About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

6 Harv. J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 219 (1982-1983)
Rendering unto Caesar: Defining Religion for Purposes of Administering Religion-Based Tax Exemptions

handle is hein.journals/hjlpp6 and id is 225 raw text is: RENDERING UNTO CAESAR: DEFINING RELIGION FOR PURPOSES OF ADMINISTERING RELIGION-BASED TAX EXEMPTIONS by TERRY L. SLYE* I. INTRODUCTION Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.... ' These first words of the first amendment to the Constitution reveal how deep- ly committed to freedom of conscience were the framers of our charter of government. Professor Archibald Cox has noted that even the order of the words is significant: The framers put freedom of conscience first, and then moved on to freedom of speech and the press. They were concerned above all else with spiritual liberty: freedom to think, to believe, and to worship.2 This concern has not diminished with the passage of time. Justice Stewart expressed his conviction that no liberty is more essential to the continued vitality of the free society which our Constitution guarantees than is the religious liberty protected by the Free Exer- cise clause....' We as a nation are by heritage committed to preserving broad religious liberty, both for those whose religious beliefs have long been accepted as orthodox and for those espous- ing novel religious beliefs which may seem strange, even pre- posterous, to the bulk of the surrounding population. Given this long heritage, it may be surprising to some to learn that while the Constitution commands that religious belief be pro- tected, it contains no definition of religion, no statement of what beliefs or institutions are to be preserved. No doubt courts who must struggle to determine what is a religion would find their task much easier if a straightforward definition existed. Yet the * B.A., 1979, Houghton College; J.D., 1982, Harvard Law School. The author is cur- rently serving as clerk to Associate Justice C. Donald Peterson of the Minnesota Supreme Court. I U.S. CONST. amend. 1. 2 A. Cox, FREEDOM OF ExPRESSION 1 (1982). 3 Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 413 (1961) (Stewart, J., concurring).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most