CMV: It pains me to admit it, but I don't think Scalia was wrong in Smith v Oregon (AKA the cause of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act)

which would be oppressive if applied to certain religious people.

Why? What about religion makes it oppression if they have to follow the same laws as everyone else?

If one supports the continued ban on peyote, one might still aknowledge that it is much safer when used as part of a Native American tribal ritual than it is for "all users."

What specifically about Native American tribal rituals makes it safer? If it being safer is all that's needed, why can't I just follow those same safety procedures (whatever they are) and have it be legal when I do that?

I'm asking, really only to point out that you're mistaken in the assumption that it's legal for ceremonial rituals because it's safe.

The RFRA is strictly about "sincerely held religious belief." It can be the most unsafe peyote ritual ever created and still be legal if they sincerely believe it's religious. Why does having spirituality affect whether I should get to use it or not? Is that not religious discrimination? You, everyone who's religious, you get to use peyote if you want to. And you guys, who aren't religious, you can't. You can't do the things the religious people do because of the sole fact that you are not religious.

That sure sounds like religious discrimination.

Let's put it in a different context, because peyote is a bit controversial on whether using it is a benefit anyway. Let's say there's a religion that says it's blasphemous to pay taxes. Under the rfra, well, they can say "You can make us pay taxes because it's against our religion." Yeah okay, that's a sincerely held religious belief... you get a pass on that law. But you, everyone who's not religious, you all still have to pay taxes.

/r/changemyview Thread Parent