
"Reportedly, there is a secret religious cult in the islands of Mordogudoro who practices secret rituals using the rapetree. It involves consuming excessive amounts of rapetree flower tea and going on a rampage deflowering young virgins. Incidents has been recorded throughout the history of the islands. Most recently, in autumn 2010, three men were arrested in the hamlet of Scorgagliana after gang-raping a fourteen-year-old girl while high on rapetree tea. Which, of course, caused panic in the island."
"In 2007, the organization
Chierco Nassia Mordogudorense, a 'religious' neopagan group purportedly going back to before the Nordic colonization of Brutland and Norden, applied for recognition from the
Biure per Alfari Chierca (Bureau for Church Affairs) of the Royal Nord-Brutlandese Ministry of the Interior. Interior Minister Paul di Borgòcchiese promptly denied them recognition under the
Lagge per Religioni Eclenta e Cultu (Law for Extraordinary Religions and Cults) of 1940; they have, in their doctrine, regular use of rapetree as a sacrament.The Ministry of the Interior justified their decision as:
...the rapetree has been proven to be sufficiently dangerous to be allowed even for ritualistic purposes and that such recognition de facto legalizes the use of a dangerous drug by some members of the society. Until the Chierco Nassia Mordogudorense prohibits the use of the rapetree, the United Kingdom of Brutland and Norden will deny this church registration and consequently, the enjoyment of the rights of churches as provided in Nord-Brutlandese law.
"Under this resolution, the
Chierco Nassia Mordogudorense could go to this "Court of Religious Practice" and could probably get themselves legalized, or their consumption of the rapetree legalized." Dr. Spicolli paused, and then thundered, "
Which, by the way, is another intrusion by the World Assembly into the sovereignty of nations. Moreover, despite the separation of the church and the state in Brutland and Norden, church and state cannot ignore each other and cannot hold themselves supreme over another. This resolution attempts to impose the privileges of churches and its members to engage in potentially dangerous behavior to the detriment of other members of society, or to the practitioners themselves."
"Secondly, there is this very attractive plant," Dr. Spicolli said, bringing out a small potted shrub. "The
joyflower. Scientific name
Argyreia felix, it grows in the islands of the Union Territories. Again true to its name, ingesting the flowers produces psychedelic and relaxant effects. It was adopted by Norse neopagans of the island of Piscierettu in rituals. Now, whether how long would these neopagans have to use joyflowers so that they can qualify as having "histories of using intoxicants" is still a question. That is not our concern, but that different jurisdictions within our country have different laws regarding the use of the joyflower. The province of Brutland, known for its tough anti-drug policies, bans the use of the joyflower. Piscierettu, on the other hand, with a quarter of its population being neopagans, allows unrestricted use of the joyflower. It depends on the availability of the plant, capability of the emergency services to recognize and treat intoxications, and public opinion with regards to use of the plant. Uniformly allowing it across Brutland and Norden - and heck, throughout the multiverse - is plain craziness."
"And last, we have the
daydreamer." Dr. Spicolli brought out a large potted plant with attractive showy red-violet flowers. "Scientific name
Calycanthus phantasoneirus, it is known to induce unreal fantasies and bizarre dreams in people who smoke the flowers. In the 1960s, medical literature reported dozens of cases in Norden pertaining to deaths caused by smoking the daydreamer. Complications arising from smoking daydreamers also cost the Norden health system dearly: complications included temporal leukomalacia, epilepsy, hippocampal necrosis, strokes, and other neurologic sequelae that required long term care and hefty hospital bills. In an effort to curb the epidemic, the Nordener legislature banned the use and possession of the daydreamer. The daydreamer was rooted out and disposed of in the entire province of Norden except in the island of San Trinitario and parts of the grant of Seltina, where it grows natively. Still, locals are not allowed to use the daydreamer."
"Imagine if some religious sect managed to prove that they used the daydreamer in rituals. Is your nation capable of handling the long-term health effects of the plant's use and abuse? For us, we would rather prohibit some wacky religious sect to consume intoxicating and even fatal things rather than spend society's resources to treat the fools who were using dangerous substances "for their religion". Because for all we know, those psychedelic plants may be the ones inducing the belief in a god that commands them to consume some more. That, of course, in Brutland and Norden can be classified as addiction."
"The United Kingdom of Brutland and Norden stands STRONGLY AGAINST this resolution. We will vote against it, and campaign in our region against it, if it ever comes to a vote. Thank you."