History Main / AgainstMyReligion

Being tolerant of one another's religious beliefs is very important (in many 20th & 21st century cultures, at least). In works created by people from those cultures, if someone says something is against their religion, other characters think they can't make them do it. Now that person might be telling BlatantLies to get out of doing that thing, but it might be the truth. Other characters are likely not going to press that character about it.

** During negotiations, the Jawas demand Din put down his weapons. He claims that his weapons are a part of his religion; he grudgingly relents but is soon revealed to have kept his wrist-mounted flamethrower. Even better, since Mandalorians are a ProudWarriorRace, it is quite possible that he was being perfectly honest. His armor is ''definitely'' part of his religion, and when the Jawas try to buy it off him this deal is dismissed outright.

* Similarly in ''Film/PitchBlack'' Imam refuses to drink liquor for the same reason, even though its the only thing drinkable for the moment. This is not well researched regarding Islam. Imam's position in the film is dire. Plus, he has two children to look after. He was stuck on a desert planet with no other food or water -- in Islam, if the situation is dire enough to threaten one's life by lack of halal food and clean (no alcohol) drinks, Muslims are permitted to consume any available meat (meat of a lizard, meat of a dog or pig) or drink alcohol. Just to survive until help comes.

** The person is known as Niko Alm and this was more of a publicity stunt. He protested against the "privilege" of Religious people to get their photos taken with various forms of headgear. He got this allowed in the end because the spaghetti strainer didn't obstruct his face and not based on his belief.

Keep in mind that most religions, especially the Abrahamic ones, view not doing what you can to survive as a greater sin. If it comes down to starving or eating non-kosher/halaal food for example, the religion expressly commands you survive.

* In ""Film/TheThirteenthWarrior'' Ahmed explains to the Viking Herger that he can't drink alcohol whether made from "grape or grain". Herger laughs and explains mead is made from honey. Cue next morning shot of Ahmed holding head and moaning.

** During negotiations, the Jawas demand the Mandalorian put down his weapons. He claims that his weapons are a part of his religion; he grudgingly relents but is soon revealed to have kept his wrist-mounted flamethrower. Even better, since Mandalorians are a ProudWarriorRace, it is quite possible that he was being perfectly honest. His armor is ''definitely'' part of his religion, and when the Jawas try to buy it off him this deal is dismissed outright.

* The "Sacrum Profanum" gig from ''VideoGame/{{Cyberpunk 2077}}'' has you dealing with a pair of Buddhist-style monks who were kidnapped by Maelstrom, a vicious gang of cyberpsychos who among other things love to forcibly cybernize people. Cybernetic implantation is against the religion that these monks practice, but unfortunately for them, not only do Maelstrom not give a damn about that, they find it ''funny''. And then you're tasked with rescuing the monk's non-modified brother. [[PacifistRun Without killing anyone]].

** Similarly, he absolutely refuses to take off his helmet, and would rather die than show his face in front of others. Since he was raised by a cult of zealots who strictly adhered to "The Way," he considers those who wear the armor who are not of Mandalore, or those who are of Mandalore but take off their helmets to be a disgrace to their creed.

* In the 2009 Christmas Special of ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', Grif claims to have joined every single religion in the world. That way, he can refuse to do anything, since, according to him, every day of the week is at least one religion's holy day of rest (except for Monday, curiously).

* Taken to the extreme: the entire point of the [=MtoP=] (Motohiro to People) parody religion started in 2018 by Japanese Motohiro Hisano is to bestow its followers with the power of "religious reasons" to invoke to refuse things like working overtime.

* ''Series/ResidentAlien'': Sahar doesn't look at Max's bare back, saying as a Muslim it's forbidden since he's not her husband (it's somewhat amusing as they're both kids, but Sahar's [[TheComicallySerious perfectly serious]] in saying this).

Comes up a lot with someone RaisedCatholic, GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion in particular. Of course, in RealLife, many practices considered common by the majority may be expressly forbidden to people of a particular religious group. A common loophole use of this in real life is that some religions believe people have intellect, guardian angels, or a conscious that enables them to judge things as wrong that are not explicitly banned by their religion, and then requires they do what they think/feel/believe/know is right. Therefore, they are able to attribute their personal judgment as religious mandates.

* In ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive,'' Mike [[RaisedCatholic cites this]] as his reason for him and Tamara having sex without birth control ([[LawOfInverseFertility resulting in her pregnancy]]). Given that he follows few if any other Catholic practices, [=PeeJee=] immediately [[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp03032006.shtml calls him out on this]]:

* ''Series/TheMandalorian'': During negotiations, the Jawas demand the Mandalorian put down his weapons. He claims that his weapons are a part of his religion; he grudgingly relents but is soon revealed to have kept his wrist-mounted flamethrower. Even better, since Mandalorians are a ProudWarriorRace, it is quite possible that he was being perfectly honest. His armor is ''definitely'' part of his religion, and when the Jawas try to buy it off him this deal is dismissed outright.

''[[DescribeTopicHere Describe Against My Religion Here, unless describing tropes is forbidden by your creed.]]''

* One ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' strip has Calvin jotting down in his quiz that he couldn't answer a question because it's against his religion (see the page pic).

* ''Film/ANewYorkChristmasWedding'': Father Kelly at first gently refusing to wed Gabby and Jenni as Catholic doctrine doesn't recognize same-sex marriage. However, he later relents on this and does it anyway.

* In ""Film/TheThirteenthWarrior'' Ahmed explains to the Viking Herger that he can't drink alcohol whether made from "grape or grain". Herger laughs and explains mead is made from honey. Cue next morning shot of Ahmed holding head and moaning.[[/folder]]

** A variant appears in ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. A suspect in a number of rape/murders claims he's a Jehovah's Witness, and so the court cannot compel him to give blood for a DNA sample. This is circumvented when a brother of one of the victims attacks him, and he bites the brother during the fight. The saliva on the bite was "given voluntarily", so it can be legally used for the sample.