What criteria determine legal recognition of a religion ?

Answer 1

You asked an extremely complicated question. Basically the courts have upheld that the government should stay out of deciding what is or isnt a religion. Government agencies are not experts in theology and should not determine the validity or fallacy of any system of beleifs. Below is a link to a discussion of different legal opinions that have both broadened and limited our governments view of what constitutes a "religion.

However the IRS does have a list of criteria that they use to determine whether or not an organization should be granted tax free status. Those criteria are:
1. a distinct legal existence,
2. a recognized creed and form of worship,
3. a definite and distinct ecclesiastical government,
4. a formal code of doctrine and discipline
5. a distinct religious history,
6. a membership not associated with any other church or denomination,
7. an organization of ordained ministers,
8. ordained ministers selected after completing prescribed studies,
9. a literature of its own,
10. established places of worship,
11. regular congregations,
12. regular religious services,
13. schools for religious instruction of the young,
14. school for the preparation of its ministers.

Hope this has been helpful

Answer 2

I'm not sure, but I would really like to know the answer! As someone who follows a faith not of the basic recognized religions, this is of some interest to me. It's not enough to have worshippers/followers. The question was...

What Criteria Determine LEGAL Recognition of a Religion? Legal, as in government/state/federal tax recognition.

For instance, if I want to donate money to support some charitable cause within my own faith, how would I go about doing that and getting the tax breaks? Also, what about my Holy Tides? I don't "celebrate" Christmas and Easter as christians do but those are national/secular holidays. Can I volunteer to work those days and, in turn, receive other days off as a holiday? If someone has an answer.....a LEGAL answer.....I would love to hear it.

Answer 3

For a religious group to have tax-exempt status in the US it has to follow the guidelines found here http://www.irs.gov/charities/churches/index.html

Otherwise, if the religious group is not looking for 501(c)3 tax-exempt status, there are no federally-defined criteria. Basically, a religion is anything that fits the dictionary definition of a religion.....

Answer 4

Tax Exemption

Answer 5

Tax-exempt, shmax-exempt! Many churches are tax-exempt, but so is Planned Parenthood tax-exempt, Greenpeace is tax-exempt. The American Cancer Society is tax-exempt. (Not only are the American Cancer Society and Planned Parenthood tax-exempt, but they also receive millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded government grants. No churches receive that. Not allowed to. Separation of Church and State.)

So many organizations may be tax-exempt, plus receive government grants. Churches cannot.

These are not religious groups. Any non-profit group that does charitable or benevolent works can become tax-exempt. It doesn't have to be religious.

The rationale behind giving religious bodies tax-exempt status was rooted in the tradition of churches and synagogues caring for the poor and the needy in the community. Churches and synagogues collect cans for the needy, run hospitals, orphanages, visit sick and homebound members, etc.

Any non-religious group who wants to can do the same: If you filled out the right forms, you could set up the "Atheist Society for Sheltering Wayward Kittens" or the "God-denying Society for the Preservation of Historic Greater East Cupcake" and . . . bingo! Tax Exempt. No problem.

It's not about taxes, it's about whether the law of the land would provide that adherents of any one religion would enjoy advantages systematically denied to others.

For example, by law in the United Kingdom, many years ago, only Anglicans could serve in Parliament or teach in the Universities. (No longer true)

In officially atheist Communist countries, on the other hand, people who subscribed to religion - Muslims, Jews, and Christians - have at various times faced imprisonment by the government for proseltyzing or even for possessing a copy of the Koran or the Bible. For example, in 1949, in Hungary, it was a crime to be a Catholic priest. The Catholic Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary was arrested, charged with "crimes against the state" (for being a cardinal!), tortured and imprisoned by the Communists.

Here in the United States, legal establishment of one particular religion _by the government_ is forbidden. This means that men and women of any creed, or of none at all, are by law free to worship as they please - or not, if they choose not to, to set up tax-exempt churches or other benevolent agencies with or without a religious purpose. No one is punished, penalized, or rewarded _by the government_ for practicing any particular faith.

Atheists, Druids, or multicultural groups can create and enjoy tax-exempt operations to do charitable and benevolent works free from fear of penalty by the government.

Muslim or Hindu. Catholic or Protestant. Wicca or Pagan. Theist or Atheist. America! What a country!

Answer 6

Worshipers

Answer 7

'legal' ? you know the criteria that God asks! your recognition of Him is on you!

Answer 8

The constitution.

Answer 9

belief in a higher power or deity.