Druidry recognized as an official religion in Britain

Scott Maniquet
October 2, 2010

Druids may have been around since before the dawn of history, but their modern heirs have only now managed to achieve the status of a state-recognized religion.

London’s Telegraph reports that it took a group known as The Druid Network four years to win recognition from the Charity Commission for England and Wales. The group now has charity status and a separate listing in official surveys of religious believers. the rest

In its detailed report, the Charity Commission even addressed ancient Roman claims that Druids committed human sacrifices, but decided that there is “no evidence of any significant detriment or harm” arising from its modern incarnation.

...and hopefully will remain the case....

From human rights to pagan rites
...If the Druids qualify as a religion, can other cults such as the Scientologists be far behind? Can it be long, indeed, before the wise and learned theologians of the Charity Commission similarly grant charitable status to sorcery, witchcraft or even the Jedi — the fictional Star Wars ‘religion’ which the 2001 census recorded as having no fewer than 390,127 adherents in England and Wales...