This comment was left by Alan Running Deer on the petition for Reverend David Cook that was started by the Reverends Bruce and Brenda Shoop of Green Earth Ministries on ThePetitionSite.com. Reverend Cook's next court date in Nevada is November 30th.

"Please respect the religious and Constitutionally legal, humanly basic, and Federally-upheld rights of American citizens to worship God freely, in the manner in which they best understand, and without coercion, or restriction when it causes no harm to others (reaffirmed in the Religious Freedoms Act of 1988, signed into law by President Clinton, and upheld at every level of the courts of this country in a plethora of cases, from those involving the Native American and Rastafarian Churches, to (most recently including) The State of Idaho vs the Rev. Levon Cordingley of The Church of Cognitive Therapy, 2007.

It is illegal in these United States of America to officially discriminate against anyone on the basis of their religious beliefs, creed, or their practices. Religious prosecution is another form of persecution.

Would you like to be arrested (as in a religiously intolerant totalitarian state, like China) for worshipping in your way, or sent to jail for smoking a cigarette--a matter of personal freedom (and in the case of the Native American Church, religious freedom)? . . .

Why put yourself in the untenable position of trying to uphold a Constitutionally illegal action, or a falsely-interpreted "legal" statute that is, itself, unconstitutional? If you believe in God, or even simply in sowing and reaping--"what goes around comes around," as it's commonly understood--then it would be to your credit if you sow some mercy and justice. . . .

"With the measure you use, it shall be measured to you." --a quote ascribed to Yeheshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, called the Messiah (Christ), known as "Lord" (King) by a significant portion of the population of the United States of America, who also reportedly said, "Judge not, or you will be judged."

Whatever you believe about cannibis, the challenges regarding its use and/or cultivation, its widely-debated potential for personal abuse or societal malaise (or, conversely, its personal and/or societal benefit), or the potential value, trade, or use (appropriate or inappropriate) of this multi-purpose natural resource, I nevertheless urge you to uphold the Constitutional and civil right of every American citizen to be free from State-imposed religion and the restriction of religious liberty. Thanks."

We also welcome your votes and comments on this very timely issue.