County, In Change of Heart, Says Maum Meditation Center Qualifies As A Religious Institution

Under the Lake County, Illinois zoning ordinances, "religious institutions" are permitted to operate in areas zoned for "estates."  Yesterday's Lake Forester reports that the County Department of Planning, Building and Development has finally decided that Maum Meditation is a religion after initially taking the position that Maum Meditation House of Truth could not operate in a home donated to it by one of its followers because it did not meet the "elements of religion." The Department's change of heart comes two weeks after Maum Meditation filed a federal lawsuit seeking to have the court declare that Maum Meditation is a religion. The county says it changed its mind after it received information showing that Maum Meditation is part of an "emerging new religious movement" from the Far East.