ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that there are a variety of instances in which non-religious beliefs have been protected by association with religious beliefs. However, some religious traditions either encourage or demand a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle, or require believers to abstain from eating or contact with certain types of animal life – for example, the familiar prohibitions on pork and shellfish in the Jewish dietary laws. Similarly, some of the concessions won by religious individuals working in the public sector contexts would be of benefit to non-religious vegans. In contrast, the religious juridical system in Great Britain at times bends for non-religious beliefs that are not related to matters of conscience. The National Secular Society (NSS) works towards a society in which all citizens, regardless of religious belief, or lack of religious belief, can live together fairly and cohesively. The NSS presents an express commitment to human rights.
