I Kant Stop Thinking About It

I had second thoughts about the title, but who am I kidding, Kant jokes never get old.

In class today, we talked about Equity and Necessity, the two exceptions Kant lists when using his rules to determine what is just/unjust. Focusing on the latter, it was determined that if one uses free will to negotiate their actions, they are subject to the "willing the maxim of your actions as a universal law" concept. However, if the agent has no way to control what is happening to them, they can plead "necessity" as the cause of their action, and are therefore voided of punishment.

Meanwhile, in Search, we have been reading the Bible, and I was pondering the application of Kant's theory to an extremely faithful person. So....

Let's say I am a practicing Jew. And I miss Dr. J's class because my religion requires me to attend services on High Holy Days. In my mind, it was necessary to miss class. Although I know that not all of the world's people comply with Jewish mandates, I can will the maxim of my actions as a universal law among all practicing Jews. By using the group of people that I share a faith with, instead of all people in the world, am I still a rational agent? Does philosophy completely disregard religion? Or is it a separate religion, based entirely on a faith in rationality?