Can you sue a church or religion for false advertisement?

Now THAT would be fun...





You would most definitely win. Hmmm....





-----------------------





Two women who gave their life savings to an apocalyptic religious group say they are victims of fraud because the church failed to make good on promises that the women get land and see Christ in return for their money.





TLC





The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days is polygamous sect of Mormonism. Led by James D. Harmston, who claims to have been ordained by Moses. His followers consider him to be the reincarnation of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church). TLC can be considered a cult of Mormonism, from which it is derived, while Mormonism itself is a cult of Christianity.Kaziah Hancock and Cindy Stewart took their case against Jim Harmston and The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of The Last Days (TLC) to the Utah Court of Appeals on Tuesday.





The women won an earlier district court lawsuit against the Manti-based church, but it was thrown out by a judge.





Stewart turned over her life savings to TLC. Hancock sold her farm and gave the church the proceeds.





In return, Harmston allegedly promised the women membership in the 鈥淐hurch of the Firstborn,'鈥?that they would see Christ face-to-face, and be given land.





An attorney for Harmston argued that the promises are rooted in church doctrine, not a business contract. Also, Utah law requires a written contract for agreements related to property, attorney Kevin Bond said.





Bond said the promises were not to be fulfilled by Harmston, but by God.





He said a ruling in the women鈥檚鈥?favor would set a precedent for excommunicated church members of any faith to seek repayment of tithing.





Don Redd, an attorney representing the women, said Harmston and TLC should not be allowed to create a 鈥渞eligious cocoon'鈥?to protect themselves.





Hancock and Stewart first sued in 2002. A jury awarded them $300,000, but a judge said there were too many church members to fairly divide up damages.





Redd refiled the lawsuit, but a judge dismissed three of five claims, prompting the appeal and a separate district court suit.





TLC was founded in 1994 by Harmston after his excommunication from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.





TLC, which preaches the practice of polygamy as one of its tenets, made news in 2002 after posting a declaration on its Web site that the end world was at hand and only its church members would survive.Can you sue a church or religion for false advertisement?
good question! ask the ACLU for help on this one...good luck!Can you sue a church or religion for false advertisement?
Probably not successfully. Besides, most of the things that churches 'advertise' are vague and unfalsifiable.
I don't know...my religion and my church offers you Jesus and Heaven...
People can sue for anything...doesn't mean you'll win, though.
If they meet your state's definition, yes...a church could be sued. A religion is different, though...how do you serve a complaint on a whole religion?





What you think is false advertising may not be, however.
Only if their promises are guaranteed by the said church
what were they advertising? and did you purchase anything


and get a reciept?
Sure. In America you can sue anybody and anything. Remember the idiot who wanted to sue God?
That is an aweful question, why put that out there... that means we can come back and sue you too because you have no proof it doesn't exists, get over it....





FREE SPEECH%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;FREE RELIGION!
only if they promise to deliver and fail - they'd probably turn it onto you and find some way of saying your faith wasn't strong enough or something!