Read the First Amendment Center’s article on the free exercise clause, which includes a discussion of how Employment Division v. Smith, the 1990 peyote case, changed the legal precedent for religious groups whose practices conflict with state law.

Read the First Amendment Center’s resource page on Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal. It includes amicus briefs filed for both sides of the case.

The UDV religion in the United States has a website with resources for covering the case, including a FAQ and background links.

Read about Tenebrae services and their recreation of the emotional aspects of the passion story on the Rev. Ken Collins’ web site.

The Rev. John Chryssavgis is author of Light Through Darkness: The Orthodox Tradition. He taught theology at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and serves as theological adviser to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental issues. Chryssavgis lives in Maine.

Michael Stillwater is the founder of Inner Harmony. With his partner, Doris Laesser, he led a group of Americans on a dark retreat in Switzerland in January 2006. He lives in Marin County, Calif.

Mirabai Starr is an adjunct professor of religious studies and philosophy at the University of New Mexico in Taos. She is the translator of St. John of the Cross’ Dark Night of the Soul (Riverhead, 2002).

Joan Halifax is the author of Fruitful Darkness: A Journey Through Buddhist Practice and Tribal Wisdom (Grove Press, 2004). She is the founder of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, N.M.

Martin Lowenthal is the founder and director of the Dedicated Life Institute in Newton, Mass. He is also the author of Dawning of Clear Light: A Western Approach to Tibetan Dark Retreat (Hampton Roads, 2003).