ANSWERS: 15
  • Nope, belief has nothing to do with the job, you are paid to do the job :-)
  • No, I don't think either of those things should be allowed. You're hired to do a job, and religion shouldn't get involved. (Unless you're hired by a religious organization specifically to do outreach/proselytization)
  • No and No. Nobody should have to tolerate preaching at work. Nobody should lose his/her job due to his/her religious/spiritual choices.
  • Can you imagine anyone who would be moved by your witness if you refuse to work with them? You should not do anything at work that would make your coworkers uncomfortable. Your life should be your witness. If someone asks you what you believe, I don't think anyone has the right to tell you that you can't answer honestly. I don't think anyone has the right to say that you can't mention it. But here is the thing: we tend to remember the Great Commission and forget that Jesus also said that if our witness wasn't welcome we were to shake the dust off our feet in protest and leave. We aren't to keep witnessing and witnessing when we've been told someone isn't interested. It isn't our job to strong arm them into conversion. It is a waste of our time and it is only going to make them more entrenched in their opposition. So save your witness for those who are interested and want to hear it, and you won't have any trouble at work.
  • No, it's not alright to proselytize at work. It's not what you're being paid to do. It is alright to be the kind of person that people want to talk to, and the sort of person that people might ask advice and counsel from, because they know your intentions are kind and you'd like to help. Consider that refusing to work with someone who doesn't share your religious beliefs is the one sure fire, unquestioned, clear cut way to make sure that the situation described in the previous paragraph never, ever, happens. And that if your faith urges you to proselytize, then refusing to have anything to do with people who don't already share your faith, and doing anything that guarantees they'll never listen to what you say about your faith is, frankly, by your own terms, a sin. Think of the parable of the woman at the well. Who did Christ talk to, and who did he preach at?
  • In the UK, proselytizing at work is against the law, mainly because it can cause you to be 'knocked on your ass' as elbuensamaratin put it! I have very little patience with people who try to force their religion onto me, particularly if they come knocking on my door, I get a little sweary! Don't try converting me, I'm not a bloody loft!
  • No, proselytisation should not be allowed at work. Also, you should not be allowed to refuse to work with someone because you disagree with their religious beliefs, but they shouldn't be pushing their beliefs on you (or even discussing them, unless you agree to the discussion).
  • Those are very independent questions. 1. Legally, no, you may not proselytize at work. 2. Legally, no, you may not discriminate based on religion. If you are hounded by someone to the point that it affects your job performance, that is the angle you take when you lodge a formal complain to your supervisor.
  • You are paid to perform the duties of your job. Anything that interferes with that is going to be a problem on some level, whether legally, business-wise , professionally, socially or personally.
  • I'm not for proselytisation at all, and work is just a bad place for it: Work just won't get done with people clashing everywhere. I also don't think you should refuse to work with someone of a different religious outlook, unless it would interfere majorly with the work getting done. By the same token, if your religious beliefs are getting in the way of a job, I think it's time to get a new job.
  • I have found that most personal beliefs, including religion and politics, have no place in the workplace. The workplace is for work, so discussions into religion, whether you support the president or not, or even your favorite sports team are inappropriate. All have the potential to offend someone, and people don't get paid to discuss personal matters. In that light, someone shouldn't get to decide who they work with based on religion, because in theory religion shouldn't be discussed at work.
  • I would say that it depends of the situation. One should not be constantly telling people that they are going to hell if they don't adopt his religion. This goes for just about all social and business situations. However, if on a break or in some other similar situation in which coworkers are not actively engaged in doing actual work on behalf of the employer and they are mutually consenting in this, then I see nothing wrong with a respectful discussion of their religious beliefs. As for refusing to work with someone with whom you disagree on religious or spiritual choices, as a general rule, no that should not be allowed except in certain special situations. If the other guy is obnoxious about trying to shove his beliefs onto another, then I think that that would be grounds for refusing to work with him. Another situation would be if the place of employment is a religious institution that holds certain values and/or expects it's employees to follow those standards. For example, a number of religion sponsored private schools ARE allowed to discriminate in employment based on religion. One reason for this is because faculty members may be required to teach religion classes. So, how can they really teach classes on a particular religion if they don't agree with that religion? So, as a general rule, people should not be actively proselytizing at work nor should they discriminate against people because of their religious beliefs when it comes to employment. However, I also recognize that there are certain reasonable exceptions to these general rules.
  • Like unwanted sexual attention it is something that might reasonably happen one time and one time only (per person, say) without anyone making a federal case out of it. . A simple 'knock it off' should suffice.
  • It should be. Religion belongs in a person's church and their home not in public and much less in the work place. However, it all depends on management, if they condone that kind of thing, you're lost but if they're not, you should go to HR and complain. I've done it plenty of times and, believe me, management where I work are the ones creating the problem. I've threaten with filing a restraining order for harassment against the ones that are doing it and they've backed off. I've got my windshield smashed, the sides of the car keyed and flat tires but, other than that, they won't come near me
  • Legally? no. Because you're there to work. Not proselytize. No. Once again you're there to work, not get all huffy about other folks's religious choices. If you don't like what they're up to- you're free to move on.

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