Tax everything, nothing and no one exempt.
I'm no big fan of the ultra left-wing Unitarians, but in my opinion there's no way this decision is going to legally stand in court.
Let's stretch a very tiny bit: The Pope says one thing, Mel Gibson's father says another -- Hey! The Roman Catholic Church does not have one system of belief! Let the tax revenue flow, Baby!
I suppose getting an exemption for my Church of Monday Night Football is out of the question.
They would roll over in their graves if they saw what it has become.
This decision is totally out of line.
This is not going to stand. Buddhists don't have to believe in a supreme being either. The government has a pretty big burden to overcome to say, "This isn't a religion", and this guy hasn't met it.
By this logic, the Democrat party does not qualify as a political organization.
But keeping as much money as possible away from Big Stupid Government is always a good thing.
Are moon worshipers exempted?
Uh oh.
Isn't the Unitarian Creed essentially:
The Fatherhood of God.
The Brotherhood of Man.
The Neighborhood of Boston.
My definition of a "religion" requires that it 1) define a set of cultural values and 2) provide a vivid and effective mechanism for transmitting them from one generation to the next. By this definition, I guess Unitarianism wouldn't qualify.
Hmmm, I wonder if the Texans will apply this to the Religion of Peace® a/k/a Mohammedism.
Oh this going to get real interesting....and real ugly
I was just reading something and remembered this post. I didn't have time to study it then, and don't now, but thought you might find the following interesting. I was speed-reading through it [i.e., meaning I have to come back later when I have more time to get the full gist of it all], and have sped through a couple of the links to where I am now reading that the Supreme Court has declared Secular Humanism a religion, and also learned that when you take an oath that ends with 'So help me God', that you are publicly professing that you are not a Christian. Scroll down the page to read about the early beliefs of the Unitarians vs. the later. The website is hosted by a man who couldn't become an attorney because he refused to take such an oath that would put him in conflict with his faith.
An article entitled 'Were the founding fathers Deists....'
http://members.aol.com/TestOath/deism.htm
I'd flag some of the others on this thread, but my windows are maxed out, and I'm typing over the thread. Sorry!
The US Supreme Court will have a lot of fun with this one.
It reminds of the state unemployment agency that denied benefits to a Jehovah's Witness fired after refusing work in a munition factory, even though other Jehovah's Witnesses worked there.
The state unemployment agency said that it was a personal matter, not a religious matter, because Jehovah's Witnesses did not have a prohibition against working at munition factories.
The US Supreme Court overruled the state unemployment agency, saying that the individual conscience is supreme, and individual church members are free to pick and choose their own beliefs.