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EEOC Notice N-915.022: The Commission defines religious practices to include moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right or wrong which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views. (29, C.F.R. § 1605.1) This is adopted from the Supreme Court's determination in Seeger that religion need only be "(a) sincere and meaningful belief which occupies in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by ... God [in other religions]." (Commission Decision No. 76-104) The only limitations on a belief protected under Title VII are that it must be religious as opposed to social, political, or economic in nature (Seeger, 380 U.S. at 173; see also United States v. MacIntosh, 283 U.S. 605) and it must be sincerely held. (United States v. Rasheed, 663 F.2d 843, 847 (9th Cir. 1981)

INA: Act 337 – Oath of Renunciation and Allegiance The term "religious training and belief" as used in this section shall mean an individual's belief in a relation to a Supreme Being involving duties superior to those arising from any human relation, but does not include essentially political, sociological, or philosophical views or a merely personal moral code. Aliens and Nationality Sec. 337. [8 U.S.C. 1448]; ." 81 Stat. 104; War and National Defense: 50 U. S. C. App. § 456 (j) (1964 ed., Supp. IV)

THE NATURE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF UNDER TITLE VII:

The Commission defines religious practices to include moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right or wrong which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views. (29, C.F.R. § 1605.1) This is adopted from the Supreme Court's determination in Seeger that religion need only be "(a) sincere and meaningful belief which occupies in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by ... God [in other religions]." (Commission Decision No. 76-104) Even those religious beliefs that others may find "incomprehensible or incorrect" are protected under Title VII. Therefore, an employer may not judge the veracity or reasonableness of the religious beliefs of an employee. A religious belief or practice need not be based upon a traditional religion and does not have to be a belief held as tenet by others of the same religion. Moreover, the Commission has held that protected religious belief also includes the freedom not to believe. 16/ The only limitations on a belief protected under Title VII are that it must be religious as opposed to social, political, or economic in nature (Seeger, 380 U.S. at 173; see also United States v. MacIntosh, 283 U.S. 605) and it must be sincerely held. (United States v. Rasheed, 663 F.2d 843, 847 (9th Cir. 1981)

Blacks Law Dictionary: Religion: A system of faith and worship usually involving belief in a supreme being and usually containing a moral or ethical code; esp., such a system recognized and practiced by a particular church, sect, or denomination. In construing the protections under the Free Exercise Clause, courts have interpreted the term religion quite broadly to include a wide variety of theistic and nontheistic beliefs.

Cal Jur 3d defines religion, which applies perfectly to the established beliefs and practices that school authorities have incorporated in public schools:

"belief and religious training" "Within that phrase would come all sincere religious beliefs which are based upon a power or being, or upon a faith, to which all else is subordinate or upon which all else is ultimately dependent." United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163, 177 (1965)

Congress of the United States of America March 27, 1854, received the report of Mr. Meacham of the House Committee on the Judiciary:

"What is an establishment of religion? It must have a creed, defining what a man must believe; it must have rites and ordinances, which believers must observe; it must have ministers of defined qualifications, to teach the doctrines and administer the rites; it must have tests for the submissive and penalties for the non-conformist. There never was as established religion without all these..."

The EEOC defines religious practices as including "moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views." 29, C.F.R. § 1605.1; 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-(j). Religion under Title VII is broadly defined as including "all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief…."

Public education's pluralist beliefs definitely includes their own "moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong" and they are "sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views."

"Religious beliefs need not be universally held within religion in order to qualify as religious or in order to be entitled to protection;" 29 CFR § 1605.1. Thomas v. Review Board of Indiana Employment Security Division, 450 U.S. 707, 715-16, 25 EPD 31.622 (1981) EEOC Notice N-915.022

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