Religious Freedom

The church’s position

“The Church of the Only Begotten Son is a Free Entheobotanical Original Christian church. As a Free Church, we have no 501c(3) contract of incorporation.”

The church’s Official Lawful Notice lists among its authorities “*42 U.S.C. § 1996: (“AIRFA”)”, “*42 U.S.C. 2000bb, et seq: (RFRA)” and “*42 U.S.C. 2000cc, et seq.: (RLUIPA)”, and it states that sacramental substances are used “under the guidance, recommendation, administration and/or instruction of an OBS Church Certified Religious Leader for Members ONLY!”¹ Its School of Rights ministry teaches these principles.

Nothing on this page is legal advice.

The First Amendment

The First Amendment begins: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”² Through the Fourteenth Amendment the Free Exercise Clause also binds the states.

Smith, RFRA and RLUIPA

In Employment Division v. Smith (1990), two members of the Native American Church in Oregon were denied unemployment benefits after being fired for sacramental peyote use. The Supreme Court held that a neutral law of general applicability does not violate the Free Exercise Clause even when it burdens a religious practice.³

Congress answered with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA). It provides that government “shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion” unless the burden is “in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest” and “the least restrictive means of furthering” it.⁴ In City of Boerne v. Flores (1997) the Court held RFRA could not be applied to the states, so it now governs the federal government.⁵ The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) restored the same test for land-use rules affecting religious assemblies and for people in institutions.⁶

AIRFA and peyote

The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 (AIRFA) made it the policy of the United States “to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions of the American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Native Hawaiians.”⁷ Its 1994 amendments, passed after Smith, protect “the use, possession, or transportation of peyote by an Indian for bona fide traditional ceremonial purposes in connection with the practice of a traditional Indian religion.”⁸ See Peyote and San Pedro.

The ayahuasca cases

RFRA’s most important sacramental case is Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal (2006). A unanimous Supreme Court held that the government had not shown a compelling interest in barring the UDV’s sacramental use of hoasca, a tea containing DMT.⁹ In 2009 a federal court in Oregon applied RFRA to protect the Santo Daime sacrament of the Church of the Holy Light of the Queen.¹⁰ See Ayahuasca and DMT.

Article 32 of the 1971 Convention

The church’s notice cites Article 32 of the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances, which “allows nations to exempt certain traditional uses of substances from prohibition.”¹ Article 32(4) permits a State, “at the time of signature, ratification or accession,” to make reservations concerning wild plants “traditionally used by certain small, clearly determined groups in magical or religious rites.”¹¹

Free churches and the 501(c)(3)

Federal tax law does not require a church to apply for exemption: 26 U.S.C. § 508(c)(1)(A) excepts “churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches” from the requirement to notify the IRS.¹² The church defines its own standing this way:

“A "Free Church" is a church that is formed and protected under the 1st 5th and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, with no contract of incorporation under the authority of the STATE.”

It describes itself as “1 of 4 Free Churches in America that we know of.”¹⁵

Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act

In November 2022 Colorado voters approved Proposition 122, the Natural Medicine Health Act. It decriminalized personal possession of certain natural medicines by adults and, with SB23-290 in 2023, created a state-regulated program for psilocybin services overseen by the Natural Medicine Division.¹³¹⁴ The church is in Cahone, Colorado; see Sacred mushrooms.

Blessings and recognition

The church records that it “was Officially Recognized and blessed by Sachem Joy Maxine 'Hawkeye' Graves as of12th day of December in the year 2019.”¹⁶ On its home page it adds: “We have been acknowledged and granted the Lakota-Rose Bud Tribe blessing and are in process of being inducted into the council of the 6 nations.”