Friday, November 18, 2005

Create Your Own Religion?

I have been embroiled in the debate over the definition of religion, which was tedious. It appears to be my fault for using creative allegorical literary constructs to make a political statement. However in the course of the argument I stumbled upon a document that I will be reading and referencing again.

DEFINING RELIGION IN AMERICAN LAW

The religious definition issue led to the obvious "Why don't I just start my own Religion?" Well, you can certainly incorporate your own Church under 503(c) guidelines. But as to starting your own religion, the IRS has a very interesting set of conditions for that. And to add absurdity, on the fringe of this issue are the modern cults. They have engendered some success in the legal system, at obvious odds with standard WASP values. This side thread uncovered the Anti-Cult Movement document which was interesting. Its still a simmering issue. The judiciary has not established the complete definition of religion, and the practical one of the IRS is draconian. What a strange world.

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