Discussing Religion at Work? Not Always a Good Idea

[Ms Jess]

I used to work in a physicians' office where the doctors considered their practice to be their mission field. One doctor was particularly bad. He automatically assumed that everyone around him was either evangelical Christian or desperately wanted to be. He was very in-your-face about it and I hated him. It didn't help that he was a shitty doctor, too. The other guy was much more polite and after I told him I did not want to discuss religion or my lack of religion he stopped. Most of my co-workers there were very conservatively religious, too. I was definitely in the minority.

At my current job, there are strict HR policies that prohibit discussing religion, politics and other hot button issues. It comes up periodically but in a neutral way. For example, today our receptionist and two physicians were out for Rosh Hashanah. When we order pizza as an office there is always a pork free option. People occasionally mention going to temple or church but only in passing.

I marvel sometimes at some people's inability to imagine people unlike themselves. A former co-worker was telling me about a parenting book she was reading with her kids. The premise sounded pretty good to me and since our kids are the same age I asked if I could borrow it when she was done. She said yes and went on to describe the Scripture that introduced each chapter. I quickly decided I could likely find a more fitting parenting book for myself somewhere else. I am an atheist. When I explained to her that maybe I'd pass on borrowing it she asked why. I explained that I'm not religious and my kids already have more religion than I'm comfortable with when they are with their dad. She was incredulous. "You're not religious?!" No, I'm not. "But you believe in God, don't you?!" No, I don't. "So what are you then?" Atheist. She was speechless. And I had to laugh.

[JesusFightClub]

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:

Eh? She doesn't know her Bible very well :lol:

I'm kind of getting the image of Jesus as a giant pigeon. He flies over you and messes up your car.

[ADoyle90815]

Eh? She doesn't know her Bible very well :lol:

I'm kind of getting the image of Jesus as a giant pigeon. He flies over you and messes up your car.

That's true she doesn't know her Bible, as the Last Supper was really a Passover Seder since Jesus was a Jewish zealot. He was actually killed by the Romans because he was considered a threat to the stability of the empire.

[feministing]

I have a very diverse group of friends, including a few evangelicals. Nobody has ever tried to convert me.

But many of my med school classmates were actually atheists who were converted by evangelicals. It honestly baffles me how anyone in their right mind would fall for that bullshit, especially atheists. Hearing their conversion stories makes it make even less sense. I hear things like "but so much scientific and archaeological evidence exists that Jesus existed and did all those things!" Apparently, college was where they all converted. Goddamn evangelicals infiltrating our colleges with their bullcrap. It saddens me.

I also don't understand how doctors, who are supposed to be smart, fall for that bullshit. The vast majority of my classmates are religious.

[Megan]

Most "former atheist" evangelicals I know were never really atheists. Most came from religious families, had a bit of a rebellion phase, and then went back to evangelism.

Mind you, this is mostly people I went to high school with in a religious area.

[JesusFightClub]

Most "former atheist" evangelicals I know were never really atheists. Most came from religious families, had a bit of a rebellion phase, and then went back to evangelism.

Mind you, this is mostly people I went to high school with in a religious area.

Nah, I think you are right and it goes across the board. Evangelicals like a story to tell - they can't just be "an evangelical Christian" they have to be "an evangelical Christian who was saved from atheism! Drug use! Satan worship! Secular thinking! The stripper's pole! The..." It goes on and on.

It's like Geoff Botkin who was "saved from Marxism". I have a standing issue with that. I do not believe he was ever a Marxist and I want to know on what authority he claims that he was.

This may sound like "no true Scotsman" but it really isn't. Once you think "that bloke Marx, he had a point even if his beard was rather daft and he was a bit of a weirdo" you have to start doing stuff, or you're not a Marxist. Stuff like reading, activism, going to help people in struggle. Or, in my case, attempting to sell papers in the pouring rain to members of a tiny sect that has split from a group which split from a group which split from a Party which you belong to and whose members all cordially hate you, and being denounced from a platform in front of 400 people as a "neo-Scargillite splitter". Er, I didn't say it was exactly fun. :embarrassed:

My point being, I don't think that Geoff Botkin ever did anything that proved he was a Marxist and I do not think he ever was one. If I am wrong, I'd be happy if he told me what Party he was aligned with, what work he did, what demos he was on, if he was antifa and if so how (are we talking polite protest or...). Also, how he got to his conclusions about what Marx wrote and did, which are in stark contrast to how most Marxists or neutral commentators view Marx's work.

Er, sorry for ranting there. But basically what I mean is that all of these bastards claim to have had a shocking past which they were rescued from by the Grace of God. I would believe this about as much as I believe emails which tell me I have won the Spanish Lottery.

[feministing]

Most "former atheist" evangelicals I know were never really atheists. Most came from religious families, had a bit of a rebellion phase, and then went back to evangelism.

Mind you, this is mostly people I went to high school with in a religious area.

None of my "former atheist" friends were raised evangelical. They were all raised atheist.

My best friend was raised atheist but converted to Islam. I don't for the life of me understand why, but she claims it gives her a sense of purpose, meaning, and community she sought out all her life. She said atheism felt "empty" to her.

I still don't get the appeal of religion. The entire time I was trying to have faith due to family pressure I consciously felt like I was deliberately fooling myself.

[nokidsmom]

I work in a pretty diverse workplace and while some general religious discussion may be tolerated, attempts at conversion can get you into trouble. Funny, we have Hindus, Muslims, Buddhist, and Jews in the workplace and they never make attempts but a few fundie Christians have gotten into somtrouble for doing it.

True story: we had one IT guy who refused to reset the server because his Muslim boss asked him to do it, it was an emergency situation, all the systems were down. He actually told his boss he would only do it if boss promised to go to church with him and convert, because he told the boss he was going to hell. The boss told him the only thing he was going to "convert" was the server and to do it now. He did a similar thing to a Buddhist coworker. He was reported multiple times. I don't know how he managed to stay but he ended leaving on his own to the relief of us all.

[Coconut Flan]

The whole story to tell with evangelicals is very true. They often "must give their testimony." It's quite normal to have a group baptism on Sunday evening and each newly baptized person then stands up and spouts their testimony. I admit it's a practice I abhor and run like crazy from churches like that. It puts pressure on people to have a worthy story to tell. I have a friend who wasn't baptized in her youth and goes to such a church. She asked me to help her with her testimony because hers was too boring. My response was it was more important to tell the truth than worry about a boring testimony or tell the pastor she'd prefer to skip the self-effacement or aggrandizement part of the program. I think many of them ramp it up to make a better story.

[louisa05]

The whole story to tell with evangelicals is very true. They often "must give their testimony." It's quite normal to have a group baptism on Sunday evening and each newly baptized person then stands up and spouts their testimony. I admit it's a practice I abhor and run like crazy from churches like that. It puts pressure on people to have a worthy story to tell. I have a friend who wasn't baptized in her youth and goes to such a church. She asked me to help her with her testimony because hers was too boring. My response was it was more important to tell the truth than worry about a boring testimony or tell the pastor she'd prefer to skip the self-effacement or aggrandizement part of the program. I think many of them ramp it up to make a better story.

It isn't just when you are baptized/become a church member (some churches don't care at all about baptism and don't require it for membership), testimony time is a regular feature. And a more compelling testimony makes you more popular and important and gets you asked to share regularly. It also ups your "street cred" for being able to "spread the gospel". Converts from Catholicism were the most popular among all the evangelicals and charismatics I was around. Never mind that most of them that I heard give their testimonies were barely Catholic--from families that attended church once or twice a year and often not confirmed and never attended Catholic school or religious ed classes. In terms of converts, atheists were not as big of a get as Catholics or even mainline Protestants.

The most popular testimony I heard in high school and college circles of people raised in evangelicalism is about how they didn't take their faith seriously and were wrapped up in sports or some other activity and God took it away from them and they learned how important he was. Or some such thing as that. And there are the occasional sensationalized stories of drugs, promiscuity and abusive families. One youth pastor I heard often went from a religiously apathetic Catholic family and minor drinking in college the first few times I heard him to lurid stories of abusive parents and heroin addiction the last time I heard him ten years later.

Also, I just have to say, that if people prefer their kids to hypothetically marry a scientologist over an atheist, then they know nothing about scientology. I am a practicing Catholic. I'd rather see someone I care about with an atheist than anyone who buys into a religion created by a bad science fiction writer looking for a quick buck.