TORONTO, October 7, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The Humanist Association of Toronto wants the Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency, formerly Revenue Canada, to recognize the group as a religious-based charity and to grant it equivalent tax privileges. “Organizations which seek to foster ethical or moral standards have not been held to advance religion,” wrote Maureen Kidd, director-general of the agency’s charities directorate. “Further, there is no evidence that the association undertakes to worship a deity or supreme being”—a requirement. But Sheena Sharp, a spokesman for the Humanists, says: “We are a principled organization, an organization centred around principles, centred around principles from Aristotle on what it means to lead a good life. ... The essential problem that we see is that we should be treated equally, and we are not being treated equally.” To view a full-text article, enter the term “secular humanist” in the search engine at www.nationalpost.com