Texas Humanists Sue To Regain Tax-Exempt Status.The Ethical Culture Ethical Culture is a nontheistic religion established by Felix Adler in 1876. The Ethical Culture Movement is a non-sectarian, ethico-religious and educational movement. Fellowship, a group of religious humanists in Austin, Texas, has filed suit to regain the tax-exempt status it lost because the group does not believe in a supreme being. The Fellowship was granted tax exemption tax exemption, immunity from the requirement of paying taxes. Federal, state, and usually local law provide exemption from taxation for a wide variety of organizations, usually not-for-profit, such as churches, colleges, universities, health care providers, various as a religious organization by the state in June 1997, but that status was revoked after one day. Texas Comptroller John Sharp rescinded the classification based on the group's disbelief in a deity, which he said is a requirement. In a lawsuit filed Nov. 16 with assistance from the American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. , the humanists argued that it is unfair to require belief in God in order to qualify for a tax exemption. "For the state to mandate worship of a supreme being as a prerequisite to a tax-exempt status as a religious organization violates the constitutional right to religious freedom," the group said in its lawsuit filed in state district court. Sharp, who lost a bid to become the state's lieutenant governor lieutenant governor n. Abbr. Lt. Gov. 1. An elected official ranking just below the governor of a state in the United States. 2. The nonelective chief of government of a Canadian province. in November, left office this month. However, his replacement, Carole Keeton Rylander, has indicated that she will hold the same position on this issue telling the Austin American-Statesman The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises and edited by Richard Oppel, who led his previous newspaper, the Charlotte Observer to multiple Pulitzers. , We cannot broaden the definition of religion to include every wannabe cult and doomsday cult that comes along or parades down Austin's Sixth Street on Halloween night." |
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