Freemasonry is a religion a California appeals court ruled on Oct 3, and its adherents must be given equal standing as other faiths under US law. In a case involving the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Cathedral and the City of Los Angeles, the Seventh District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles held it could not distinguish between “the earnest pursuit of [Masonic] principles … from more widely acknowledged modes of religious exercise” such as Christianity or Judaism.
The Court was asked to hear the Freemasons appeal of a lower court’s ruling that the City of Los Angeles could regulate the use of the Masonic cathedral. The Scottish Rite Freemasons argued that while they were not a formal “religion”, their property should however be exempted from government regulation to the same degree that churches were exempted so as to allow them the free “religious exercise”.
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The Court was asked to hear the Freemasons appeal of a lower court’s ruling that the City of Los Angeles could regulate the use of the Masonic cathedral. The Scottish Rite Freemasons argued that while they were not a formal “religion”, their property should however be exempted from government regulation to the same degree that churches were exempted so as to allow them the free “religious exercise”.
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