When considering crackdowns on ersatz sweat lodges or extreme rites, Americans ought to take guidance from what Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson wrote in 1944: “The price of freedom of religion . . . is that we must put up with, and even pay for, a good deal of rubbish.”

Best-selling author and self-help guru James Ray was convicted last month of negligent homicide in the 2009 deaths of three people at a ceremony he led in an Arizona sweat lodge. His conviction raises enduring questions about how far society should go in monitoring therapeutic spiritual activities, particularly when matters of health and safety are at stake.

The nation faced similar issues in the late 19th century. After several Massachusetts residents died in the 1890s following Christian Science and “mental healing” treatments for illnesses, the state legislature drew up new licensing requirements designed to restrict anyone who offered healing without a medical degree.

Pioneering psychologist William James lobbied against the measures, arguing that “mind cure” treatments seemed to relieve suffering and led to some documented cures.

In response to the controversy, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine opened its doors in 1893 with the aim of standardizing how medical licensing functioned state-to-state.

The mental-cure movement didn’t fade away, but it did begin focusing less on health and more on questions of happiness and prosperity—the kind of matters featured in the 2006 blockbuster New Age movie “The Secret,” where Ray first gained national attention.

Ray’s program could be extreme: Even before the sweat lodge ceremony—a sauna-like ritual in an outdoor hut—most of the 56 participants had endured being outside in the desert without food or water for 36 hours. The two-hour sweat lodge became a nightmarish scene as many participants in the darkened, broiling structure vomited, passed out or struggled to assist others while Ray urged them to stick it out for the sake of personal growth.

Legislators have considered new laws to ensure the safety and proper construction of sweat lodges. In Arizona no regulations govern these structures, which originate from Native American culture but are sometimes adapted by New Agers and others.

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The source for this document was originally published on online.wsj.com – however, the original URL is no longer available.]