Hunger Strike for Religious and Spiritual Freedom - 2012
Bourke Street Mall - November 14 to December 21 2012
Melbourne's Bourke Street Mall
Image courtesy of RMIT University.
The use of Transcendent Compounds is an ancient and valid form of religious and spiritual practice. As Transcendent Compounds are non-addictive, non-toxic and psychologically safe in an appropriate dose, set and setting, there can be no legitimate reason for prohibiting their use within religious and spiritual frameworks.
Religious freedoms are protected within the State of Victoria by the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act (2006). I have been directly lobbying the Victorian Government for around 18 months in order to ensure that these protections are formally extended to persons who use Transcendent Compounds as a part of their religious practice.
Initially, the Victorian Government stated that the prohibition was required in order to protect "Community Health and Safety", but since being presented with peer reviewed literature that effectively debunks that claim, they have refused to even discuss the issue.
Because of the intransigence of the Victorian Government, on November 14 2012, I will be commencing a hunger strike in Melbourne's Bourke Street Mall, in order to pressure the Victorian Government to conform with their obligations under Sections 7 and 14 of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act (2006).
My demands are simple: "That the Victorian Government provide regulated access to Transcendent Compounds as per their obligations under sections 7 and 14 of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act (2006)".
This action is intended to pressure the Government into complying with the law and to provide an opportunity to educate the wider public about the reality of Transcendent Compounds and the fact that their use is a safe and appropriate form of religious, spiritual and mystical expression.
I am not about to give up and submit to religious persecution. For better, or worse, I have always been one to fight against injustice and I will not allow myself to be ploughed under. If the government wishes to stop my use of these compounds, or my promotion of my religious beliefs, it has effectively one option and that is to jail me for life. Of course, whether it would want to invest political energy into persecuting a harmless and fringe religious philosophy is debatable. Inevitably doing so would turn me into a martyr and I would suggest that expanding the public’s awareness of my beliefs and practice would run counter to any aim to silence me.
If this action is to succeed, it will only do so through the support of those tens of thousands of Australians who make up the wider Entheogenic Community. Without that support, I'll just be some weirdo in badly fitting clothes. I encourage everyone to assist in whatever way that they can in order to ensure that this effort doesn't go to waste and in order to ensure that the broader community realises that there is substantial support for this cause.
Further Information can be found by following these links:
I would like everyone with an intrest in the success of this campaign to get in touch with Premier Ted Baillieu, as he is the one who has decided that my religious freedoms and those of thousands of other Victorians are not worth protecting.
When you write to the Premier, there is no reason to say that you use these compounds, although I would hope that you would have the courage to mention this if it were the case. We have spent enough time lying about who we are.
If you want to know what to say, just read through some of my writings and feel free to cut and paste as much as you like. The important thing is that Ted begins to understand the impact he is having on people, not that each letter is a work of literary art.
The Premier of Victoria, Mr Ted Baillieu, can be contacted thusly:
Ministerial Office
AddressLevel 1, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne, VIC
Phone(03) 9651 5000
Fax(03) 9651 5054
Email Addressted.baillieu@parliament.vic.gov.au
I will happily call this action off if Ted Baillieu and his government demonstrate that they are willing to take concrete steps that will result in regulated access to Transcendent Compounds for religious and spiritual purposes within a reasonable time frame.
