Could we establish a new religion?

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jen28f

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Jul 23, 2009
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For those of you who may be a bit squeamish about joining another religion, here is info on the ULC church, for which a few of us are ordained. As you can see, you would not need to change your current beliefs, just add vaping as an addition to what you believe in...

This ULC church has two tenets: to ensure for each of our ordained ministers the absolute right of freedom to practice their religion in the manner of their choosing, as mandated by the First Amendment; and to encourage our newly ordained ministers to do that which is right and in accord with their government’s laws.
The Universal Life Church Monastery will not stand between you and your God and we recognize that each minister and clergy member has the right to choose his or her own spiritual path. Each minister legally ordained by the ULC Monastery is at liberty to follow any religious path so long as it does not infringe upon the rights of others.


The Universal Life Church Monastery strongly believes in the rights of all people from all faiths to practice their religious beliefs, regardless of what those beliefs are, be they Christian, Jew, Gentile, Agnostic, Atheist, Buddhist, Shinto, Pagan, Wiccan, Druid or even Dignity Catholics; so long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others and are within the law of the land and one’s consciousness.

This actually just underlines our beliefs, the right of freedom to practice our religion in the manner of our choosing. I have been ordained for over 10 years now, so it will be obvious that it was not done just for the cause of vaping...
 

boondongle

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Keeping in mind that I'm not a lawyer, I think you'd need to defend that in court. In one court case, religious protection of drug use was shot down due to the fact that the "church" documents did not demonstrate: a belief in a supreme being, religious discipline, rituals, or tenets to guide daily existence. From what I've heard, and the five-minute Google refresher I just did, what the courts primarily look at is sincerity of intent, and they can go into crazy amounts out detail in that. Also, they'll look at whether there is a community of believers (in the physical sense of a neighborhood community, not a bunch of individuals connected online) that practice the religion. Also, they can deny an otherwise legit claim if the state has compelling interests, which is why marijuana cases get shot down -- the state has an interest in stopping marijuana use. Peyote isn't a big recreational drug, so the state doesn't have a compelling interest in preventing its use in religious ceremonies.

Again, not a lawyer, I've just heard about this idea before in other contexts, so I'm passing on what I've heard. I think you'd have an uphill battle trying to make a vaping religion.
 
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