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8.0.8.5 Legal Definitions of ReligionVersion 1.0 July 2016 (Previous Version) Does this Reasonable Global Way fit the legal definition of a religion? Is this Way entitled to the same tax benefits as other religions? Australia’s High Court,
in the 1980s, accepted that Scientology was a religion and as such is entitled
to tax exemptions. The Court determined
that Religion must involve a) supernatural beliefs, and b) a code of conduct
linked to those beliefs. They defined a
supernatural belief to involve: •
more than the reality normally
perceived by our senses, •
more than mere reason and
the evidence. This matches similar
opinions of other Courts, especially in the USA (eg Malnak v. Yogi, United
States v. Seeger, Gillette v. United States, United States v. Kauten). Our beliefs and values are consistent with this legal
definition. •
We really do believe in a reality that is beyond
our ordinary perceptions: o
Sound scientific ideas such as Heisenberg’s
Uncertainty Principle and Poppers Falsifiability Principle lead us to accept
that science will never know the true nature of reality. o
Our notions of reality are socially constructed,
so we aren’t sure what ultimate reality is. •
We
choose our core values, to some extent
on faith: o
despite the scientific evidence that our
behaviour, beliefs and choices are caused, that we are in fact not all
equal; and o
despite the historical evidence of selfishness,
suffering and grounds for despair. Our core value choices are to
this extent contrary to, perhaps more
than, reason and evidence. We
need to be even more sophisticated than this about the legal definition of
the supernatural. More than reason?
The more in more than mere reason is not
unreason. The more is choice. Judges talking about religion are
like the early Wittgenstein and Gould trying to picture distinct worlds,
emphasising static things, obscuring
that reality is dynamic. Processes are
different from hardware. Values, morality,
ethics and aesthetics, is making choices, a set of events, not some immaterial, mysterious thing permeating the ether. To
that extent only, this worldview involves the supernatural, as it has been defined by the courts. So we can legitimately call this approach to
life a natural, rational religion. Many will prefer NOT to call this Way a religion because of the connotations of that word. You may prefer to call it a world view or a philosophy. It doesn’t matter in most contexts. Either way, it is a sensible and emotionally satisfying philosophy of life. 8.0.8.5 This Way is legally a Religion This Way is a religion under common legal definitions because: ● It has a code of conduct associated with the beliefs and values of this way. ● The beliefs and values are supernatural in a strictly legal sense because: ● We really do believe in a reality that is beyond our ordinary perceptions; ● Our values do involve more than mere reason, which is not
unreason, but is choice. ● Our core values are chosen, to some extent on faith, and to this extent contrary to, perhaps more than, reason and evidence. ● Organizations professing this faith should, at
least in Australia and the USA, be entitled to religious tax exemptions.
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English (English)
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