religion

Religious Marijuana trial wraps up in Toronto

Submitted by Jacob Hunter on Sat, 08/07/2010 - 9:45am
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By IAN ROBERTSON, Toronto Sun
 
Officials would have difficulty determining the sincerity of anyone applying to legally smoke pot in a church dedicated to its use as a holy sacrament, any Ontario Superior Court judge said Friday in Toronto.
 
"The nature of a religious belief ... is dealing with innermost feelings," Justice Thea Herman told lawyer George Filipovic, who is defending one of two "minister-members" of a Toronto church dedicated to marujuana use.
 
Filipovic and lawyer Paul Lewin suggested Parliament impose numerous rules allowing licensed weed on religious grounds. Read more »

Marijuana church lawyer disputes Crown’s definition of a religion

Submitted by Jacob Hunter on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 10:32pm
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By. Charles Lewis
 
Conclusions about the authenticity of the Church of the Universe reached by the Crown’s expert witness would have been laughed at by fellow academics and would never have been written by a respectable scholar, a lawyer for the church told the Ontario Superior Court on Tuesday.
 
“No respectable scholar would make a conclusion without speaking to a single member of the group [being assessed],” defense lawyer George Filipovic said to Katherine Young, a professor of religion at McGill University, during cross-examination.
 
“Yet you determined the Church of the Universe is not a religion by only reading their web site. Academics would laugh at you.”
 
The church, with about 4,000 members in Canada, claims its Charter rights are being violated because it is illegal to use marijuana in their religious services. Read more »

Harper appoints Evangelical Pastor to "Study" Marijuana and Schizophrenia

Submitted by Jacob Hunter on Fri, 08/21/2009 - 12:38pm
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The new Canadian Mental Health Commission is "a wonderful opportunity" for Christians to be involved in dealing with one of the most pressing issues in our society, according to one of its members.

Chris Summerville is one of 11 non-government members of the new Commission's board of directors. Besides struggling with mental health issues himself, he is the interim CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, executive director of the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society, and a certified Psychosocial Rehabilitation Practitioner. He is also a committed Christian and an ordained pastor with the Associated Gospel Churches of Canada.

Summerville said he hopes to bring a holistic approach to the issue that addresses body, mind, soul and spirit.

According to the Associated Gospel Church website, history section: "The AGC traces its beginnings to the early 1890s when a group of independent evangelical churches became known as the Christian Workers' Church of Canada"

UPDATE: The Canadian Schizophrenia Society Board of Directors contain no apparent Medical Doctors or PhD's, and the first name of the list appears to be a police officer from Toronto.

Update 2: Pam Forsythe is a practising Psychiatrist Read more »

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