Boss told me off for exclaiming Jesus Christ

[GloMum]

The other day my boss told me off for exclaiming Jesus Christ when I was surprised during a work meeting. Boss told me it’s rude towards people from different religions and asked me if I’d done my DEI training. I have, and I enjoy friendships with colleagues from varied backgrounds. I feel really stressed now in case I slip again, and embarrassed I should be told off.

YABU - This is an inappropriate exclamation at work
YANBU - It’s just an exclamation and you shouldn’t be told off for that.

"By Jupiter" is very old school 😀By Jove !

It's not a popular view with Christians, but the Romans were quite progressive in terms of religion. To a certain extent.

Been a while since I were a Wiccan - is "By Jupiter" offensive to that strain of philosophy ?

He may be thinking that it could appear you are imposing your beliefs on others by saying it but Jesus is also a prophet in the Islamic religion so this could also been seen as inappropriate by Muslims.

Personally I do think in these more considerate times it is inappropriate for the workplace environment.

There's a certain type of manager or HR person who just get off on the power trip of pointing out so called microagressions when the actual people who could be made uncomfortable aren't around. They feel it's their place to 'educate' you. Ignore thmem

I once (years ago) said 'JC' in a meeting and was castigated by a colleague for doing so. I've since switched to exclaiming 'bollocks' or 'FFS' and nobody has said a word 😂

When you say "clearly", do you mean by not mentioning him at all by name and then the New Testament claiming retrospectively, and convieniently, that various writings referred to him along?

@Drfosters You don't need a swear jar if it's acceptable.

I work with under 18s, so would probably get sacked if I started saying Jesus Christ every time I'm surprised. "For fucks sack" is said quite often inside my head though.

What do you think I meant ? What do you think I think ?

I really can't disagree with all of the Monty Python team (not that I need their steer but they were/are accomplished scholars) who found nothing bad to say about Jesus at all. Fictional or real comes across as a top bloke. Definitely on my dream dinner party guest list.

It was more the followers that were and are the problem.

Not to normal people it isn’t.

Someone I worked with took me to one side when I was much younger- and in a private and respectful way, asked me to not take the Lord's name in vain. (I also said JC!) It was done in a such a respectful and kindly way, and they explained why they found it offensive; and I could not see any reason to not consider their feelings and not use it again.

I'm a Christian and it wouldn't bother me at all.

You need to work in logistics where the drivers get their assignments.

I think I may have misread the intention of your post. Yes I do agree that religious followers are the problem.

I appreciate you wrote this as humourous but as John Lydon once said they are just words whereas 'Jesus Christ' is a totally different concept.

Maybe I’m getting old, but although I am not in the slightest bit religious I wouldn’t ever use language like that in a meeting. Or anywhere at work I don’t think. With colleagues and friends outside work, sure, and much worse! But it seems incredibly unprofessional to me. Of course, the type of workplace might make a difference - but I can’t think of any office environment where it’d be acceptable.

Surely nothing is offensive 'objectively'?

Since no one else has explained can you kindly explain why they found it offensive. I really want the specific reason why it causes offence

Blasphemy is "taking the Lord's name in vain" as in using God as a defence for your motivation or words. This isn't that.
Would people feel as strongly about anyone saying "Oh my God!" or "For God's sake" in an office/workplace setting? Because if you're claiming Blasphemy for one, then by default, so is the other. It's either offensive or it isn't.

Why did he think it was offensive to other religions? If it offended anyone it would be the Christians but we're not allowed to be offended, it might upset the other religions!

Apropos of this, I would generally try and muddle through life making as many as happy and as few as unhappy as possible. Not because of any divine guidance but because it just feels right as a human.

However, getting older, it's clear that sort of attitude really has "fucking mug" written all over it. So there are boundaries and pushbacks.

"Do unto others as thy would have them do unto you".

I'm not going to push my beliefs onto you, because ...

@SerendipityJane oh yes 'By Jove' was another one :)

Generally to express mild alarm or surprise , so replacing casual swearing of the oh my gosh variety I suppose.

If he hit his thumb with a hammer he would have had sufficient self control to say nothing at all in words I suspect.

Where has 'very offended' come from? From you, not me. In a work context, I would find 'Jesus Christ' jarring, as I would the 'f' word and a string of other expressions. In a non-work context, I would hardly give it a second thought. That's not being quite dishonest, purposefully or not. It's having awareness of how different forms of language are appropriate for different circumstances.

Was this in Britain or somewhere where evangelical Christianity is popular ?

In Islam, Jesus is a prophet. Not the prophet obviously. But he's in the team.

There is an Islamic concept of "people of the book" which is Muslims, Jews and Christians. Muslims are expected to offer protection and freedom to Christians and Jews that live in Islamic countries.

So Christians are abnormal then? Would you also think using the names from other religions is acceptable or are they considered special? Maybe you know what the consequences may be.

I work with quite a few people from the more evangelical churches and I avoid it as it probably would upset them. I'm reintroducing "By Jove!" instead.