church of the universe
Marijuana religion case lawyers roll out final arguments
By IAN ROBERTSON, Toronto SunOfficials would have difficulty weeding out posers from believers applying to smoke pot as a holy sacrament, an Ontario Superior Court judge said Friday.
“The nature of a religious belief ... is dealing with innermost feelings,” Justice Thea Herman told George Filipovic, a lawyer defending one of two “minister-members” of a marijuana-dedicated Toronto church.
He and co-counsel Paul Lewin suggested Parliament let applicants seek cannabis licences on religious grounds.
Hard to determine sincerity of 'religious' pot use: Judge
By IAN ROBERTSON, Toronto SunOfficials 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.
Crown argues against "religious" use of pot
By IAN ROBERTSON, Toronto SunThousands of pot users will flock to the Toronto branch of The Church of the Universe to join if a court recognizes its unlimited marijuana use as religious freedom, a federal prosecutor warned Thursday.
Lawyer Nicholas Devlin of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada also told Justice Thea Herman if she grants charter rights to two minister-members of the G-13 Mission of God “the very next day anyone could light up a marijuana cigarette on the courthouse steps and say it’s for religious use.”
Devlin also warned that accepting their unbridled pot use arguments could prompt others to found similar so-called churches.
Church seeks exemption to pot laws
By DON PEAT, Toronto SunA constitutional challenge by two members of the "Church of the Universe" busted on drug charges was back in court Tuesday.
Church of the Universe lawyer Paul Lewin kicked off four days of closing submissions Tuesday by arguing the defence has proven the belief of the church members is sincere and based on a nexus with religion.
"They really do find God through cannabis," he said. "Canada has a long history of religious tolerance.
"It's like hockey, we are good at it. We're world leaders."
Marijuana church lawyer disputes Crown’s definition of a religion
By: Charles Lewis , Published National PostConclusions 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.”
No special treatment
National Post EditorialAs Canadian society becomes ever more pluralistic, minority religious practices increasingly come into conflict with laws designed for universal application. The controversy this year over the wearing of the niqab in Quebec highlighted the clash between religious freedom and our society's baseline expectation of equality in the treatment of men and women. Similarly, in British Columbia, the provincial government recently asked its courts to rule on the constitutionality of polygamy laws, in response to a religious sect that practices multiple marriage.
And now in Ontario, two incidents -- one outside the courtroom, one in it -- are pitting religious freedom against the criminal law, reviving an old controversy and raising a new one.
Marijuana church just a joke, Crown argues
Shannon Kari, National PostThe tenets of a Toronto organization seeking a religious exemption to marijuana prohibitions was described by a federal government prosecutor on Thursday as a "fictitious artifice" and a ruse by cannabis enthusiasts.
"This is an inside joke among people who like to smoke marijuana," suggested Crown attorney Nicholas Devlin during cross-examination of a senior member of the Church of the Universe.
"I have heard that," said Brother Peter Styrsky, who maintained that this was an unfair characterization of the Toronto chapter of the church, known as the G13 Mission.
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