In other words, there were two difficult options and some of these folks chose the wrong one — at least if their thought process was the same as what you said.
My organization stated in a management meeting that they would not even bother looking at the exemptions. Dumb azzes never thought there were managers in that meeting with exemptions in the system. They did it on a recorded online meeting. Needless to say that recording got deleted in 10 days. Some organizations it’s better to do nothing than follow their rules and self identify as someone in opposition to whatever is being required or discussed.
You have to go through a humiliating procedure where people tell you they know about your religious believes more than you do and if you punch them in the face they don’t approve your waiver request.