People often assume that religious discrimination happens between two people who believe in different gods. For instance, you may hold to a strict Islamic tradition, while your employer is a Christian, and you may feel that they treat you far differently than they do other Christian employees. You could be passed over for promotions, for instance, because your employer doesn’t want someone of your faith in a prominent position.
These things do happen and they are illegal, but it’s important to remember that belief in a god is not critical to this process. You can absolutely face discrimination even if you do not believe in any god at all.
Nontheistic beliefs still qualify
The government notes that nontheistic beliefs can still bring on claims of religious discrimination. All that matters is that the beliefs you do hold, whatever they may be, occupy in your life “a place parallel to that filled by…God” in someone who follows one of these more traditional religions where belief in a God or gods is the ultimate focus.
The goal here is to have true equality in terms of religion. Not all religions follow the same basic structure as others. That does not mean they are less valid in each person’s life or that you deserve to be discriminated against based on what you believe simply because it is different than the faith held by someone else.
If you do think that this has happened to you in the workplace, however, make sure that you look into all of the legal steps you can take to put an end to it.
