According to the EEOC, “A belief is ‘religious’ for Title VII applications if it is ‘religious’ in the person’s ‘own scheme of matters,’ i.e., it is a ‘sincere and meaningful’ perception that ‘occupies a put in the lifestyle of its possessor parallel to that stuffed by … God.’”
Employers should not look at the reasonableness of an individual’s religious beliefs, and, in actuality, “religious beliefs need to have not be suitable, reasonable, consistent, or comprehensible to other folks.”
“An employee’s belief, observance or observe can be ‘religious’ beneath Title VII even if the personnel is affiliated with a religious team that does not espouse or recognize that individual’s perception, observance, or practice, or if number of — or no — other people today adhere to it.”
To make issues extra advanced for employers, the EEOC states that spiritual beliefs include “non-theistic ethical or moral beliefs as to what is correct and mistaken which are sincerely held with the energy of standard religious sights.” Faith generally worries “ultimate ideas” about “life, reason, and demise.”
Exempt from “religious beliefs” are “social, political, or economic philosophies, as nicely as mere personal choices.”
Even so, the EEOC cautions that the overlap concerning a spiritual and political perspective does not put it exterior the scope of Title VII’s religion protections, “as lengthy as that watch is component of a complete spiritual belief process and is not simply just an ‘isolated educating.’”