Gnosticism: here come the laywers

GNOSTICISM: HERE COME THE LAWYERS.

Lawyers criticise Charity Commission's decision on gnostics

By Paul Jump, Third Sector, 26 January 2010

Regulator 'obliged to draw on absurd case law'

The Charity Commission's rejection of the Gnostic Centre's application for charitable registration is "begging" to be appealed to the charity tribunal, according to charity lawyer Rosamund McCarthy.

An internal commission review decided that gnosticism did not meet the legal definition of a religion because it did not promote "a positive, beneficial, moral or ethical framework" .

But McCarthy, a partner at Bates Wells & Braithwaite, said the case law the commission was obliged to draw on was "absurd" and needed to be tested legally. She said it was also possible that the commission had breached the Human Rights Act, which requires religions and other moral belief systems to be treated equally.

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Can't say I'm surprised. Background here.