Can a group be considered religious if it doesn't require its members to believe in a supreme being? A state district judge in Austin thinks so.
Travis County Judge Paul Davis has granted religious tax exempt status to the Ethical Society of Austin, a small group of self-described "religious humanists" in Austin who hold regular Sunday services but whose members don't necessarily worship a supreme being.
"(Mandating) that an organization require its members to believe in and worship a Supreme Being in order to qualify as a tax-exempt religious organization" violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Tax Code," Davis stated in a permanent injunction released March 1.
In his ruling last week, the judge also ordered the state comptroller's office to pay the society more than $165,000 in attorney fees and costs, and thousands more if the state moves forward with an appeal.
State Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander lamented the court's decision Friday and said she would take the case "as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary."
"As I've said before, I believe very strongly that every cult that dresses up and parades down Sixth Street on Halloween will be applying for tax-exempt status," Rylander said, referring to Austin's annual downtown Halloween parade.
Peter D. Kennedy, one of the society's lawyers, called Rylander's comments "shameful." He said the Ethical Society is made up of deeply religious individuals whose traditions span about 125 years. "These are not an off-the-wall bunch of wackos."
The Austin group, which has between 40 and 60 members, describes itself as a humanistic organization inspired by the "Ethical Ideal" - the principle that the supreme aim of human life is working to create a more humane society."
And that, Davis ruled, is what gives the group its religious status. "The Court finds that (the Society), in its pursuit of the Ethical Ideal, acts like a traditional religion and functions as a traditional religious organization for its members," Davis wrote in an opinion in December.
He noted that the group holds Sunday worship services, provides Sunday school education for children and performs "life cycle rituals such as weddings, baby-naming ceremonies and memorial services."
He said courts in the past have understood worship of a supreme being as an element of religion but not as the "linchpin factor."
"If the rule were otherwise, universally recognized world belief systems such as Buddhism and Taoism, which do not subscribe to a theistic world view, would not be considered religions," the judge wrote.
Kennedy said the court's ruling is largely symbolic, since the society doesn't own any property and pays little in state taxes. It holds its weekly meetings in rented space at a community center, he said.