RE: What makes a religion?
June 15, 2016 at 12:42 pm
(This post was last modified: June 15, 2016 at 12:43 pm by robvalue.)
I feel more and more that religion is used as a tool to achieve political goals. The people at the top don't have to believe any of it, they just need those on the ground to believe it, to motivate them with magical threats/promises.
I suppose ultimately there is no authority for what is and isn't a religion, just like no one can decree someone is or isn't a Christian.
The only real sense would be legal... how is this covered I wonder? I think in America you have to be a certain size to get tax breaks, and pretend you're sort of a charity. But what else do you need? You also get to not show your books, for some reason. So what would the government accept as a minimum before giving you these unfair advantages? How stupid do your beliefs and rituals need to be?
I suppose ultimately there is no authority for what is and isn't a religion, just like no one can decree someone is or isn't a Christian.
The only real sense would be legal... how is this covered I wonder? I think in America you have to be a certain size to get tax breaks, and pretend you're sort of a charity. But what else do you need? You also get to not show your books, for some reason. So what would the government accept as a minimum before giving you these unfair advantages? How stupid do your beliefs and rituals need to be?
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