# Why is religion exempt from federal Truth in Advertising laws? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 3, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417 "2014-02-03T14:58:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417/61 "2014-02-03T22:23:10Z")
The OP would have been vastly better off discussing advertisements for Tarot card readings and those various 1-800 Psychic lines. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417/62 "2014-02-03T23:06:53Z")
> [@cns21](#): > > Salvation. Empty promises. Actually, my religion is pretty specific in pointing out that you can’t buy salvation, and you aren’t guaranteed salvation just because you belong to a church. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417/63 "2014-02-03T23:10:45Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > … or be required to have a Mental Health Warning on its packaging … > > It’s a ‘product’ - with packaging? Got any examples? Mummies. 😉 _“WARNING: The providers of this service are in no way responsible for any nonexistence of the afterlife, or any inability of the customer’s physical body to transition into any such afterlife. Nor are said providers responsible for any harm or inconvenience caused by postmortem removal of organs from said body.”_ ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417/64 "2014-02-04T17:56:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The real answer is because the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits not only government sanctioning of religion, but government _interference_ with religion. In other words, the FTCA’s reach is limited not only by its own terms but by Congress’ lack of authority to regulate religious promises. Agreed. Think of the scope of what the OP is requesting. I presume that he is asking a court to rule that there is no evidence of an afterlife, therefore claims of salvation are false and void. Putting aside the First Amendment prohibition against the government doing this, if we open the door for courts to determine the legitimacy of religious views, what is to stop a jury in Alabama from finding as a matter of fact, or a Judge finding as a matter of law that Jesus Christ did rise from the grave and promises salvation to those who follow Him?? Is the OP okay with such a finding or is he only concerned with litigating matters that are guaranteed to turn out his preferred way? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417/65 "2014-02-04T18:24:06Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > …a Judge finding as a matter of law that Jesus Christ did rise from the grave and promises salvation to those who follow Him?? Dollars to donuts says an AL judge _did_ do that at some point. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417/66 "2014-02-05T14:31:53Z")
You see, this is why teaching everyone to read isn’t a good idea. Someone picks up a Dawkins book, and then they go on the internet… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417/67 "2014-02-05T15:10:51Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > You see, this is why teaching everyone to read isn’t a good idea. Someone picks up a Dawkins book, and then they go on the internet… 😃 I’m not seeing how the first part is necessary. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417/68 "2014-02-05T17:14:33Z")
I gather Scientology is the closest current example to church-as-business-enterprise, though of the few Scientology ads I can recall ever seeing, I don’t remember them mentioning their auditing courses specifically or touting the results. I suppose if the Catholic Church started advertising a two-for-one deal on indulgences… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417/69 "2014-02-05T20:21:55Z")
Don’t start. The last time they did that we got _more_ religions. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417/70 "2014-02-06T05:31:33Z")
**RNATB** is correct in citing to the First Amendment, I think. In [US v. Ballard](http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/322/78), the Supreme Court [ruled](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Ballard) that the Free Exercise Clause bars a court (or a jury) from ruling upon the truth or falsity of a religious belief. The _sincerity_ of a religious belief, however, may potentially be subject to legal scrutiny. I.e., if you solicit donation to your religion that you set up as a deliberate scam (but who would possibly do such a thing?), fraud charges are not out of the question. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-religion-exempt-from-federal-truth-in-advertising-laws/680417.md?page=3)