Discussing Religion at Work? Not Always a Good Idea

[GolightlyGrrl]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/0 ... f=religion

Not surprisingly, fundies share their faith more than people of other denominations.

A major factor contributing to workplace conflict, according to a survey released on Friday (Aug. 30), is that evangelicals — whose religious identity is tied to sharing their beliefs — are much more likely to talk about their faith at work than other religious and nonreligious groups.

In fact, half of white evangelical Protestants said they share their beliefs with co-workers, compared to 22 percent of workers overall, according to the 2013 Survey of American Workers and Religion, sponsored by the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding.

And one-third of evangelicals said they discuss religion frequently, compared to 14 percent of non-Christian believers, 10 percent of Catholics and 7 percent of white mainline Protestants. Moreover, nearly 9-in-10 white evangelical employees say they are somewhat or very comfortable when the issue of religion comes up in the workplace.

Conversely, the research found that nonbelievers are reticent to discuss religion and 43 percent of them say they feel somewhat or very uncomfortable when the topic comes up.

[Gertie]

Hmm, religion came up in my office once, when I asked my coworker "don't you think it was weird during your wedding that the minister asked you two whether you believed God meant for you to be together? I mean, are you supposed to try and interpret what God wants like that?"

I got kind of a dark look for that one.

[OkToBeTakei]

I honestly could not tell you the religion of all my colleagues, if it comes up it's a bit similar as to how many sugars one takes in one's tea.

If somebody tried to 'evangelise' me at work I would probably go down the harassment route 8-)

[Arete]

I thank God, the Universe, the First Principle, etc. every day that I live in a geographic area where trying to evangelize people at work would result in the proselytizer being duly told to fuck off. :nenner:

[walnut]

Things I normally never talk about with people IRL: money, religion, and body weight. (And I'm already frightened to think about the mommy wars that are bound to happen once I marry Bedship and we have babies. I am literally frightened. I'd like to stay isolated because people love to "share" opinions... and that's how shit stirring starts... which, sometimes results in hatred and neverending wars.

[walnut]

I thank God, the Universe, the First Principle, etc. every day that I live in a geographic area where trying to evangelize people at work would result in the proselytizer being duly told to fuck off. :nenner:

That is just one of the issues that people love to talk about. I'd rather have elevator small talks about the weather... not even about lunch because then the diet war begins... I'm always trying to talk about neutral things... when someone's trying to bring up stuff like religion, my diet (people constantly pick on me for being skinny), finances... I know that they are looking for a fight or a venue to vent and I back the bleep off. It is not going to be me, I do not allow that to happen.

[miffy]

I talk about religion at work :embarrassed:

But it an 'interested in theology way'. I would never flat out ask somebody what their religion is or anything like that. But if you bring up that you went to holi on the weekend, expect a barrage of interested questions. :lol:

[walnut]

That is totally different, especially when people share their holiday food or invite people over to their house, and people just enjoy each other's culture without judging. When Jana went to Malaysia, one lady, I think she was Indian Malay, said how they celebrate each other's festivals, enjoy the food, and share all the good part of their religion.

I really hope that what I meant about talking in a nosy or judgy way, my disapproval of that, came through.

[Ariel]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/01/diversity-religion-workplace-increasing_n_3846021.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

Not surprisingly, fundies share their faith more than people of other denominations.

Only 43 percent!? Maybe I'm a sensitive unbeliever, but whenever religion comes up I sprint out of the room as fast as I can. The conversation goes the same way the anti-kid conversation goes.

Religious person: Do you believe in God?

Me: No, I'm not religious.

Religious person: So you're like an atheist?

Me: Yep

Religious Person: Are you sure?

Me: Yes. I've never been religious.

Religious Person: Well I bet you'll change your mind one day. I hope you do, for your soul's sake.

Me: I'm sure my soul will be fine :evil: Excuse me while I go punch the wall instead of you.

(Replace God with 'having kids', religious with 'into having kids', and atheist with 'person who wants no kids' and the conversation is identical!)

[GeoBQn]

My dad tries to respond with, "My spiritual needs are being met." He has also had to turn down invitations to Bible studies. "Oh, but it would be so interesting to have the perspective from a Jewish person." "No. Sorry."

[DarkAnts]

I have worked at a place that discussed religion. It was a tense place to work because people did not show tolerance towards others. I once herd a lead tell someone on their shift that another lead was stupid because he believed in creationism. That sort of attitude creates a hostile work environment.

I now work at a place where religion is not typically discussed. The atmosphere is more relaxed. People do talk about their beliefs to some extent but its always in a neutral way. I feel comfortable at work now because I know that others wont judge me because I believe or dont believe a specific thing.

[dpndetfarm]

Religion rarely comes up in my neck of the woods as our philosophy is it's nobody's god damned business except ones self what religion one is. That said if someone brings it up, especially those evangelicals who KNOW the truth, they are going to get a completely nonsugarcoated response. Tell me my BIL is with god now and is happy and at peace and we can be happy at his passing? Um, no. His suicide sucked! He is now ashes in various places. His 20 month old daughter will never know him and his wife will never recover. He no longer exists. Two years later and it still sucks and he is still dead. And so will you be someday person who talks like this. And no, god does not forgive everything and love me because he/she/it does not exist. The end.

I just figure if someone is going to try to sell me their belief I will try equally hard to "sell" them mine. Other than that whatever gets you through your day is fine by me as long as it does no harm to others.

[MissA]

I didn't move into full-on atheism until my mid twenties and honestly, when I was just a lapsed/lazy Catholic, I talked about faith a LOT more than I do now. We were always respectful about it but we did discuss it.

Nowadays I don't discuss religion at all unless directly asked. I've not been proselytized to or screamed at but honestly the fact that someone they like turns out to be an atheist seems to really upset a lot of people. Possibly I'm more hellbound now than I was when I simply was the incorrect type of christian:) Not wanting to give them the sad, I refrain.

[fun2beme]

I'm a practicing Catholic (and work for the government) and it gets me really riled up when coworkers sign emails with "have a blessed day." Totally inappropriate. However, I do give coworkers that I'm close with non-religious Christmas cards, once inadvertantly to a Muslim coworker. But I told him it was to give him well wishes instead of making a statement. He didn't mind but I'd never do that with someone I wasn't comfortable with.

[ark]

I really think the problem with discussing religion at work (at least in my experience in the deep south USA) is that people tend to be ignorant when it comes to any beliefs other than their own and are quite comfortable sharing the falsehoods about another denomination or religion as "facts".

[FearLyss]

I do not discuss my lack of religious beliefs with anyone at work, but I hear about their beliefs often. I have a Jewish co-worker in the cubicle next to mine, a Muslim co-worker in front of me, and the rest of my neighbors seem to be Christian. They all discuss religion in a very respectful way with eachother. They seem genuinely interested and not attempting to convert eachother, but I have this feeling that if I shared that I had no religion, the evangelcials would be the ones to pounce. This fear comes from experience (raised evangelical and deal with evangelical christian frequently).

[Cannelle]

A friend of ours got in trouble for proselytizing at her workplace (and she later complained people didn't like her there. Um, duh?). She was later let go from that position and I'm guessing her constant preachiness had something to do with it. She's now at another job and has just made the move to working from home- dh and I are assuming it was offered to her because they were tired of her throwing Jesus all around the workplace. Wouldn't surprise me for a single second.

[JesusFightClub]

It is not ever discussed where I work. I could not tell you what anyone I work with believes unless they show me a visible sign (cover their hair, pray 5 times a day - we have a prayer room - etc). Even people who show a visible sign are just colleagues and co-workers. We do not discuss issues of faith.

Where it has sometimes come up working in places in the past is like this:

Someone refusing to come with to a bake sale: "It's Ramadan and I'd be too tempted, er, sorry"

Someone telling us what they did for the weekend: "My church group visited [X place] it was so much fun!"

Someone not joining in a discussion about how tasty the canteen's bacon rolls are: "Duh, I'm Jewish, lol"

Just a natural conversation with no big issues arising. There is some sectarian shit in Scotland, but there are also rules against it showing up at work.

(Scratching my brain for any religious stuff, I remember I used to work with a born-again Christian in the DWP. She did ask me if I was a Christian and when I said no she said "Is it OK if I pray about you and about this?" and I said no problem. I found her to be a really kind and honestly decent person, and respect her to this day for how she dealt with the very tough realities of her life.)

[keen23]

We've never really spoken about religion at work. Except for the ex-Mormon kid, who occasionally brings up the fact that he wasn't allowed to do certain things because he was Mormon, or that he has 53 first cousins, because his family is Mormon.

[mockingbird]

People talk about religion a lot at my school... I am on the edge of the Bible Belt (grew up in the northern part of this state, let me tell you it feels like an entirely different country sometimes). It made me really uncomfortable at first because I consider it more of a private thing. I even went to some Catholic schools, and I honestly feel like I talked about religion less there. Or maybe it just felt like less because there wasn't a lot of pressure, as most people were either also Catholic or lapsed Catholic and not interested in arguing it with you.

Most people are respectful, and are more curious than anything. But sometimes even that can feel like they are trying to get you to justify your beliefs to them or come around to their side. I think just because it's a sensitive topic and disagreements/debates can seem personal. I have friends here who are atheist, Jewish, conservative Christian/probably fundy-lite, and Christian (non-denominational but not fundy).

We have professors/doctors who help with the religious clubs but they have never brought it into the classroom, which I think everyone appreciates. In fact our ethics teacher turned out to be almost fundy-ish but you could NEVER tell from his lectures, they were very balanced.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

Conversely, the research found that nonbelievers are reticent to discuss religion and 43 percent of them say they feel somewhat or very uncomfortable when the topic comes up.

That's because every single poll in America shows people rate Atheists last:

"Would you rather your daughter married: a) a Scientologist, b) a werewolf, c) a dirty hippy, d) a mafia don, or e) an Atheist"-- the Atheist always comes in at the bottom. In other words, we aren't too quick to share that fact with strangers, especially not here in the South. Here in North Carolina at the ABC store buying a 2 liter bottle of whiskey, one of vodka, and one of gin, the sales clerk will smile and say "Have a blessed day!" Um, yeah ok, I'll have a blessed day while I get sozzled.

[rward]

I claim to be a lapsed Catholic, though I'm an atheist Buddhist. (Buddhism does not require a god belief.) Honestly, though, I'm on my second mostly Jewish law firm and I'd probably be okay to tell people the truth. Jews in the US, by and large, aren't too interested in reenacting the Holy Wars. There's no proselytizing at Jewish law firms, either. It mostly just comes up around Jewish holidays (it's Rosh Hashanah now) when half the office is out, which marks who's Jewish and who's not.

The last law firm employed a secretary who publicly stated that Jews call it Passover because they're waiting for Jesus to pass over them and do . . . something, I'm not sure. She got that from her (evangelical) preacher. :lol:

[Rescinded and Mended]

I live in the Bible Belt, and the common assumption with many is that those they converse with/proselytize to are Christian or at least headed in that direction. I've had instances in the past where people I thought were my friends chose to drop me the moment I made any comment that that didn't mesh with their views on Christianity and religion in general. I clearly remember being distraught when I attempted to explain to one "friend" why I had such terrible issues with faith in my youth, and she comforted me and ended our conversation with "God loves you, and I love you too." Shortly after that, she stopped returning my calls.

On the other hand, I also have real friends who are strong in their faith, but don't feel the need to actively convert others and are completely accepting of those who don't think like them. I can be honest with them about how I feel about religion without fear of alienation. These are people I've been friends with for many years now.

As much as I hate to admit it, it's a sort of fine line you have to walk where Christian belief is strong. I don't make it a point to discuss religion with people I don't know well, but I often find myself guarded, superficially smiling and nodding in an attempt to read the intentions of casual acquaintances when they talk extensively about their faith.

[EmmieJ]

I'm a practicing Catholic (and work for the government) and it gets me really riled up when coworkers sign emails with "have a blessed day." Totally inappropriate. However, I do give coworkers that I'm close with non-religious Christmas cards, once inadvertantly to a Muslim coworker. But I told him it was to give him well wishes instead of making a statement. He didn't mind but I'd never do that with someone I wasn't comfortable with.

What would be a good counter response to that signature? Something like, "Have a day based in scientific theory"?

[fun2beme]

What would be a good counter response to that signature? Something like, "Have a day based in scientific theory"?

Love it!