The Supreme Court, Peyote, and Minority Religions: Zero Tolerance

Abstract

The First Amendment's paired guarantees of freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion are so sweeping in their simplicity that the courts have always felt the need to make exceptions. Whether it is shouting racist slogans at schoolchildren or handling poisonous snakes, some forms of personal expression have always been forbidden. The limitations adopted have changed over the lifetime of the nation, however, and this speaks volumes about the evolving nature of American culture and society. In its 1990 decision on the use of peyote by the Native American Church, the Supreme Court has lent support to those who argue that the United States is fundamentally a Christian nation rather than a nation based on religious freedom. It did not do this by condoning the use of Christian symbols by governing officials, as it had done on two previous occasions,' but by adopting a rule of zero tolerance for the practices of minority religious groups wherever they conflict with laws made by the United States' Christian majority. The door has been opened for what President Ronald Reagan often preached: a nation explicitly governed by Christian principles.