Is Scientology a Religion? Religious Marriage and the UK Supreme Court's Landmark Decision Hodkin v Registrar

14 Pages Posted: 11 Dec 2013 Last revised: 13 Dec 2013

See all articles by Lorenzo Zucca

Lorenzo Zucca

King's College London – The Dickson Poon School of Law

Date Written: December 9, 2013

Abstract

Britain lives in the age of equal marriage: most forms of discrimination have been removed and the state recognizes the union between two persons rather than that between a man and a woman. It is therefore not surprising that religious marriage is finally recognized to be pluralist: the church of scientology, for example, has just been allowed to celebrate valid religious marriages on its premises by the UK Supreme Court in a landmark case of Hodkin v Registrar. The decision is particularly important because it squarely moves away from a Judeo-Christian theistic definition of religion and embrace a much more open test that is broadly in line with religious pluralism.

Suggested Citation

Zucca, Lorenzo, Is Scientology a Religion? Religious Marriage and the UK Supreme Court's Landmark Decision Hodkin v Registrar (December 9, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2365308 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2365308

Lorenzo Zucca (Contact Author)

King's College London – The Dickson Poon School of Law ( email )

Somerset House East Wing
Strand
London, WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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