The church, which says it has held "several hundred religious services" since it opened its doors in February 2019, embraces the use of entheogenic plants like cannabis and mushrooms. “Monkeys trying to explain god to each other.”
“Magic Mushrooms were the reason for the evolution of both abstract human communication and the concept of religion itself,” Zide Door says. On its website, Zide Door lays out what it calls “the foundation of our church,” which is part of the nondenominational, interfaith Church of Ambrosia.īelievers theorize that long ago, monkeys ate psilocybin mushrooms, triggering spiritual visions that compelled the primates to try to explain what they saw to other monkeys. Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker in a statement said her office “has not yet been served with this lawsuit, but will certainly review it once we are served.” Zide Door founder Dave Hodges did not respond to my questions about the case, and the church’s lawyer, Editte Lerman of Emerald Law, did not respond to requests for comment. The suit illustrates “the difficulty in determining what is a religion,” he continued, as well as foreshadowing problems with “how to regulate religions that want to use plants as part of their practice.” “Cases like this will continue to arise,” said Matt Zorn, a partner at Houston-based YetterColeman whose practice includes controlled substances litigation. Think Grateful Dead meets Harvard Law Review.Īs a growing number of localities including Oakland decriminalize magic mushrooms and other so-called entheogenic plants, lawyers tell me that conflicts over the parameters of use may become increasingly common. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Register
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