So I have this lady friend, we go a little ways back. We dated in high school, my sophomore year, her junior. As relationships do, this one eventually fizzled out, but we've kept up with each other and and there's definitely mutual respect. She moved away for college, studying to be a psychologist (*important fact to remember: shes a psych major*) and since then its basically we see each other whenever we happen to see each other... so communications are on a low is what I'm getting at. Well shes always been against drugs. Dead set against them, she's a very hard headed individual. She's also Brazilian (anyone here ever date a Brazilian? then you know...) and she goes back to her motherland relatively frequently. Well long story short, because I think I've hit all the important bits, one day I sent her a message on the Facebooks asking her what she may know about Ayahuasca. Come to find out, her and her family are devout followers of Uniao do Vegetal, "vegetal" standing for Ayahuasca. This girl, who is solidly anti-drugs, drinks Ayahuasca religiously. By now we've exchanged a couple of long notes about this. I've been trying to express to her the clear logical fallacy of being against drugs but using Ayahuasca to find god. I've tried to appeal to her intelligence by briefly alluding to human behavior and culture and I even flat out told her that her religion is holding her back on her quest for truth. I guess what I want to do is help her see the world from another perpsective. I know that I don't know whether or not shes right or wrong or if I'm right or wrong but I do know that I'd attend a UDV ceremony at the drop of a hat and listen to their side of the story and I know that puts me one step ahead of her. How can I lead her outside the box? Any wise words of advice from the crowd?
Well, I have no idea what that drug is... but um, do you want her to smoke weed? If that's the case I would just ask her if she wants to since she already does some crazy ass drug... umm sorry if I missed the point, I'm quite stoned
SmokinGirly if you've ever heard of DMT, that's whats in Ayahuasca. Hoasca, as its otherwise known, is a tea prepared from two plants, one contains DMT the other contains MAOI inhibitors that prevent your body from destroying the DMT before it reaches your brain. And I want her to consider the other entheogens that are out there, like shrooms and weed. Right now, shes dead set against them and it doesnt make any sense.
oh I see. Well that must make her trippp bawls so I think just talking to her casually about weed first might help her open up about it... maybe show her some ganja and a bong or something..just so she can see its not like shooting meth. tell her that drug she uses is probably way more intense than weed and take it from there...
hmm reading the OP it seems like it could just be a solid opinion of hers and she may stick with it.. but things change over time.. you both sound like educated people.. try backing up your argument with solid facts about marijuana and others. show her statistics and studies and try to appeal to that side of her. then just see how she feels about it, and let her know how you feel about it
First off I have no idea what Ayahuasca is. Second, if she is aginst weed just show he the facts to try and sway her thoughts on it. Also, just out of curiosity, what does her being a psych major have to do with anything?
Don't know if either of you have ever tried to talk facts to someone who's talking religion, but its almost like your words never even make it to their ears.
Beat you to it. I already told her how DMT is a tryptamine and so are melatonin and serotonin. I also told her how you can get DMT from smoking dried Sonoran Desert Toad goo and Phalaris grass. She is impervious to these things, but only because her mind has been tainted with religion. Deep down, shes smart enough to embrace the truth.
Some people just can't be reasoned with, especially when it comes to religion. For some people religion and faith can overlap reason. Look at all the cult related mass suicides such as Jonestown. Look at the Crusades, when thousands of people were killed for next to no reason at all other then being "in the names of God". You think all these terrorists blow themsleves up bcause some guy said it would be fun? They do it because they belive in their faith which says that they will get all these great things after they die. Does that make sense? Point is that with some people you just can't change their mind by reason because they have shut out all reason in the name of "faith".
Well man, look at it from her point of view. This is obviously something she feels very strongly about, and something she believes deeply in. How do deeply religious people feel when someone insults their beliefs? Shit, sometimes it ends up in war. Just be careful where you step, man. Religion is a sensitive topic.
There's a difference between taking a drug for religious/spiritual purposes and doing it for recreational purposes. She obviously doesn't want to do the latter. Why do you need to convince her of anything? Can't you just let her make her own decisions?
You should be able to have an intelligent discussion with a religious person without them getting offended, but they're usually too ignorant. Same thing with people who're against pot.
Some people will not see the truth when it is right in front of there faces. I would have to say just let her be ignorant.
I'll never understand anyone who is against ALL drugs. That's like saying you are against all cars just because a few are known to be unsafe. The funny thing is, anti-drug people aren't usually so anti-drug as they believe. Take a look in their medicine cabinet, they'll probably have some pills of some sort. I can't understand why people fail to recognize medicine as drugs. What else... Pop in the fridge? Drug. Beer? Drug. For some reason only illegal drugs are often considered drugs. That concept makes little sense to me.