When religion takes the rights of the individual away using the First Amendment as a basis, it is a compromise of the very reason the First Amendment was written to begin with. The First Amendment was written to protect the rights of the people not to protect the rights of a religion to oppress the people. Freedom from religious oppression was the reason for many coming to this country and now we find that religion has in effect gotten the upper hand by twisting the United States Constitution into something it was never meant to be.
If NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association) were to simply reorganize themselves as a religion then they would have the same usage of "clergy penitent privilege" backed by the twisted use of the United States Constitution as a lawful basis to defend not reporting confessed child molesters within their organization.
Therefore to correct this misusage of law all crimes otherwise required to be reported by any citizen should have the same application when it comes to a religious context. Any religion that suppresses the obeying of civil liberties and natural justice should face the same penalties in the courts as any "entity" that commits similar actions. It is only then the United States Constitution will fulfill its intended purpose, that is, to protect the individual freedom of each citizen.
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