The sincerity of a religious belief? If that's what the court says then it's required to define what constitutes religious belief in order to determine said sincerity. Yet (as you seem to allude to) the courts can now magically accept said sincerity of religious belief without defining the religious belief itself. Interesting. Can't wait to get out of as many established laws as I can using my sincere beliefs the court can't question.
Edit: I Forgot there are right-wing children on this forum. That was sarcasm. You know damn well that won't work for brown folks.
Religious beliefs has been construed very broadly, to include Secular Humanism, a view in relation to a creator, and the obligations, if any, between the created and creator, but a belief in god/God not being necessary, recognizing Taoism and more as religion.
Aristotle believed in a first cause, an unmoved mover, who was the cause for the physical world. Aristotle can profess this to be his religious belief, and indeed this would meet the courts’ broad understanding of religious belief. The court could not inform Aristotle what he has professed isn’t a religious belief but philosophical belief into causation.
In Thomas v Review Board of Indiana Employment Security Division, a Jehovah's Witness, worked in roll foundry, which fabricated sheet steel for a variety of industrial uses. The foundry was closed and he was transferred to a department fabricating turrets for military tanks. The remaining departments he couldn’t have worked in were producing weapons. So, rather than working to produce weapons, as he believed doing so would violate his religious beliefs, he asked to be laid off. He wasn’t laid off so he quit, asserting his religious beliefs precluded him from producing weapons.
He applied for unemployment and testified at an administrative hearing he believed contributing to the production of weapons violated his religion. He did concede, however, that he could engage indirectly in the production of materials, although they might be used ultimately make weapons. The ALJ found petitioner had terminated his employment because of his religious convictions, but also determined petitioner was not entitled to benefits because his voluntary termination was not based upon a "good cause [arising] in connection with [his] work," as required by the Indiana statute.
The Review Board affirmed. The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed, holding the Indiana statute, as applied to him,improperly burdened his right to the free exercise of his religion. The Indiana Supreme Court reversed and denied him benefits, holding he had quit voluntarily for personal reasons, his belief being more "personal philosophical choice" than religious belief.
The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed with the Indiana Supreme Court in the latter’s determination his belief was “pesosnal philosophical choice.” The Court noted, “ The determination of what is a "religious" belief or practice is more often than not a difficult and delicate task, as the division in the Indiana Supreme Court attests.7
However, the resolution of that question is not to turn upon a judicial perception of the particular belief or practice in question; religious beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection... The narrow function of a reviewing court in this context is to determine whether there was an appropriate finding that petitioner terminated his work because of an honest conviction that such work was forbidden by his religion.”
The following, below, numbers 21-24, was sufficient for the Court to affirm, the Jehovah Witness quit because of a “honest conviction” of “his religion.”
“21
"Q. And then when it comes to actually producing the tank itself, hammering it out; that you will not do. . . .
22
"A. That's right, that's right when . . . I'm daily faced with the knowledge that these are tanks. . . .
23
* * * * *
24
"A. I really could not, you know, conscientiously continue to work with armaments. It would be against all of the . . . religious principles that . . . I have come to learn. . . ." Ind., 391 N.E.2d, at 1132.”
Freedom of religion does include a logical corollary of professing and living by religious beliefs which do not need to pass a review board, called the courts, as to whether said belief IS a religious belief. Yes, this precludes a religious majority of a particular faith, whether this majority manifests itself in a legislature or as single judge belonging to the religious majority, from ruling the Santeria religious belief of animal sacrifice isn’t a religious belief.
Can't wait to get out of as many established laws as I can using my sincere beliefs the court can't question.
No, you’ve misstated what was said. The courts can question your sincerity to a religious belief. Yet, at times sincerely held religious beliefs may have to yield to laws of general applicability and neutral on their face towards religion. Indeed, this is what the Court decided in Employment Division v Smith, in an opinion penned by devout Catholic, Justice Scalia.
Yet, a law of general applicability and neutral on its face towards religion can be applied in a discriminatory manner against religious beliefs, thereby implicating the free exercise clause, establishment clause, or both. Indeed, that is what the Court held to have happened in Master Piece Cakeshop v CCRD.
The majority drew a comparison of the facts surrounding Phillips denying a request to make a custom cake for a same sex wedding, because it offended his religious beliefs, to other bakers denying the request to place a customer requested message on custom made cakes that stated same sex marriage is sinful. In Phillips’ case, the CCRD determined Phillips refused service on the basis of the protected class of sexual orientation. In the latter, comparison case, the CCRD determined the protected class of “creed,” which includes religious creeds, was not the basis of refused service but instead the refused service was because of the personal “moral” objections the bakers had to the requested message.
For SCOTUS, on review, the CCRD has discriminated against Phillips and his religious beliefs. Phillips was not permitted to refuse service because of his religious beliefs, but magically there’s no foul when bakers refused service because of their “moral” beliefs. So, the message by CCRD was unequivocal. We will green light refusal of service because of “moral” convictions but religious convictions be damned.