HD wrote:
> "B J Foster" wrote in message
> news:g99oqt$idv$1@aioe.org...
>> HD wrote:
>>> "B J Foster" wrote in message
>>> news:g98hen$1sk$1@aioe.org...
>>>> HD wrote:
>>>>> "B J Foster" wrote in message
>>>>> news:g978hd$439$2@aioe.org...
>>>>>> HD wrote:
>>>>>>> "B J Foster" wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:g9724l$af5$1@aioe.org...
>>>>>>>> David Moss wrote:
>>>>>>>>> B J Foster wrote in
>>>>>>>>> news:g94jqa$ii0$1@aioe.org:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>> ...
>>>>>>>> The question is essentially, 'Why is the Catholic church not subject
>>>>>>>> to the same laws (as the rest of us)?'
>>>>>>> They are. But first, you can't close down the Catholic Church the
>>>>>>> same as you can't close down the Ford Motor Company.
>>>>>> Why not?
>>>>> Because we are not in China.
>>>>> Australians have the right to practice their religion.
>>>>>
>>>> My church is the mafia. I worship murder and extortion.
>>> The word "Religion" ( From the Latin) means- Fear Of God or Fear of an
>>> almighty supernatural being. Without a believe or a worship of God you
>>> have no religion.
>>>
>> So in your opinion, if a religion preached extortion or murder, would the
>> state be powerless to close it down?
>>
>
> I'm not sure what the position is in Australia. I guess it is up to the high
> court to decide if it is a religion in the traditional understanding. We may
> be faced with that question to decide between moderate and radical Islam.
> Even under the name of Christianity all kinds of -(Usually American) cults
> have sprang up including the practice or promotion of Pedophilia. We get all
> kinds of strange believes including Scientologists--as an example. It has
> been made illegal in some European Countries.
> In the middle ages all kinds of Satan worshipping sects had been established
> claiming to be a religion since Satan is --like God-- a supernatural being.
> Up to now all those cults have been outlawed simply by the influence of
> orthodox Christian Churches.
>
The high court might even end up defining "God". That should be fun.
I was also thinking about radical Islam and scientology. There is ample
precedent in history of people leveraging religion for violent political
or monetary ends. At the end of the day they have always been put down
by society but sometimes the process has been painful.
Scientology is an interesting case. For tax purposes, they claim to be a
religion but in other contexts they claim that they are not. |