An Atlanta megachurch pastor contended that growing cannabis on his church property would be a successful outreach tool.
“New Birth is the largest land-owning Black church in America,” Pastor Jamal Bryant of Birth Missionary Baptist Church recently told The Cool Soror Podcast host Rashan Ali.
He added, “My position to my deacons is, ‘why aren’t we not raising cannabis?’”
As reported by Relevant, Bryan stressed that the effort would not only bring black males to the church but also give them the opportunity to learn concepts of sustainable farming and preserve the “ecosystem.”
“I’ll be able to bring in Black males. They’re able to do it legally. I’m teaching them farming. I’m helping them to enhance the ecosystem,” the megachurch explained. “So if the guy, Black boy, in Bankhead said ‘they growing weed at the church? Where do I join?’ I don’t need no pamphlet for him.”
Despite Bryant’s proposition, marijuana is currently illegal in Georgia.
“Georgia’s law is much more limited than some other states’ medical marijuana laws. For example, it does not legalize the sale or possession of marijuana in leaf form, and it does not authorize the production or sale of food products infused with low-THC oil or the ingestion of low-THC oil through vapor,” Georgia’s Department of Health states.
“It does not authorize physicians to prescribe marijuana for medical use. It is intended solely to protect qualified persons from criminal prosecution for possessing low-THC oil for medicinal purposes.”
In recent years, there has been a growing debate amongst Christians on the use of cannabis. According to Pew Research, 53 percent of Protestants and another 53 percent of Catholics support the legalization of marijuana for “medical and recreational use.”
Meanwhile, a Lifeway Research survey shows that 76 percent of U.S. pastors opposed the use and legalization of marijuana, while 18 percent said it should be legalized.
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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.