The church is burning printing presses

[Hagoth]

https://www.theutahbee.com/the-utah-bee ... ech-halted

[Red Ryder]

Utah Business magazine published an excellent article, written by Jennifer Alsever, on “Psychedelics and the State of Utah.” Utah Business was forced to take it down and remove it from the print edition. “Who censured it?” you ask. Answer: “The Twelve.” As in, the twelve apostles of the Organization. Seriously, by the men who—according to the Organization’s mythology—now occupy the positions held by Peter, James, John, and the other nine apostles of the New Testament. Modern Jesus apparently saith, “Blessed are the meek. But, first, get that psychedelic article out of Utah Business magazine!”

Apparently the Brethren can’t compete with Psychedelics.

[Hagoth]

Apparently the Brethren can’t compete with Psychedelics.

As anybody who has experienced both can tell you, The Brethren can't even get through the turnstiles at the ballpark when it comes to delivering the goods.

[2bizE]

I remember Steve Urquhart as a Utah legislator getting shut down by the church for a bill….probably the marijuana bill…
Anyway, I would be interested in learning how the church got the media to pull the story. Might be another Pulitzer Prize in the making.

[moksha]

I remember Steve Urquhart as a Utah legislator getting shut down by the church for a bill….probably the marijuana bill…
Anyway, I would be interested in learning how the church got the media to pull the story. Might be another Pulitzer Prize in the making.

Not any more. The Salt Lake Tribune has been co-opted by the Church. Maybe that is the publisher's penance for his brother suing the Church.

[Hagoth]

I remember Steve Urquhart as a Utah legislator getting shut down by the church for a bill….probably the marijuana bill…
Anyway, I would be interested in learning how the church got the media to pull the story. Might be another Pulitzer Prize in the making.

But in the end Steve triumphed. He went head-to-head with the church on medicinal marijuana and won. When they realized they would lose they tried to back it off to a version that they could profit from. The church owns stock in the synthetic THC company that they wanted the state to endorse as the only option. Steve beat them on that too. I suspect they are still smarting from it.

There are more and more active Mormons turning to psilocybin for mental health help that the church cannot provide. As a result, they also have spiritual experiences that the church cannot provide. It is a problem.

There is a wave of new publicity coming that the church will not be able to crush. Michael Pollen has joined forces with psychedelic researchers to create and fund a media push. The first component of that is a Rolling Stone article I was recently interviewed for, about Steve and The Divine Assembly. Thanks to the church's ham-handedness, the Utah Business article is also getting broader attention and is being shopped to national publications. They just can't help shooting themselves in the foot.

[Hagoth]

This would make an excellent place to burn books if you drain the water:

[Red Ryder]

The first component of that is a Rolling Stone article I was recently interviewed for, about Steve and The Divine Assembly.

Let us know when it comes out. I’d be interested in reading it.

[Hagoth]

I asked Steve if the Utah Business article was available anywhere, or if the angel had taken it back. He sent me this:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220408202 ... e-of-utah/

The author puts a lot of emphasis on Joseph Smith's possible use of psychedelics in the early church, so I'm sure The Brethren wouldn't like that. If Joseph really did (and I think there's a pretty good argument to be made) then The Divine Assembly might be the restoration of The Restoration. It also talks about how church growth is faltering while alternative spiritual interest is growing rapidly. Again, not in line with what The Brethren are saying.

[græy]

This would make an excellent place to burn books if you drain the water:

Pssh, a real prophet wouldn't even need the water drained. Elijah mastered that trick centuries ago.

[wtfluff]

The first component of that is a Rolling Stone article I was recently interviewed for, about Steve and The Divine Assembly.

I'm gonna go ahead and beat Hagoth to the punch here:

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/cu ... y-1375027/

[moksha]

I'm gonna go ahead and beat Hagoth to the punch here:

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/cu ... y-1375027/

I followed another link in your article and ran into this:

“In Mormondom, there is a social expectation--particularly among the females--to put on a mask, say ‘Yes’ to everything that comes at her and hide the misery and pain. I call it the ‘Mother of Zion’ syndrome. You are supposed to be perfect because Mrs. Smith across the street can do it and she has three more kids than you and her hair is always in place. I think the cultural issue is very real. There is the expectation that you should be happy, and if you’re not happy, you’re failing.”

It's not really related, but it did catch my interest.

[Hagoth]

The first component of that is a Rolling Stone article I was recently interviewed for, about Steve and The Divine Assembly.

I'm gonna go ahead and beat Hagoth to the punch here:

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/cu ... y-1375027/

Ha! I was interviewed for that article but she found more interesting people to talk about. She was kind enough to send me the link. I wonder how/if the church will react to this movement.

Saturday I spoke at The Divine Assembly's Solstice Revival. My topic was Psychedelics in Ancient Religion, but I also talked a lot about the many fascinating overlaps of psychedelics and Mormonism. I asked for a raise of hands of how many attendees were raised Mormon. I'd say about 85%. Of course, a lot of that is explained by the fact that we're in Utah, but still...

One of the workshops was a crafts thing where people made art from pages of the Book of Mormon. I just tore out the page that clobbered my testimony and made a paper airplane out of it. That page didn't fly for me then and it doesn't now.

[Hagoth]

I appreciate that Cassady talked to the District Attorney, Sim Gill.

Interesting that he identified religious use of psychedelics as "constitutional protected rights."

“I don’t think a district attorney … should ever use the power of their office in a way that is gratuitous, or even in an arbitrary way, that would violate the constitutional protected rights of its citizens,” he says. Gill is quick to point out that in a hypothetical case of physical or sexual abuse, religious protections are irrelevant. But for now, the same reason a man can take multiple wives in Utah is the same reason another can operate a psilocybin church in broad daylight.

[Hagoth]

Regardless of what you think of this stuff, it will be fascinating to watch how the Mormon church reacts with the growth of the movement. They are famous for screwing things up.

[Not Buying It]

Let me make sure I understand this - the Church pressured a publication they do not own to remove an article that was less then flattering about them?

That's outrageous. No organization, religious or otherwise, should have the kind of power that allows them to censor an article in a publication they don't own.

If that's how it fell out, it should be a much bigger story than it is.

[Hagoth]

Let me make sure I understand this - the Church pressured a publication they do not own to remove an article that was less then flattering about them?

That's outrageous. No organization, religious or otherwise, should have the kind of power that allows them to censor an article in a publication they don't own.

If that's how it fell out, it should be a much bigger story than it is.

Yup. Just another day in Utah.