Quote:
Originally Posted by gillygirl
But the government and employers don’t mandate what Catholics or Jews eat. Not really a good analogy. From what I’ve read, the Christian Science hierarchy would like to say no, but realize their members are a part of a larger society and therefore won’t enforce a no vaccine ordinance. That doesn’t mean a specific member can’t say they are strict adherents to the doctrine and so claim religious exemption.
I think you’re defining religion too tightly. There was a court case in 2012 in Ohio where a district court decided veganism, in some cases, constitutes a religious belief. Non-theistic moral codes can apply as well.
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Thanks, GG--you inspired me to look more closely. I see from the link below that as you say, my definition is too tight. An individual can hold unique views, unsupported by any organized church, that would be deemed religious, as long as they are "sincerely held" and on "ultimate" issues.
But the employee may need to sue to enforce, and then prove the two criteria. On veganism, it looks like a Seventh-day Adventist is easily covered, as is a person who has made up their own religion that includes veganism. But a person who simply says eating meat is cruel so it is against my religion, would have to prove the "ultimate" part. Similarly, someone who worships their own Sun God with a prominent tattoo is protected, but someone who insists on displaying their Springsteen tattoo because he is their "Rock and Roll God" would have to make a case that their thoughts and practices around life and death, etc actually did revolve around The Boss. (...Wait...I may be covered!...)
https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/s...21610748647076