PEYOTE RULING A VICTORY FOR THE FIRST AMENDMENT

The Utah Supreme Court's decision on peyote use in Native American
rituals was not only a victory for James Warren "Flaming Eagle" Mooney
and his wife, Linda. It was a reaffirmation of the First Amendment's
separation of church and state.

The Mooneys, who lead the Oklevueha Earthwalks Native American Church,
were charged in 2000 with illegally distributing peyote to
non-Indians. Utah County Sheriff's deputies seized 17,500 peyote
buttons from the church, along with computers and church records.

Federal and state law had allowed peyote, a hallucinogenic drug, to be
used only in Indian religious rites. But Utah County attorney Kay
Bryson claimed Mooney and his wife violated the law when they allowed
non-Indians to participate in ceremonies involving peyote.

Mooney and his attorney, Kathryn Collard, argued that they had the
religious right to extend church membership and participation in
peyote ceremonies to anyone regardless of race.

The state's high court made the correct analysis. If the court had
ruled against Mooney, it would have put government in the position of
dictating doctrine to churches. The First Amendment clearly prohibits
the government from interfering with faith. That means the government
cannot meddle in matters of church doctrine or membership. As long as
a church is not violating the law or putting innocent people in
danger, the government has no business meddling in dogma.

In this case, Bryson was seeking to interfere with a church's policy
on membership. Under the First Amendment, it is up to a church and its
leaders to decide to whom to extend the hand of fellowship and permit
to partake of its sacraments.

Nobody would want the courts or the government to determine who can
receive Holy Communion in the Catholic church or participate in LDS
temple ceremonies. Nor should the government dictate to the Native
American Church who can be a member, or who can partake of peyote in
religious ceremonies.

It's unlikely that Mooney's church, or any Native American church,
will see a massive influx of non-Indian congregants lured by promise
of peyote. Religious leaders do not generally allow people to
participate in sacred ceremonies for trivial reasons. Indians see
peyote as sacred medicine that provides spiritual enlightenment and
direction, not as a recreational drug to be taken casually. Moreover,
the peyote participant reportedly experiences grave illness before his
enlightenment -- something likely to keep many would-be recreationists
away.

The state's highest court has reaffirmed the separation of church and
state, and we hope Bryson will follow suit and return the seized items
to the Mooneys so they may be able to resume their religious
ceremonies under the full protection of the First Amendment.