What would it take for an average Joe to make up his own religion and have it formally recognized as such by government, law, and other social institution. I mean, say I wanted to get away with something illegal - nothing major, just a minor infraction - and decided to circumvent the law by making up a religion that said I had a divine right to perform the illegal act or that it was a sin not to. Obviously, this would never hold water in court… but then what would? Obviously, something would. The example that comes to mind is that of the Native American Church which seems to have gained legal exception to consume peyote on religious grounds. So what is the criteria for the government and legal system to officially recognize a religion as formal and thus subject to certain legal priveleges?
A text would be a big help. Google L. Ron Hubbard for some tips. This would, hopefully, lead to followers - the flock, as it were. Then, I think you’d have to have a set of customs or rituals that the flock follows regularly - or at least says they do. This is where you’d slip in your misbehavior of choice.
Consider Dettmer v Landon, Virginia Supreme court:
[Wicca is] clearly a religion for First Amendment purposes…Members of the Church sincerely adhere to a fairly complex set of doctrines relating to the spiritual aspect of their lives, and in doing so they have ‘ultimate concerns’ in much the same way as followers of more accepted religions. Their ceremonies and leadership structure, their rather elaborate set of articulated doctrine, their belief in the concept of another world, and their broad concern for improving the quality of life for others gives them at least some facial similarity to other more widely recognized religions."
Hhm… Well, I do have a doctrine: mm-theory.com - no followers though.
Not that I’m serious about doing this, but I wonder if this could justify in the eyes of the law the practice of shamanism. There are plenty of legal ways to practice shamanism, and in the last paper of my ‘doctrine’ I promote some and argue for their utility, but by and large the use of psychedelics, most of which are unambiguously illegal, is the prime method. Though I’d have to admit, the arguments I’d be bound to are wholy different from those of typical shamanism.
If there is a clear founder, (s)he should be dead first. And society needs to deem their beliefs a societal benefit overall.
I think anon’s tip is a good one. You might want to attribute the scriptural text to someone who is on death’s door. But don’t forget to tie up the movie rights.
Try to get poor people and Bono involved.
Or piggy back off an exisiting church and religion. You become part of a church get folks to follow you then break away with a written document. You can go to the Library of congress on line and check out the exact requirements.
A good example of “make your own religion”:
principiadiscordia.com/index.php
This is simply a question of power. The law is held by the current governing body that was not always the governing body. It subsequently became so because it held the most power and took control → expanded/evolved.
Older religions or sets of laws are seen as a threat to the current laws if stirred up. There may be much more support for this old power than is healthy for continued control by the current power if stirred up. The solution is to appease it as little as possible but enough to calm it for the foreseeable future.
Newer religions that get recognised and respected are just rip-offs of the current ones that hold enough power to have been incorporated into the current laws. They fall in line in all the important substructural bases and only differ in superficial details. For example, scientology is just christianity without the myths, and anything about it that is seen as dated. These things are replaced with technology and a contempory feel, with the amusing exploitation of the current underground fascination of the impending proximity of unification with outer space and aliens lol.
If you wanna make your own recognised religion, just follow this simple formula 
What do you see in common between Christianity and Scientology?