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Another step on the path of recognition in the US
Jonathan Goldman comments on the small legal victory obtained by UDV, when a federal appeals court ruled its use of the sacrament was likely to be protected under religious-freedom laws.

See also:

Alliance among the native sacraments

Letter from Juan Uyunkar to the Santo Daime people

 

These are the headlines:

10th Circuit: Church likely to prevail
in dispute over hallucinogenic tea

(c) Associated Press 09.05.03

"The panel majority agreed with the U.S. District Court in New Mexico that the Brazil-based O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal church had "demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success" of winning an exemption for sacramental use of the tea, which contains a drug barred by the Controlled Substances Act."

Here goes Jonathan Goldman commentary:

Dear Friends,

Forgive me for writing in English. My Portuguese needs practice but my brain needs ease at the moment. The decision of the court does not free the Vegetal to practice in any permanent sense. That day is still many steps away. The court agreed with a lower court that during the time that a determination is made through the process of negotiation, which the judge already ordered and the Government refused, or by a final decision by a judge in what is called a full hearing (another trial), that the UDV must be allowed to practice. ( That decision can also be appealed) It is called a Temporary Restrianing Order and it commands the government to temporarily not arrest the UDV for practicing or importing Hoasca.

Someday that will actually happen and it will, be another huge step. That day may be soon, but there are decisions to be made and many behind the fence conversations that will determine when that is. It is not likely that it will be right away.

This decision is a huge step, but not nearly the final one. The government has a number of options as to how it will respond. It could agree to negotiate with the UDV. That is both the just approach and unlikely.

The government can also file an appeal with the Supreme Court, which is likely. In that case the Supreme Court will decide the same case again at some point. The final day of freedom is still some time (months, years?) away. The Supreme Court can order the UDV to wait to practice until it decides the case. That is most likely to happen, but we are praying for more miracles.

No matter what happens with the UDV, the Daime will have to make its own case in some place(s). Either in court or in negotiation with the Department of Justice or both. We will not be able to sail in the wake of the UDV, but for sure they have made the river a little wider. We are in conversations here as to how we will sail in this next period with our eye on the prize of freedom. Please pray for union and open hearts and minds for us us to listen accurately to Mestre Irineu and Padrinho Sebastiao and for courage to do what they ask with pe no chao and no fear, only faith leading us.

It is a beautiful moment in our process of liberation. With the Daime legal in Spain and now this news in the US, the light is a little firmer. There has never been a judgement against our tea anywhere, and the protection and guidance of the Masters of the Astral continues to be impeccable.

Do you know Padrinho Alfredo's hymn, number 4 in Nova Era?

It says,

Sou filho do meu Pai
E meu Pai e quem me da
Para Deus tudo esta feito
Nao precisa se avexar

Vamos seguir com calma
Que com calma Deus esta
No ceu e nos astros
Na floresta, vento, e mar

No homen na mulher
E em toda criacao
Deixo tudo acontecer
No poder de Sao Joao

Deste lado e do outro
A verdade e uma so
O meu Mestre esta seguro
Junto com a forca maior

Esta e uma clereza
Que me veio do Astral
Anda diretinho
Na Doutrina do meu Pai

O mais eu aprendo para deixar tudo acontecer no poder de Sao Joao, Juramidam, Jesus, Maria, Jose e Sao Miguel, e mais calma eu ganho. É porque eles nunca me deixam sozinho.

Um grande abraco.
Em paz, amor, justica, respeito e fraternidade.

Jonathan Goldman


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