Abstract
This paper investigates the right of exit from religious associations. The liberal state has a compelling interest in overseeing exit, even if it implies some loss in religious group autonomy. Members should not be bound by rules they find unconscionable. They should be free to leave and able to do so. To enable exit, the paper advocates the use of membership contracts. Religious associations should issue a contract for members working for, residing in, or donating money to the association under a regime of legal exemptions. The membership contract publicises the right of exit and offers a basis for negotiating and contesting its terms. It makes exit less “unthinkable” to members and helps tackle unreasonable economic costs to exit.
Highlights
This paper investigates the right of exit from religious associations
The liberal state has a compelling interest in overseeing exit, even if it implies some loss in religious group autonomy
It has made publicly available on its website a formal acknowledgment of members’ right of exit: Obviously, if anyone is thinking of leaving Opus Dei, they are invited to think their decision over carefully in God’s presence, since they joined the Work out of a conviction that God was calling them to this path
Summary
An adequate regulation of exit must avoid two pitfalls. The first pitfall consists in adopting a posture of laissez-faire, with the hope that individuals will find their way out of their communities with minimal state interference. The case of the Hutterites from Canada illustrates the problem of having worked almost a lifetime for a religious group with communal ownership and having to leave completely destitute.11 Drawing on this example, Spinner-Halev argues that the state should coerce some religious communities in developing an “exit fund”, a small financial help for their former members, too small to constitute an incentive to exit, but enough to allow members to leave. 13 Paul Billingham acknowledges the inherent limitations of a right of exit strategy to justify religious group autonomy—exit costs can be excessively high for dissenters. He rightfully argues that protecting the right of exit remains indispensable, and that it will inevitably interfere with religious group autonomy.
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