Very religious colleague

i was always under impression you never discuss religion or politics in the work place so to me this is wrong speak to managers etc

Love that women should wait for marriage before sex. What about men? Are you in the US OP?

Not a bad idea at all!

Exactly well said. Hopefully OP can now put him in his place.

You could try typing out those quotes mentioned above & leaving a printed copy on his desk some time, see what his response is! (Half joking).

He sounds more an advocate for hate than the love that genuine Christians try to show.

And Matthew 7:1-3. KJV for dramatic effect.
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

I don't agree with work having any music on at all (and I hope they have bought a PRS licence and if not should be reported and pay fines). Leaving that aside, he seems to be a socially awkward young man who does not know UK social norms and perhaps he has some special needs - I think it is more about than about his religious views.

If he really does have such strong views religion gets in the way of his work then he should find work eg in an all male Christian environment perhaps which aligns with his own views.

I am very very religious. I work in HR too. He shouldn’t be doing this, of course in his spare time he can do whatever he want, but he should only speak about his beliefs AT WORK if he’s asked, and always respecting everyone. That’s what the Bible says really. I face situations where the conversations are not aligned with my beliefs very often, but if I feel uncomfortable I just discreetly redirect the conversation to something else or leave the conversation quietly. If everyone is listening to music I find offensive I just listen to something else in my airphones.

He should be finding solutions instead of pushing his beliefs on everyone else.

I am a Catholic but wouldn't dream of behaving like him.

Please quote to him John 8:7 " let him without sin be the first to throw a stone." As a Christian he will know exactly what that means. No one is without some sort of wrong doing!

He's entitled to his views but is not entitled to tell you that your opposing views are wrong.
Go to management. Better for them to deal with it, and any fallout, than you.

Good for you, OP.
Don't let them sit on it or let it fade away.

Hold your horses.. Unsafe? Uncomfortable and irritating, yes, but hardly unsafe. Get over yourself..

Nobody should be forcing religious beliefs on anyone in the workplace no matter what religion especially as you do get extreme bigots. If you start allowing religious preaching in the workplace, how long before a terrorist attack is carried out by someone radicalised at work!

Also nobody should be badgering people about abortion in the workplace! There could be women in that office who've been through abortion in the past for any number of valid reasons or dads that have had to lose babies in that way because the baby was too poorly to be born etc, it could be triggering and distressing and this guy just sounds like he'd criticise them.
You cannot have bigotry in a place where people can't walk away and escape it.

They need to shut this down quickly as they can OP. As has been said several times across the thread his religious belief is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, but I think what needs to be pointed out to this man is that so is everyone elses’ and lack of religious belief - atheism, agnosticism - is also a protected characteristic. He is almost certainly acting illegally if he’s using the workplace to inflict his beliefs on everyone else, because they have just as much protection under the Act as he does.

I didn’t suggest it was. I actually think he’s acting illegally himself, so it needs sorting properly.

As a gay person, I would find working with a colleague like this incredibly uncomfortable. It would make me feel rather unsafe, personally. If management didn't step in to mediate the situation, and the expectation was placed upon me to defend myself alone, then I would likely end up leaving the job entirely. As previous posters have said, you might not know the circumstances of some of the people who are listening to his unsolicited preaching. Perhaps you and some of your colleagues could make a formal complaint together, so it isn't one person "rocking the boat" alone?

I like to be tolerant and understanding of religious beliefs where I can, but I draw the line at accepting intolerance.

a Tim Minchin playlist wouldn’t really be suitable as background music at work, would it? shame…

It's not 'unsafe'. Don't be ridiculous.

It's unpleasant and unprofessional, but it's not affecting anybody's safety. Words mean things.

Listen to Tim Minchin's Thank You God .... it is a gem!

@LakotaWolfthsts awfuk
so sorry for your dad and you

@LakotaWolf That must have been really hard - first, because of the terrible injuries, but even more so for the unfeeling 'justification' she gave you. It's infuriating to hear the warped arguments given for a 'loving God' in the face of the dreadful tragedies and suffering some people have to undergo.

Please report he is being mysoginistic and homophobic and creating an unsafe work environment

You’ve never met a truly zealous Christian, have you?

My aunt is exactly like OP’s co-worker, but worse, as every single action and statement one makes in her presence is criticized from a religious standpoint and full-on Bible passages get quoted.

She once told me that God intended for my father to be in a horrific accident that occurred when I was 18, because “God only gives us the burdens we can carry”. My dad fell off a ladder and had catastrophic brain damage. Apparently that was cool by God because he thought my mom, sister, and I were capable of devoting our entire lives to taking care of a completely disabled person for the next two decades.

I'm a Christian - he's being really unreasonable. You can't read the Bible like it was written back then; you have to consider its messages in the context of society back then and then apply it to us living today, with scientific and social developments considered.