A man who runs a church from his home in Washington claims that growing marijuana is somehow a religious right and apparently smoking it a rite of his religion too, reports Associated Press.
Rev. Lee Phillips of Auburn, Washington told authorities, “This house is a church,” and added “People come to us for what we offer them.”
But it seems what the good reverend offers is an opportunity to get high on more than spirituality.
Police raided the Phillips home and found more than 200 marijuana plants under cultivation.
Though Mrs. Phillips has a doctor’s note, which supposedly allows her to use the controlled substance, it clearly doesn’t entitle the couple to grow and share a crop with others.
Phillips calls his church “The Center for Healing and Spiritual Renewal” and claims that “cannabis brings us closer to God.”
But this church’s “sacramental medicine” and apparent article of faith is illegal.
The street value of the plants seized was set at about $200,000 according to authorities. And police contend that the “church” was simply engaged in “selling dope.”
Some might think that anything done in name of religion should be a protected right and that a believer’s sacrament is his own business.
However, when a believer’s business is an illegal one, religious rights grant no special immunity.
Instead, whether it’s the illegal cultivation of a prohibited cash crop, sale of a controlled substance, medical neglect or child abuse, religious rights don’t include any behavior in the name of God.
Perhaps Rev. Phillips should have realized that sewing his seeds, would likely lead to a police raid rather than a “holy harvest.”
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