The Status of Religion and the Public Benefit in Charity Law

Description

Should religious charities be denied charitable status because of political incorrectness?

'The Status of Religion and the Public Benefit in Charity Law' is an apologetic for maintaining the presumption of public benefit for the charitable category ‘advancement of religion’ in democratic countries within the English common law tradition. In response to growing academic and political pressure to reform charity law – including recurring calls to remove tax exemptions granted to religious charities – the scholars in this volume analyse the implications of legislative and legal developments in Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In the process, they also confront more fundamental, sociological or philosophical questions on the very nature and role of religion in a secular society that would deny any space for religious communities outside their houses of worship. In other words, this book is concerned with the place of religion – and religious institutions – in contemporary society. It represents a series of concerns about the proper role of the state in relation to the differing beliefs of citizens – some of which will quite rightly manifest in actions to benefit the wider society. This debate, then, naturally engages with broader issues related to secularism, civic engagement and liberal democratic freedoms.

Acknowledgements; Preface; Table of Cases; Part I Concept and Practice of Public Benefit; Chapter One Have a Little Faith: The Advancement of Religion and Public Benefit, Juliet Chevalier- Watts; Chapter Two Religion and Public Benefit: Social Scientific Perspectives and Critiques, Raymond B. Chiu; Chapter Three The Public Benefi t of ‘Advancing Religion’ as a Charitable Purpose: A Canadian Perspective, John Pellowe; Part II Advancement of Religion in the United Kingdom; Chapter Four Religion and Public Benefit in United Kingdom Charity Law, Frank Cranmer; Chapter Five Back at the Bar: Charity Law, Public Benefit, and a Case of Legal déjà vu for the Exclusive Brethren, Bernard Doherty; Part III Public Benefi t and the Advancement of Religion in Canada; Chapter Six Advancing Religion in a ‘Neutral’ State: Understanding Religion as a Constitutional Good, Derek B.M. Ross and Ian N. Sinke; Chapter Seven Making Registered Charitable Status of Religious Organizations Subject to ‘Charter Values’, Barry W. Bussey; Chapter Eight Just Check the Box: Why Religious Institutions Still Make Canada a Better Place to Live and Flourish, Janet Epp Buckingham; Part IV Conclusion; Chapter Nine The Goal of Excluding Religion from the Idea of Public Benefit: Some Aspects of Neo- Secularist Strategies, Iain T. Benson; Contributors; Index.

Sujets

• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Droit et juridique
• Religión
• Cultural policy
• Public policy
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Anthem Press
• Date de parution: 29 février 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781785272684
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Status of Religion and the Public Benefit in Charity Law
The Status of Religion and the Public Benefit in Charity Law
edited by
Barry W. Bussey
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition first published in UK and USA 2020
by ANTHEM PRESS
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or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK
and
244 Madison Ave #116, New York, NY 10016, USA
© 2020 Barry W. Bussey editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters © individual contributors
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978-1-78527-266-0 (Hbk)
ISBN-10: 1-78527-266-7 (Hbk)
ISBN-13: 978-1-78527-362-9 (Pbk)
ISBN-10: 1-78527-362-0 (Pbk)
This title is also available as an e-book.
To all religious organisations and charities, and their staff, volunteers and donors, who are on the front line for the public good.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Table of Cases
Part I Concept and Practice of Public Benefit
Chapter One Have a Little Faith: The Advancement of Religion and Public Benefit
Juliet Chevalier-Watts
Chapter Two Religion and Public Benefit: Social Scientific Perspectives and Critiques
Raymond B. Chiu
Chapter Three The Public Benefit of ‘Advancing Religion’ as a Charitable Purpose: A Canadian Perspective
John Pellowe
Part II Advancement of Religion in the United Kingdom
Chapter Four Religion and Public Benefit in United Kingdom Charity Law
Frank Cranmer
Chapter Five Back at the Bar: Charity Law, Public Benefit, and a Case of Legal déjà vu for the Exclusive Brethren
Bernard Doherty
Part III Public Benefit and the Advancement of Religion in Canada
Chapter Six Advancing Religion in a ‘Neutral’ State: Understanding Religion as a Constitutional Good
Derek B.M. Ross and Ian N. Sinke
Chapter Seven Making Registered Charitable Status of Religious Organizations Subject to ‘ Charter Values’
Barry W. Bussey
Chapter Eight Just Check the Box: Why Religious Institutions Still Make Canada a Better Place to Live and Flourish
Janet Epp Buckingham
Part IV Conclusion
Chapter Nine The Goal of Excluding Religion from the Idea of Public Benefit: Some Aspects of Neo-Secularist Strategies
Iain T. Benson
Contributors
Index
Acknowledgements
I want to acknowledge the exciting opportunity I have in working for an organization (the Canadian Council of Christian Charities) that understands the importance of religious charities in serving and enhancing the greater good. It is my privilege to be engaged in the public debate over the role of law and religion in contemporary society.
To each of the contributors in this volume, thank you for your willingness to participate with such conviction, expertise and eloquence in a lively discussion on a matter that is only going to be more pertinent as time goes on. A special thanks to Amy Ross for her copyediting of the manuscript. Amy is a tremendous asset who is adept at finding the right word or phrase for the appropriate place.
Anthem Press has been a joy to work with. Megan Greiving was instrumental in reaching out to me after my initial enquiry and followed up promptly with helpful replies. Also, Kyra Droog did excellent work in shepherding the peer review process. To the anonymous reviewers, your comments and suggestions were greatly appreciated as we incorporated them into the manuscript.
Preface
This book is an apologetic for maintaining the presumption of public benefit for the charitable category ‘advancement of religion’ in democratic countries within the English common law tradition. The argument consists of three broad fronts. First, there is the quantitative approach that considers practical public benefits, such as church-run soup kitchens or summer camps. Second, there is the qualitative approach that considers the positive effects of religion – both tangible and intangible – in the lives of individuals. Third, there is the political approach that appeals to the notion of pluralism in a free and democratic society, where individuals are free to establish religious communities that engage in the public square. To varying degrees, all of these approaches are canvassed in this book.
To set the stage, it is important to consider the motivation or context for commencing this project. The immediate impetus came from growing academic and political pressure to reform or modernize charity law in Canada – including recurring calls to remove tax exemptions granted to religious charities. This book serves, therefore, as an extended rebuttal to critics of the advancement of religion as a charitable purpose. At the same time, any argument about the merits or deficiencies of advancing religion must necessarily engage with deeper, more fundamental issues. On a philosophical level, then, this book is concerned with the place of religion – and religious institutions – in contemporary society. Hence, this volume has relevance beyond the specific legislative or legal cases analysed in Canada, the United Kingdom or Australia, as it grapples with broader questions related to secularism, civic engagement and liberal democratic freedoms.
Advancing Religion as a Charitable Head
In terms of the political and legal debate surrounding the advancement of religion, charity law in Canada remains dependent on a list of charitable purposes articulated by the British House of Lords more than a century ago. 1 However, as noted above, critics have raised questions regarding the continued inclusion of religion as a charitable ‘head’ or category. Given the increasing secularization of society, are past presumptions still applicable or, indeed, acceptable? After all, as researcher Don McRae argues, ‘the core of the Canadian definition of charity […] was created in Victorian England and was a product of […] [a] homogenous, white male-dominated society’. 2 Both Frank Cranmer and Bernard Doherty note in their chapters concerning the United Kingdom that the Charity Commission, under new legislation that abolished the presumption of public benefit, 3 now requires religious charities to provide ‘an identifiable, positive, beneficial moral or ethical framework that is promoted by religion which demonstrates that the religion is capable of impacting on society in a beneficial way’. 4 But, as Raymond Chui and Rev. Dr John Pellowe ponder, is it possible for courts or policymakers to recognize and assess spiritual benefits? What, ask Derek Ross and Ian Sinke, might be the constitutional ramifications of retaining or removing the charitable status of religious entities?
Several authors in this volume deal extensively with the Pemsel decision; I point in particular to Juliet Chevalier-Watts’s article. Although the 1891 Pemsel decision, and the 1601 Act 5 of the English Tudor Parliament on which Pemsel relied, have come to define charity law, Professor Donovan Waters points out that the idea of Christian ‘charity’ long predated the 1601 legislation. Indeed, ‘the Christian ethical or moral code was concerned […] with service to the community’. 6 For millennia, Christian organizations have spearheaded good works in numerous fields including education, health and nutrition, elder care, physical welfare and international development. 7 Yet, despite recognizing this lengthy and well-established history, Professor Waters is of the view that the concept of religion being a charitable head has lost its importance in our pluralistic and secular society. He asserts that religion is a matter of belief, not action, and any activities prompted by faith may be more appropriately recognized as charitable in their own right. ‘Charity and spirituality’, says Waters, ‘each per se , are as alike as chalk and cheese’. 8 He suggests that it is time to consider them as separate, and religion qua religion no longer needs to be considered a priori charitable. Instead, we ought to ‘rethink the policies that were once enough’. 9
Though Waters would prefer to take ‘religion out of the scope of charity’, he concedes that another way to recognize the uniqueness of religion would be to retain the third head as a charitable purpose but abolish the default presumption of public benefit. 10 It is my position that Waters is seeking a solution to a non-existent problem. There are very good reasons why we need the third head of charity – reasons which are outlined in the subsequent chapters. Not least of these is the recognition that, contrary to Water’s argument that spirituality can be divorced from action, religious faith and good works are so intricately intertwined in the theology, practice and lives of Christian communities that recognizing religion as charitable speaks to the reality of religion’s positive influence in society.
The Role of Religion in Secular Society
However, that is not how many in society see religion. To understand and address the root of their objections is to move beyond charity law into a deeper discussion on the very nature and role of religion. Indeed, there can be little doubt that religion and religious institutions are increasingly challenged by a secular 11 ideolo