Bitcoin Forum

The title says it all- tax exempt status, the act of transacting Bitcoins an act of faith with the scripture of the blockchain?

One could even argue it might protect Bitcoin from being outlawed in countries that recognize freedom of Religion.

Satoshi is our prophet !

Yes. Lets do it.

Religions are based on faith, not reality.  Once you understand the bitcoin protocol, there is no mystery to it.

No mystery? You mean like the imaginary disappeared pseudo Japanese crypto genius who created, lead his disciples and disappeared? You mean that no mystery? :-)

There is plenty of mystery here, and faith. People buying coins have faith in it's value. People who do transactions on first confirmation have faith in no double spends. We ALL have faith there isn't some government super computer crunching away this very moment intend of outrunning our BTC chain and pulling a 51%.

This whole thing is based on faith. Faith in numbers, in math, in the 'invisible hand of the market', faith in the very idea of remaking the world to be a more fair equitable place.

I doubt it would matter in the least, but go ahead.  Crazier things have been done.

Some easy reading for the evening:

A tax guide for the IRS
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf

Anyone have any experience with registering a religion? Form a brief Google search there seems to be no need to register outside of tax purposes.

My faith in humanity would be lost if this helped in the slightest.

But certainly the humor in it would have at least some redeeming value. :-)

Burn the Unbelievers !

As far as legality in general goes, this would be great if it was the exception and not the rule.

Lots of people have made money their religion, and that certainly hasn't prevented regulation in the past.

Filesharing is recognized as official religion in Sweden. Why Bitcoins cannot be a religion too?

Yes there is no faith in false promises or fairy tales, the engineering of Bitcoin is more solid than Boeing 747. But we might develop some rituals like washing anus before sending bitcoin payment. That will make it a true religion.

Bitcoin is simply math, and there's a nice tradition of math-based religion going back 2500 years:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoreanism

+1 to declaring bitcoin a religion!

You do have to say a little prayer everyday in hopes that you don't get scammed or lose all your coin in hacks by Chinese relics dealers and such. 

You should always wash your anus before making bitcoin transactions!

@ OP: Ask those guys: http://www.scientology.org/

+1

Look up the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, they tried something similar with weed. If flew for a little while then the Goverment got pissed and reversed its choice.

http://www.ethiopianzioncopticchurch.org/

I just leave this here:

http://www.bitcoinchurch.org/

Not quite what we were thinking of, but still- wow.

Amen

If it can help avoid regultaion / taxes, I'm all in !  washing anus or other strange ritual are good for me, as long as it can prevent the tax man to hit !

Well not now. If you wouldn't have publically announced this as a motive, maybe.

Considering that bitcoin can't be regulated by the government or taxed this would do nothing but waste time, and resources.

Calling Bitcoin a religion would do nothing to advance the cause of freedom nor invoke any legal protection, and would make us look psychotic and out of touch.

As if sending lots of money to a guy with an eyepatch promising 7% per week from a secret business plan hadn't already done that
 :-\

HA!

Seriously tho, it bears some thought... at the very least it would involve a custom client and some seriously intricate misdirection on the part of those involved --- you'd actually have to accept donations and disperse humanitarian aid... as well as spiritual advise...


"Bitcoin given right to not be taxed" could be a very interesting legal issue in a few years.

Tax exemption for religious enterprises is a form of financial regulation:

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/regulation?q=regulation


The tax exemption is a "directive made and maintained by an authority".

Pfft. My logo is bigger than his.  ;)

hahah

In fact money did become many people's religion, and worshipping USD have been frequently displayed on many different medium

Compared to them, worshipping BTC has much more meaningful and serious feeling  ;D

Scientology.

So wait are you saying we are not psychotic and out of touch?   Sorry could not pass that up.

Not interested in any religions but if we go this way please no mats for praying to our bitcoin gods four times a day and I am out if we call a holy war. 

My first official act would be to issue a Fatwā against paypay.

If Bitcoin becomes a religion then schools would not be able to allow anything Bitcoin related to be mentioned.

Wording would have to be changed in order to allow anything Bitcoin related at school.

See "Holiday parties" or "Winter break"...

Great idea. Someone should get the church of scientology to accept bitcoins... think of all the tx fees =P

Yes, I agree. The last thing bitcoin would need is the opening to be called a "cult", even if the church was purely a non-regulation move.

Why make things harder for ourselves?

Yours or someone else's? You don't identify the anus to be cleaned. I think washing someone else's would make it way more religiony.

Alternatively we could go for a micronation. We would be in good company:
http://micronations.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_micronations (http://micronations.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_micronations)

I suggest an anarchist, virtual one. Due to the crypto-paranoid spirit required to survive more than 15 minutes, we might reckon each other with a secret handshake and/or other signs (a QR?).

A secret anus washing ritual.

I sent you that idea via PM and assumed it was going to remain private, but I now see you took it upon yourself to tell the whole community. I duly hope you don't decide to mention what flavor bath salts we discussed.

~Cackling Bear~

Since many here seems to be anally-obsessed, we could opt for cerimonial enemas. So the tub girl and goatsee could be our icons.

I cannot see how having the whole community lining up to wash your anus would be a bad thing.

As for bath salts, I guess that will remain a surprise for the washer.

BTCitcoinspels

Genesis 1

In the beginning Satoshi created the algorithm and the bitcoin-client.
Now the bitcoin network was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of financial freedom was hovering over the waters.
And Satoshi said, "Let there be Genesis Block," and there was a Genesis Block.
Satoshi saw that the Genesis Block was good, and he separated the Genesis Block from the darkness.
[..]

 :'(


ALLLELUIIAHHH!

Where's the revised international version?

And praise Satoshi it was good!

And though it was the world made believe that Satoshi has left us.

And many felt great despair. But then the holy algorithm reviled the truth.

Satoshi ascended into the blockchain from where he will guide us until eternity.

In the name of Satoshi, the blockchain and deflation.

In eternity.

Bitcoin.

Smiles are even less regulated than religion. Bitcoin = smile imo.

Tax exempt status is given to organisations, not their members.  Even if you could somehow pull of registering a Bitcoin organisation as a religious organisation, only that specific organisation and it's subsidiaries would enjoy tax exempt status.

Sure, but making using the bitcoin network a sacrament (like any ritual in other religions) would make it impossible for bitcoin to be made illegal in the US.

pretty sure animal sacrifice is still illegal despite it's use in several religions, some of which ARE active.

Statements like this betray a fundamental misunderstanding of the law and its relationship to the individuals which make up government.

Religion has to do with the Spirit.
Is there anything spiritual in bitcoin that could be bound to a faith?

What a crock of shit.  Plenty of religious rituals are illegal in many Western nations and if you could just declare something a sacrament in order to prevent its use being illegal there'd be no illegal drugs (do you seriously believe that people haven't considered this in respect of illegal drugs in the past?).  

While I believe that religions enjoy far too much protection, that protection is far from absolute.  As has been pointed out already, the manner in which the US applies the principal of separation between church and state would impose limitations on how and where Bitcoin could be promoted if it was somehow brought under the umbrella of religion.

This is all correct to a point. I don't think I'll be able to get human sacrifice legalised, even if religious.

However, afaik peyotl is legal for members of whichever church it is that believes taking the drug is a sacrament.

The law doesn't really make a distinction between rituals which involve harming others... But the courts do. I have think under this vein even if laws were passed affecting bitcoin the courts would still dismiss those cases as being protected if it was a sacrament... simply because it doesn't harm anyone.