REL 1.09 Religion and Drugs

Virtually no religious tradition is indifferent towards psychoactive substances. Wine is a sacrament in Christianity, as is cannabis in Rastafarianism. In the colonial Americas, the Catholic Church spent centuries attempting to suppress the use of indigenous crops like coca, which it perceived as diabolical. Ancient societies often deified alcohol and other mind-altering substances; Ninkasi, for example, was the Mesopotamian goddess of beer. Psychoactives (i.e. drugs) therefore offer a fascinating comparative lens from which to examine religion.

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