One Christian’s thoughts on the current psychedelic movement.

As of August 2022 I had only shared my podcast with a few of my personal acquaintances. I had separate social media accounts for my personal life & the podcast (and intend to keep it that way as much as possible). However, a few days ago I made the decision to post about it on my personal social media account. Here is what I popsted:

So in my mostly misspent youth, I had many experiences with psychedelics & plant medicine. That explains a lot, huh 😉. Anyway that is a story for another day….
As a very young adult I sought to establish a traditional, western, Christian, family life, so I chose to shelve my interest & practice in psychedelics. I leaned hard into my Christian faith, married, worked hard, & started a family. That was over 20 years ago.
Today I would like to discuss the ever-growing level of mainstream interest in the topic of psychedelics, as evidenced by the recent release of the much anticipated documentary based on Michael Pollen’s book “How to Change Your Mind”.
Most of you have never taken any interest in using psychedelics because of your conservative upbringing, your position on the biblical admonishment to sobriety, or their current illegal status. But these substances appear to be on the fast track to decriminalization/legalization, medically &/or recreationally.
Just like alcohol, coffee, anti-depressants, melatonin, etc.. you may never personally use psychedelics, but your friend, or neighbor, or child, or parent, or….. pastor 😱 will. What are you going to think or say about that? What counsel will you be able to give?
We will not be able to intelligently answer those questions unless we spend time investigating the topic, informed by reason & faith.
Possession & use of psychedelics was criminalized about 50 years ago in the United States. There were many reasons for this, some somewhat understandable, some positively sinister. We’re not going to attempt to sort through all of that today. I will suffice it to say that if the purpose of the War on Drugs was to educate people & prevent/reduce drug abuse, it has been an unprecedented failure. If on the other hand the purpose was to conveniently marginalize &/or imprison people that the government finds problematic, or to stuff the pockets of investors in private prisons, it has been a marvelous success…
Anyhow, because of my early experiences with psychedelics my attention was piqued over the last five years or so as I began to notice a steady increase in the mention of these substances in media & scientific literature. As a Christian my first thought was to search for commentary on this phenomenon from a Christian perspective.
Well, I didn’t really find any… So I continued to stay up to date on the topic through secular & counter-cultural media sources. Yet, all of these sources are, at best dismissive of, and more often blatantly opposed to a Christian perspective.
As an avid listener of podcasts & audiobooks, one day it occurred to me “someone with a traditional Christian viewpoint should start a podcast to explore this topic with fellow Christians”. But who’s gonna do that? Obviously the secular folks don’t want to hear from us, and most Christians are too apprehensive to engage the topic with an open mind, for fear of being ostracized by their own communities.
I guess I’ll have to do it. So I did.
(Links to that in the comments)
Concerning the current surge of interest in psychedelics in society today, there are many angles to consider and I certainly don’t have the capacity to address all of that in this post, but I will address a few items:
It is becoming obvious that psychedelics have significant positive potential to help people who suffer from a broad range of debilitating emotional, mental, & physical conditions. Psychedelic treatment is proving to be a game-changer for people who suffer with pain, physical & psychological trauma, PTSD, CTE, TBI, addiction, depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, etc…. Psychedelics appear to be significantly more effective than many traditional treatments. If this is true, we as Christians must recognize that these substances could be helpful in healing suffering people and that should definitely be something that interests us. We certainly wouldn’t deny someone suffering with an infection the right to use antibiotics to heal it. Why would we deny that right to someone suffering from another life threatening condition. (And yes, the misuse/overuse/abuse of antibiotics has had many negative effects on humanity & the animal kingdom, and therefore by extension, the whole planet).
Due to this news of positive therapeutic potential, there is a tendency among those in the psychedelic movement to overlook or diminish many of the potential negative effects of the abuse of these substances. Many of the dangers of psychedelics have been exaggerated by politicians & would be do-gooders over the years, and I think we are now witnessing an equal/opposite reaction by the other side, to only extol the marvelous benefits of psychedelics. I think this “How to Change Your Mind” book & documentary errs a bit in that direction, but this is to be expected in their attempt to battle 50 years of the prevailing narrative. I have even seen interviews with Michael Pollen where he admits a certain “Irrational exuberance” of many in the current movement. As Christians we should be sensible and weigh the information with an understanding of the messenger’s perspective &/or agenda.
Just like many other movements & institutions in society, there is an abundance of kind, intelligent, & well intentioned people in the psychedelic movement. However, unfortunately there is also plenty of culty, deceptive, self-aggrandizing, bro-shamans, gurus, & sketchy fly by night facilitators. Be extremely cautious of information & practices of anyone who presents themselves as an authority concerning these substances, especially if you are seeking to obtain psychedelics. There are many people out there who would be more than happy to take advantage of you, financially &/or physically. Even in scientific clinical trials some participants have suffered abuse by researchers. And often just as in other movements & institutions, victims are often ignored, blamed, & silenced.
I think that’s enough for now. I leave you with these final words:
If you remain willfully blind to the potential positives of the therapeutic use of psychedelics, you are no less hypocritical than the willfully blind proponents who refuse to acknowledge the potential hazards of psychedelic misuse.
I am admittedly optimistic about the positive therapeutic potential of psychedelics, but I am also deeply skeptical of many of the active proponents of psychedelics, past, present, & future. Many of them are more interested in serving their self-aggrandizing, neo-spiritual agenda than serving their fellow man.
Keep an open, but faithfully discerning mind if you decide to investigate this topic. Recognize that the space has been almost completely occupied by anti-religious, counter-cultural, neo-spiritual, woo woo hippies for the last 50 years. People of faith are just beginning to enter the conversation. That is what I hope to facilitate with the podcast. If you care to listen, I’ll drop a link in the comments to a recent episode where I interviewed the director of an organization that helps suffering veterans find psychedelic therapy, when nothing else has helped.
Blessings,
Clint