DIVINE RIGHT

 

Remember the First Amendment to the Constitution? That pesky little provision that basically says Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof? By the Fourteenth Amendment, that goes for the states too.

 

Oh yeah? Well, let’s take a Raw Law look at the New York State Penal Law folks...

 

§§ 165.35 Fortune telling. A person is guilty of fortune telling when, for a fee or compensation which he directly or indirectly solicits or receives, he claims or pretends to tell fortunes, or holds himself out as being able, by claimed or pretended use of occult powers, to answer questions or give advice on personal matters or to exorcise, influence or affect evil spirits or curses; except that this section does not apply to a person who engages in the aforedescribed conduct as part of a show or exhibition solely for the purpose of entertainment or amusement. Fortune telling is a class B misdemeanor

 

Now then, did you ever hear of the Church? You know, those wonderful people who brought us the Inquisition? There’s this guy up there called a priest, or a minister. You can recognize him by the clothes and the aura of sanctity he just sprayed on for Sunday. He indirectly gets a fee or compensation from you. He directly gets it from the buck filled basket that was passed at the end of the service. Now, doesn’t he hold himself out as being able, by claimed or pretended use of occult powers (his intercession with the Big Guy, confession, extreme unction, baptism, etc.) to answer questions or give advice on personal matters or to exorcise influence or affect evil spirits? Ever hear of the Rituale Romanum? (That’s the exorcise manual for the cure of the faithfully unfit).

 

How come Father Fred or Minister Mike isn’t busted for violating section 165.35 of the Penal Law when he does the “aforedescribed conduct”? Why pick on the poor fortune teller who is merely trying to earn a living by supposedly conning gullible people, just like organized religion does?

 

Reverend Ripoff conducts a healing prayer ceremony, and there’s no problem there. He invokes the Almighty to fix the faithful just in time for the basket to be passed. (Can I get a witness?) But let Sara Soothsayer get caught by the Vice Squad doing the same thing, and they’ll be Hell to pay. (As well as legal fees and fines).

 

What gives one group of pretenders to the throne free access to the shekels of the credulous, while the more independent operators can get hauled off to the hoosegow doing the same thing? You want to know what gives? A violation of the First Amendment. A conglomeration of church and state that still exists in our laws. This section of the penal law should be obliterated. What it really is designed to do, is stop the con artist from using the credulous–and we already have enough fraud laws in the Penal Law to cover it, without getting all occult about it.

 

I predict there will be some interesting responses to this missive, which hopefully has been found to be for the purpose of entertainment or amusement.