Photo Courtesy of Melanie Mirnaya
By Melanie Mirnaya
TAMPA, Fla. — I found myself coming up with a planned unexcused absence and, naturally, decided to see if I could theoretically justify it by creating a religion. What started as a silly thought experiment turned into an 11-page paper that I sent to my sociology course professor exploring what makes a belief system a religion, how people define what is sacred, and how personal devotion can differ from institutional recognition.
An Unexcused Absence
I anticipated an unexcused absence because of a personal travel commitment that was planned well in advance before the academic semester even started. About a month before my scheduled days of absence, I responsibly reached out to all of my professors via email to let them know that I would not be present. I explained how I am prepared to complete assignments in advance, complete any make-up work, and continue to stay on track with my studies.
When I contacted my Witches, Satanists, and Atheists, The Decline of Religion in America course professor, Dr. Ryan T. Cragun, he reminded me of The University of Tampa’s General Attendance Policy. This led me to look it over in hopes of determining if I would qualify.
The University expects students to attend class unless an absence falls under one of several recognized circumstances, including court-imposed legal obligations, medical procedures, required participation in University-sponsored events, military service recruitments, and religious holy days. When an absence falls within one of these categories, it may be classified as excused.
Because our course frequently discusses the rejection of traditional religion and the creation of new religious organizations, among many other fascinating topics relating to the sociology of religion, the section addressing religious observance caught my eye.
The University recognizes both scheduled and unscheduled absences. Religious holy days are explicitly recognized as acceptable reasons for scheduled absences. The policy also acknowledges that students should not be compelled to attend class when doing so conflicts with their religious beliefs, provided that timely notice is given.
While the General Attendance policy appropriately recognizes the importance of religious observance, an interesting question emerged to me: To what extent should religious practice be understood through institutional definitions, and can personal philosophies and beliefs offer alternative interpretations of spiritual observance?
This encouraged me to create an experiment, where I would create my own theoretical religion and see if it would be able to test the boundaries of the policy.
Introducing Religio Amoris
The Religion of Love, also known as Religio Amoris, follows the philosophy that love is the highest expression of human devotion. Its central doctrine is based on the idea that love is not simply something to be experienced, but something to be actively practiced, and its mission is to spread love through interpersonal relationships.
Its hypothetical followers recognize love as an ongoing commitment to the well-being, understanding, and appreciation of others. I developed a moral code, sacred practices, rituals, and, most importantly, a pilgrimage.
The inclusion of a sacred pilgrimage was a crucial part of my project because it allowed me to position it as the formal reason for my absence. This Pilgrimage of Reunification is a symbol of the ultimate pursuit of human connection within the doctrine. Overcoming obstacles such as distance and time further reinforces its followers’ commitment to the central belief. Geographical separation emphasizes the significance of the human connection being pursued.
Therefore, overcoming this distance is not simply a matter of reaching a destination, but an opportunity to fulfill one of the central obligations of Religio Amoris.
What Makes Something a Religion?
Rather than determining whether religious claims are scientifically or spiritually true, sociologists examine religion as a social phenomenon involving shared beliefs, values, and practices that can unite individuals into a moral community. They study how religion functions within society and how it influences human behavior, social relationships, and collective identity.
Religion does not necessarily have to exist within a longstanding institution to hold social meaning. It can also be examined through the ways individuals construct and hold systems of belief. French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1912/1995) argued that religion involves the collective treatment of certain beliefs, values, and objects as sacred. Similarly, Thomas Luckmann (1967) explored how religion can move beyond traditional institutional structures and become a more individualized pursuit of meaning. Although their approaches are different, both perspectives offer ways to examine how religious meaning can extend beyond established religious institutions.
The Sacred Obligation of Physical Presence
My created religion also has an established system of beliefs that separate the sacred from the ordinary by positioning love as a fundamental source of human meaning. It creates a framework through which its followers would interpret the human condition and understand their responsibilities towards others. Its belief is reinforced through rituals such as practicing kindness and compassion, intentionally cultivating meaningful relationships, partaking in communal meals, engaging in cultural exchange, and prioritizing physical presence.
These practices reinforce the central beliefs that love must be continuously cultivated through action. They can also be examined in relation to Peter Berger’s The Sacred Canopy, which explores how societies construct and maintain systems of meaning. Berger (1990) describes processes through which human ideas and values are expressed, become established within a social world, and are then absorbed by individuals. In this sense, Religio Amoris can be understood as an attempt to take human values, establish them as guiding principles, and incorporate them into everyday behavior. While these sociological perspectives help explain how religious meaning becomes established, institutions must still determine how such beliefs are recognized in formal systems.
Exploring Institutional Recognition
Universities identify religious obligations through several methods. First, as outlined in the University of Tampa’s General Attendance Policy, students and faculty may provide notice when a religious observance conflicts with an academic schedule.
Second, institutions may refer to religious calendars to anticipate major observances associated with established religious traditions. Finally, institutions may need to consider whether a requested accommodation is connected to a sincerely held religious belief rather than an individual preference.
The Federal Practice Group explains that federal religious discrimination protections in the workplace can extend beyond organized and traditional religions to include less common and nontraditional religious beliefs. Similarly, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2014) explains that, under Title VII, religious beliefs can be new, uncommon, or outside a formal religious organization. These sources concern employment protections rather than university policies, but they offer a useful comparison when considering how institutions approach unfamiliar religious beliefs.
Institutions recognize religious observance as a legitimate consideration in attendance policies partly because of their commitments to inclusion and equal access. Institutional commitments to inclusion and equal access are important considerations, as penalizing students for religious observance can create barriers to their participation in education. However, the legal obligations governing religious accommodation depend on the type of institution and applicable laws. These considerations can respect religious commitments while maintaining consistent academic expectations.
Established religious traditions are already influencing institutional policies and academic calendars through holiday breaks around Christmas and Easter. In their article examining community college religious accommodation policies, Ison et al. (2026) explore how institutional reliance on traditional religious frameworks can create challenges for students whose beliefs fall outside more familiar categories. Students who follow newer, less institutionalized, or non-theistic belief systems may face different obstacles when navigating accommodation processes.
This returns us to the question introduced earlier: How should alternative interpretations of spiritual observance be understood within institutional definitions of religion?
Structure vs. Sacred
If an individually constructed belief system holds religious significance for its followers, is institutional recognition necessary to determine the meaning of that belief? Universities may already distinguish between personal preferences and religious convictions when considering accommodation requests. In doing so, they may consider whether a belief is sincerely held rather than evaluating whether its underlying claims are logically or scientifically correct. This distinction is important because the evaluation of religious belief is not necessarily an evaluation of its truth, but rather of the sincerity with which it is held.
Maples (2023) discusses how higher education institutions approach student religious accommodation policies and the difficulties associated with evaluating the sincerity of individual beliefs. His discussion raises questions about the extent to which institutions should question a student’s stated beliefs and whether extensive evaluation can make the accommodation process unnecessarily invasive.
Although meaningful personal experiences and the pursuit of human connection do not automatically constitute religious observance under university policy, the beliefs established within Religio Amoris raise questions similar to those surrounding other religious systems. It can be difficult for institutions to evaluate individual claims without unfairly privileging some beliefs over others, particularly because sincerity is not always something that can be objectively measured.
Institutions may also become accustomed to familiar indicators of religious affiliation, such as confirmation from religious leaders, religious attire, or widely recognized symbols. However, a highly decentralized, personalized, or unconventional belief system may not have these indicators to begin with.
This creates an administrative challenge for institutions, as they must consider individual religious accommodation requests while simultaneously maintaining consistent procedures for a large student population. At the same time, higher education institutions have to meet certain academic expectations that are achieved through measurable learning outcomes, attendance, and participation. These competing considerations contribute to the tension between individual religious observance and institutional policy introduced at the beginning of this discussion.
Testing Institutional Recognition
Through this thought experiment, I was never realistically claiming that Religio Amoris automatically qualifies for an official excused absence. Instead, this scenario helped me see and understand the tension between formal eligibility for an excused absence and the personal religious meaning attached to an obligation.
These two dimensions can be understood as different sides of the same coin. Formal eligibility is externally defined and processed through administrative structures designed to ensure that an institution can operate consistently. On the other hand, personal religious meaning is deeply internal, reflective, and shaped by an individual’s conscience and sense of obligation toward something they consider sacred. A burden of translation emerges when institutional systems attempt to evaluate convictions that are experienced internally. In this process, the complexity of faith can become reduced through administrative mechanisms.
The legitimacy of the belief is not necessarily denied because its underlying claims are considered untrue; rather, it may simply be difficult to recognize because it does not fit the categories through which an institution evaluates accommodation requests. This highlights the tension between bureaucratic governance and the complexity of the human experience.
Beyond the Attendance Policy
Yet, the beliefs involved in following Religio Amoris can also be examined in relation to the University of Tampa’s own educational mission. The University’s mission emphasizes educating, supporting, and empowering students through holistic, experiential, and diverse learning opportunities that develop Spartan Ready competencies. Its vision also emphasizes student belonging, success, well-being, and personal transformation.
The doctrine of Religio Amoris similarly emphasizes the personal well-being and development of human meaning through meaningful relationships and interpersonal experiences. Article V of my religion establishes the Missionary Principle and explains that spreading the doctrine involves cultural exchange and interpersonal engagement. These experiences encourage its followers to explore unfamiliar environments, overcome barriers, and develop a better understanding of others.
If undertaking a distant pilgrimage can provide opportunities for cultural immersion, personal development, and meaningful human connection, then it may share some of the educational benefits associated with experiential learning opportunities, such as the University’s study abroad programs.
Takeaway
What makes a belief system a religion? Is it determined by the institution that recognizes it, or the beliefs, values, rituals, and practices that give it meaning to its adherents? The sociologists discussed above all help demonstrate that religion can be understood beyond formal institutions. Religion can also exist through the creation of rituals, shared meanings, and the distinction between what people consider ordinary and sacred.
Religio Amoris takes the abstract emotion of love and transforms it into a practice. It takes something that is universally recognizable and reformulates it into a system of beliefs, commandments, moral obligations, and rituals that establish a purpose for human existence. The Pilgrimage of Reunification is not simply a journey from one place to another, but rather a test that symbolizes effort, sacrifice, commitment demonstrated over time, and the willingness to overcome distance in the pursuit of devotion.
I learned that institutional definition may not fully capture every individual’s understanding of devotion. There will always remain a difference between having something formally recognized by an institution as qualifying for religious accommodation and personally understanding that something is sacred.
In the end, I realized that what makes a religion interesting is not necessarily the institution it follows, the building in which it is practiced, or the traditional names and symbols associated with it. Rather, it is how religion shapes the way people act toward one another and how they understand and live their lives.
Perhaps love is not so far removed from the sacred.
Amare est adesse.
— To love is to be present.