Religious exemption from using the AI at work

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https://pivot-to-ai.com/2026/06/22/religious-exemption-from-using-the-ai-at-work/

Become a Unitarian Universalist!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kB4zFlEDjw&list=UU9rJrMVgcXTfa8xuMnbhAEA - video
https://pivottoai.libsyn.com/20260622-religious-exemption-from-using-the-ai-at-work - podcast

time: 3 min 57 sec

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This is tougher than it sounds, at least in the USA. This 2018 law-review article fully works two examples for Pastafarians, focusing on Holy Headgear (pasta strainers, colanders, or salad spinners, worn as hats) and Friday. Their opinion is fairly nuanced because employers are traditionally given a wide range of options for proffering labor to employees without infringing on employee expression. They conclude that the main issue with Pastafarian claims isn’t anything to do with the sincerity of religious belief, but the specific nature of asking to never work another Friday again. Fridays are too much of a request, but Holy Headgear is probably fine. The prophet wrote some commentary on this article:

Talking to Mr. Dowdy a bit, I don’t know his exact opinion on whether Pastafarians should be granted allowances to dress as Pirates and take every Friday off of work… I believe the larger point of his article is that courts should not be deciding what is and what is not a True religion and it’s not their place to maintain a list of protected religious activities that are deemed acceptable in the workplace.

Flipping things around, employers have been hesitant to embrace or endorse my Pastafarianism even when I enthusiastically point out e.g. that I can work during the winter solstice. They know that it would lead to requests for religious respect. BTW, somebody’s surely gonna be a little snot and say something like “but Pastafarianism isn’t a real religion, it’s a parody.” First, they’re missing the point: employers think religious complaints about AI are bullshit, just like they think Pastafarianism is bullshit, which is why they’re not predisposed to honor such complaints. Second, they’re missing the point: I don’t need their permission to eat noodles every Friday, but I do need an employer’s permission to not be scheduled to work.

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I looked at their online congregation(because there are no chapters in my country unfortunately) and they seem to be doing a lot of work on prison abolition and making prisoners’ lives more bearable. I might actually try joining them, and I will at least join a few of their meetings and such.

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Comments in Fuck AI@lemmy.world

OP edited

A weird thing about living under USA is how much religion is privileged. You can have whatever wacky belief based on religion and the state will respect that in many ways.

For example, I was coerced into jury “duty” recently. In order to escape I wound up debating with the prosecutor about the bible. If I find myself debating about the bible, then I’m definitely in some crazy situation. I would have much preferred to explain my resistance in more reasonable, humanitarian terms. The state doesn’t give a shit about your principles, but they’ll respect any religious beliefs. It helps explain why the system is total trash.

(I got out of jury duty btw.)

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From what I hear, the magic words are “hey, I’ve learned this cool thing called jury nullification”

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It’s better to speak about it roughly as a concept without getting into the specifics, such as “i morally cannot find someone guilty of X”. The judge and lawyers will know what you’re getting at and you won’t have “tainted” the entire jury pool which could get you in trouble in some courts.

But it’s best to say nothing and get on jury duty so you can use your right to try to nullify if circumstances warrant it. You still can’t mention it when you’ve been selected and you still need to participate in jury deliberations but you can ask questions to other jurors and raise doubt in the prosecution’ case/ defendant’s guilt. You also aren’t required to justify your vote but if you need to explain to your fellow jurors you can just simply say “in my heart im just not able to convict”

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If you get on a jury you could save a life. Why get out of it?

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Honestly I think we need to use this more. If religion means an org doesn’t have to pay taxes, then my mutual aid organization is a church now. Homeless shelter is a church now. I have a right to peaceful protest? How about my right to hold a sit-down prayer service in the street?

So yeah, I’m all about AI exemption for religion. Looks like I’m about to become extremely devout! C:

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