The growing presence in Western society of non-mainstream faiths and
spiritual practices poses a dilemma for the law. If a fortune teller
promises to tell the future in exchange for cash, and both parties
believe in the process, has a fraud been committed? Should someone
with a potpourri of New Age beliefs be accorded the same legal
protection as a devout Catholic? Building on a thorough history of the
legal regulation of fortune-telling laws in four countries, Faith or
Fraud examines the impact of people who identify as “spiritual but
not religious” on the future legal understanding of religious
freedom. Traditional legal notions of religious freedom have been
conceived and articulated in the context of monotheistic, organized
religions that impose moral constraints on adherents. Jeremy Patrick
examines how the law needs to adapt to a contemporary spirituality in
which individuals select concepts drawn from multiple religions,
philosophies, and folklore to develop their own idiosyncratic belief
systems. Faith or Fraud exposes the law’s failure to recognize
individual spirituality as part of modern religious practice,
concluding that the legal conception of religious freedom has not
evolved to keep pace with religion itself.
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Fortune-Telling, Spirituality, and the Law
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780774863346
Publisert
2021
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
University of British Columbia Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter