The issues encompass sacred texts about pain and suffering, obedience to religious and governmental laws, and social justice questions about who must pay a criminal price and who may turn a profit.
Staying quiet, Michaels contends, isn’t an option: “When we meet our maker, we are responsible not only for things we have done, but also the things we haven’t done.”
About 65 percent of Americans believe smoking marijuana is “morally acceptable,” while 31 percent say it isn’t, according to a 2018 Gallup survey.
A 2016 study by the conservative Christian polling organization Barna Group found that among practicing Christians generally, 34 percent favored legalization; among evangelicals in particular, the number dipped to 16 percent.
Marijuana use has been intrinsic to some faiths’ practices for centuries, said Chris Bennett, author of “Green Gold the Tree of Life: Marijuana in Magic and Religion.”
Taoist texts dating to the fourth century mention cannabis. Bhang, an edible preparation of the plant, is consumed during the Hindu festival of Holi. Rastafarians view its use as a sacrament bringing them closer to God.
Reaching back five millennia in the Jewish tradition, Rabbi Eli Freedman of Congregation Rodeph Shalom cited Genesis 1:29: “God said he created all seed-bearing plants and God said, ‘It was good.’”