We are a praying people. During our ceremonies, we sing, meditate, pray… we believe it is not up to the one group of believers [scientific materialists, religious dogmatics, authoritarian dictatorships, insular tribal interests, etc.] to criminalize the other group [devout religious/spiritual practitioners and a myriad of diverse individuals and their relationships with particular plants].
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We read the verdict over and over again, and for us, it is incomprehensible how the judges came to their conclusions; the reasoning is unsound! They argue with assumptions that are opinions, and constantly talk about ayahuasca as if it were DMT, and they do not mention Santo Daime at all. There is a verdict, and it is not about us, but they believe it to be about us, and therefore see our actions as punishable. It looks like reason, one of the most precious pearls of Western civilization, has been lost. Yes, it is heavy to find the most sacred thing in our lives criminalized; but, although we realize that the verdict is based on false deductions, and on assumptions fed by paranoia, the verdict is still incomprehensible in a world where we are supposed to live with the freedom of belief.

*The situation [in the United States] has degraded to such a point that the late federal Judge J.G. Burciaga, in ruling against the United States government in a criminal case involving drug law stated, “The tattered Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and the now frail Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination or deprivation of liberty without due process have fallen as casualties in this ‘war on drugs’ … today, the ‘war’ targets one of the most deeply held fundamental rights – the First Amendment right to freely exercise one’s religion. [774 F> Supp. 1333 (D.N.M. 1991)]. -Jonathan Ott in The Age of Entheogens & The Angels’ Dictionary

Original Article (Chacruna & ECfES):
Message from Santo Daime Dutch Churches in response to [one] verdict that makes Santo Daime illegal [outside the United States] & Progress
Artwork Fair Use: Jonathan Ott & ECfES.org Public Lending Library