Hello dabcult --
1) Guzman doesn't follow any religion, he makes it up as he goes along. He thinks that calling AH a "religion" and a "church" and a "faith" is enough. The DEA will look at that too -- they (and the courts) are not permitted to consider the content of a religion's beliefs but they can look at the sincerity -- whether the religion is just made up to get around the law.
But it won't carry any weight for people to write them about AH's religiousness or lack of it. People always criticize other people's religion, and it also makes it sound like the letter-writer is just prejudiced because they have different religious beliefs. What will have more impact is just if you describe what you have already talked about seeing in Daime works when people have problems, and emphasize how these inexperienced AH people are not qualified to handle people who may have problems in ceremony. That will carry a lot of weight. Safety, or lack of it, is the issue that can sink AH's attempt to become legal.
2) If Trinity organizes ceremonies in Peru (which he has helped to do before) he will be just one out of hundreds doing that. The ayahuasca scene is completely unregulated in Peru. And there are all kinds of ways he could set up some kind of financial arrangement that would not look like he is working illegally. But he won't make nearly as much money there. He wanted to come to the US where the market is completely open and he thought he could have a monopoly here, too. That can be stopped.
1) Guzman doesn't follow any religion, he makes it up as he goes along. He thinks that calling AH a "religion" and a "church" and a "faith" is enough. The DEA will look at that too -- they (and the courts) are not permitted to consider the content of a religion's beliefs but they can look at the sincerity -- whether the religion is just made up to get around the law.
But it won't carry any weight for people to write them about AH's religiousness or lack of it. People always criticize other people's religion, and it also makes it sound like the letter-writer is just prejudiced because they have different religious beliefs. What will have more impact is just if you describe what you have already talked about seeing in Daime works when people have problems, and emphasize how these inexperienced AH people are not qualified to handle people who may have problems in ceremony. That will carry a lot of weight. Safety, or lack of it, is the issue that can sink AH's attempt to become legal.
2) If Trinity organizes ceremonies in Peru (which he has helped to do before) he will be just one out of hundreds doing that. The ayahuasca scene is completely unregulated in Peru. And there are all kinds of ways he could set up some kind of financial arrangement that would not look like he is working illegally. But he won't make nearly as much money there. He wanted to come to the US where the market is completely open and he thought he could have a monopoly here, too. That can be stopped.