When I express the dangers of legalizing psychedelic drugs, the most common response is, “They are better than alcohol.” What this means is unclear. There are some to alcohol abuse (criminal behavior, etc). But many of these same risks are present with using pot and other drugs.

I would argue the main reason the claim has the appearance of truth is because the damage done via psychedelics tends to be longer term (psychosis, paranoia, etc) rather than with alcohol it tends to be very immediate and visible (while someone is actually drunk).

But I am more than happy to acknowledge there are downsides to both. Alcohol abuse is not something I think is minor or insignificant. It has caused a lot of harm in society and should be taken seriously by all.

So this brings the question, why has Christianity historically prohibited any sort of psychedelic drugs while generally permitting the use of alcohol? Why does the Bible state that wine is a gift from God?

For example, "He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate-- bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart.” (Psalm 104:14-15)

And why did Jesus Christ choose to make his first public miracle turning water into wine? (John 2:3, 8-10) And why was he seen drinking so often that he was (wrongly) accused of being a drunkard? (Matthew 11:19)

It should be noted that the Bible clearly warns (over and over) about the abuse of alcohol (see 1 Cor 5:11). But those warnings never became a prohibition in the bible or in most of the history of the church.

On the other hand, the Bible strongly condemns the use of any sort of psychedelic drugs and the historic church has banned their use with an impressive zealousness.

For evidence of the biblical condemnation, check out the below thread. But it is there. The bible condemns "pharmakeia" throughout. https://x.com/IamLewisU/status...

What is up with this? Why does the Bible permit one drug (alcohol) that has real downsides and not permit another group of drugs? Why has the church been so diligent in banning any sort of shamanism? I think that the answer is that alcohol is a unique drug among intoxicants.

Unlike marijuana, mushrooms, or ayahuasca, alcohol tends to make people less spiritual not more. A man tends to become more carnal not less when intoxicated on alcohol. The sins of the drunk tend to be sins very much in this world.

Drunks fight. Drunks commit adultery. Drunks insult. Drunks abuse. But their brains remain very much in this world.

In contrast, almost all other drugs tend to make you spiritual. What do I mean by that? I mean our brains tend to experience profound spiritual feelings and thoughts. As Michael Pollan writes in How to Change Your Mind, “You go deep enough or far out enough in consciousness and

Pollan is referencing mushrooms specifically with this comment but it applies to some degree or another to all hallucinogenic drugs. Some sort of sacred experience is in fact why most people do these sorts of drugs.

When you watch proponents of these sorts of drugs, they often talk about how the drugs make them better people. They learn about themselves, love and even God. They become more introspective. They become more humble. Very few people say anything like this about alcohol.

But this sounds like a good thing. Why would the Bible object to drugs that give you a spiritual experience and teach you moral lessons about life? When we have spiritual experiences, many think that is always a good thing. But the Bible tells us that not all spirits are good.

So a spiritual experience that does not involve spirits from God, the spirits are bad. And what is a bad spirit? A demon. Now, if you are getting spiritual experiences using a method that God strongly condemns what sort of spirits do you think you are interacting with?

Some will object saying, the spirits they experience feel good, nice, wise, thoughtful, and enlightening. Doesn’t this prove that they are not evil spirits but good ones? No. The whole point of temptation is that it always seems good, nice, wise, thoughtful, and enlightening.

Think of the serpent in the garden. He thoughtfully challenged Eve. He used logic. He even opened her mind to try new experiences. Think about the Devil tempting Christ. He quoted scripture. He used logic. He offered to help. He provided new ways to get the things people wanted.

Real demons rarely are scary. In fact, angels tend to be scarier than demons in the bible. When people from the bible encounter angels they tend to fall down in fear.

And so now we can see why (moderate) alcohol is permitted within Christianity but psychedelic drugs are not. Christianity views the dangers of psychedelics (pharmakeia) as more dangerous than the risks of this world.

When drunks do evil stuff, their evil tends to be stupid and brutish. It lacks planning and purpose. And while it certainly can bring destruction, it is not the intentional destruction brought by intelligent and malevolent beinig working on those who take hallucinogenic drugs.

To read more about this subject, check out The Return of the Dragon my best selling book that discusses in depth. https://www.amazon.com/Return-...

@IamLewisU Why does history keep saying the Catholicism is Christianity when it's not? How about ask THAT question.

@IamLewisU Since when does Christianity not allow “marijuana”. Magic is fake or Satanic so that I get.

@IamLewisU It seems a drastic portion of the teetotaler movement stems from people who have been harmed by alcoholics, or are alcoholics in recovery themselves. I wish them well and pray for their healing, but if Jesus saw fit to give MORE wine to the (already drunk) wedding party…

@IamLewisU You are overthinking it. Drinking beer and wine were accepted because drinking water would kill you. They even had "small beer" and watered wine for children. Intoxication, of any type, was the sin, not the consumable.

@IamLewisU To have a good comparison, back then, the wine wasn't potent like we have today. It was very close to our grape juice. We now have distill techniques to take drinks far past what can naturally occur. And even then, God said it was not good to get drunk. Essentially, anything

@IamLewisU In bavaria, there was "Dünnbier" (thin beer) which has low alcohol, but because the used water was heated in brewing process, it was healthier than available water and use as daily hydration.

@IamLewisU Yeah I agree with this very much actually. The one (not only) bad thing about alcohol, especially in today's society, is that it's a serious gateway drug.

@IamLewisU Because alcohol is not sinful to take unless you become drunk. Weed and psychedelics are sinful when taken for the same reason it’s sinful to be drunk.

@IamLewisU Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand. A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”

@IamLewisU Stone and marble cuts you off from your 🙋🏻‍♂️source… Marble, gold, stone, diamonds etc connects them to theirs… Call us Neanderthals all you want… They’re just mad they cant have fun in mud and water 🤣 Not much real beauty left … they’re building temples at the base of it

@IamLewisU Maybe I’m alone but alcohol makes me sleepy but when I smoke weed I wanna go outside and get some work done 🤷‍♀️

@IamLewisU Christianity is more related to psychedelics than alcohol. .. few

@IamLewisU Cuz weed is for gays.