When I was at the pump seal company, I heard there was an unwritten rule that you should be Catholic. One guy, who, years later, was my boss, was told, openly, when he was a sales trainee, that, if he wanted to get ahead at the company, he needed to convert to the Catholic church. He did convert.
Now, as “religious freedom”, it is officially legal to proselytize your coworkers in Federal departments. I’m sure the same will be coming to many private companies.
The memo also said one or more employees should be allowed to engage in individual or communal religious expressions and that employees can engage in conversations on religious topics “including attempting to persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views, provided that such efforts are not harassing in nature.”
Federal workers can also “encourage their coworkers to participate in religious expressions of faith, such as prayer, to the same extent that they would be permitted to encourage coworkers participate in other personal activities,” the memo said.
So, people who do not conform, and refuse to convert, will become PLO* in their company.
As a Jewish woman in industrial New Jersey in the mid-1980s, sometimes I didn’t know whether some of those men despised me more because I was a woman or a Jew.
That was before EEOC rules on harassment.
I can’t understand how any employer would allow, let alone encourage, discussions about any subject other than work while on the clock. This is guaranteed to degrade productivity at work.
Not to mention breaking EEOC harassment rules and the First Amendment (if the religion in question is officially sanctioned by the government).
This, again, keys into the overarching narrative that straight, white, Christian, men, are the victims of discrimination. When I was working at a Steelcase dealership, I heard about another dealership, in the deep south, that had organized, group, prayer, every morning. Given my experience over the years, I know the employees of that dealership understood the consequences of not conforming.
Some years ago, there was a scandal at the US Air Force academy, over aggressive Christian fundamentalist proselytizing. Seems it would no longer be a scandal, but “religious freedom”.
While it isn’t as bad, try being a non-mormon in Utah.
I don’t personally remember Jack Kennedy giving a speech, in 1960. reassuring voters that he would not be taking orders from the Pope.
I do however remember Mitt Romney, giving a similar speech, that he will not abandon the faith of his fathers, but he will not turn the US into a Mormon theocracy.
“We’re bringing religion back to our country.” - TFG
Bwahaha, you’ve gotta be kidding me.
I can’t understand this either. There’s a reason why most families have a “No Religion, No Politics” rule for family holidays. Apart from losses in productivity, what company wants to take on policies that will certainly spark workplace violence.
I’m waiting for some brave Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh to proselytize their coworkers.
The establishment clause has been ignored since the 1950s. There are sections in the US Code compelling the POTUS to declare a “National day of prayer” each year. The US Code specifies the text of the Pledge of Allegiance, including the “under God” part. US Code establishes “In God We Trust” as the national motto. And SCOTUS always finds an excuse to refuse to hear challenges to these clear establishments of religion by act of Congress.
HA! I’ve been there. Fortunately I was still in the AF and wasn’t seeking a job, but I was there when I retired. Utah, no matter how nice the wx or low the crime rate, was not on the list of places I wanted to be.
I remember when I was young there were signs posted in work places and public buildings that actually said “Do not discuss politics or religion.” You can still see signs like this in old TV shows and movies sometimes
The good old boys club is a real thing. Every company says they value diversity of thought and opinion but in reality none of them do. They want people who think the same way. That includes politics and religion.
It gets better and better. From the link eldermonio posted:
The constitutional rights of supervisors to engage in such conversations should not be distinguished from non-supervisory employees by the nature of their supervisory roles.
On a bulletin board meant for personal announcements, a supervisor may post a hand-written note inviting each of his employees to attend an Easter service at his church.
This is worse than when “Bobby Bedcheck” (VP Marketing at the pump seal company) came around to shake each Prole down for a United Way donation. The United Way shakedown was only once per year. Being proselytized by your boss can go on 52 weeks/year.
And, you have no “right” to not be bombarded with religion.
Further, “a coworker’s dislike of religious practice and expression in the workplace . . . is not cognizable to factor into the undue hardship inquiry.”
I’ve lived in Utah for 49 years. It has changed quite a bit over that time. The percentage of non-Mormons is higher now, especially in Salt Lake City and a few other communities, like Park City.
My work was with a federal agency and so included people from all over the country. At work the Mormon influence was not much felt, but in the small towns where I’ve lived, the social situations were somewhat constrained.
But a big change has been how the politics of the state have gotten so much more conservative. In the 1970’s we had a Dem governor and at least one Dem representative. Now our Reps and Senators are all right wing and the state Congress is totally dominated by the Republican Party. And the primary caucus system has meant that GOP candidates are ever more right wing, with rare exceptions. It is one party rule. So, though the population overall has become less dominated by the church, the Utah GOP has managed to gerrymander their way to total control. When a ballot initiative passed by the majority of voters that would change the way districts were drawn in order to get rid of the gerrymandering, the state legislature just ‘undid’ it and then they made it harder to get initiatives on the ballot.
Same thing happened, almost, in Michigan, in 2018. The legislature had always handled redistricting. The Shinies gerrymandered, a judge said “to a historic degree” their way into 40 year domination of the legislature. State wide offices, Gov, Sec State, AG, would flip back and forth, but the legislature never changed. A few years ago, a ballot initiative to put redistricting in the hands of an independent commission passed with a 61% vote of “we the people”. The Shinies in the legislature called a lame duck session to try and undo it, and prevent we uppity people changing the state Constitution like that again. They seem to have failed, as the commission did it’s work, and, now, the legislature is closer to representing the voters: narrowly split, with majority flipping from time to time.
Glad to hear that it seems to have worked for Michigan. Utah is a tougher nut to crack. The reality is that the Dems should have at least one Representative if population of voters meant anything. But gerrymandering has made this impossible.
If you work for an employer, then you have to listen to them. They want you to change your religion then you have to change, and if you don’t like then don’t work for the company…
This is my brother-in-law, living in AK, said about this. He is not even christian.
I visited my sister and brother -in-law and traveled and met few more folks in AK, TX, MO, TN, OK. I don’t recognize them when they talk about politics. They were never this passionate about GOP or their past torch bearers. These are not Reagan republicans, these are Trump republicans. Actually after this trip, I felt the divide between rural and urban America or the values are very wide.
Don’t look at NC. The people voted in a Democrat for Governor the last two times. The Republicans voted to strip them of power over the voting and give it to the auditor office. Oh, a Republican happened to win the Auditor office. Anyone, I don’t care what party you are with, should be against this type of partisanship, but it is happening all over.
The people voted in a Democrat for Governor the last two times. The Republicans voted to strip them of power over the voting and give it to the auditor office. Oh, a Republican happened to win the Auditor office. Anyone, I don’t care what party you are with, should be against this type of partisanship, but it is happening all over.