belief

The conviction of the mind, arising from evidence received, or from information derived, not from actual perception by our senses, but from. the relation or information of others who have had the means of acquiring actual knowledge of the facts and in whose qualifications for acquiring that knowledge, and retaining it, and afterwards in communicating it, we can place confidence.

'Without recurring to the books of metaphysicians' says Chief Justice Tilghman, 'let any man of plain common sense examine the operations of his own mind, he will assuredly find that on different subjects his belief is different. I have a firm belief that the moon revolves round the earth. I may believe too, that there are mountains and valleys in the moon; but this belief is not so strong, because the evidence is weaker.'
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.

EU citizenship confers the right to protection from discrimination on the grounds of, among other things, belief. This is enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. (See EU citizenship)