Washington State Passes Law Against the Seal of the Confessional

[Highlander]

Without regard to the Founders and their definition of "establishment", I think you make an interesting point. If the point, however, is based solely upon tax-exemption being a declaration of being part of the body of government, then I see a problem. If so, then all 501(c) organizations would be arms of the government. Actually, that mechanism worked in the Soviet Union, so it has promise in the US.

[Jack3]

The very recent Supreme Court ruling against Wisconsin and for Catholic Charities supports your contention that the State cannot decide theology, in the form of deciding the validity of a religion's organizations.

A law that differentiates between religions along theological lines is textbook denominational discrimination. Take, for instance, a law that treats “a religious service of Jehovah’s Witnesses . . . differently than a religious service of other sects” because the former is “less ritualistic, more unorthodox, [and] less formal.” Fowler v. Rhode Island, 345 U. S. 67, 69 (1953). Or consider an exemption that applies only to religious organizations that perform baptisms, engage in monotheistic worship, or hold services on Sunday. Such laws establish a preference for certain religions based on the content of their religious doctrine, namely, how they worship, hold services, or initiate members and whether they engage in those practices at all. Such official differentiation on theological lines is fundamentally foreign to our constitutional order, for “[t]he law knows no heresy, and is committed to the support of no dogma.” Watson v. Jones, 13 Wall. 679, 728 (1872).

Justice Sotomayor,
Unanimous opinion of the Court,
Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc., et al. v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission et al.

[Doom]

Without regard to the Founders and their definition of "establishment", I think you make an interesting point. If the point, however, is based solely on tax exemption being a declaration of being part of the body of government, then I see a problem. If so, then all 501(c) organizations would be arms of the government. Actually, that mechanism worked in the Soviet Union, so it has promise in the US.

No, the problem would come from treating one religious organization differently from another based on the doctrinal or other content of the faith, that is unconstitutional.