Religion in the workplace

[Whatothink]

For the last month we have been sent messages email, background screens and management briefings for a particular religion.

the following messages to

”showing visible support,
encouraging meaningful conversations, and deepening our understanding of the experiences of those of observences”

as well as being told to be considered with meetings etc and thoughtful and supportive!!!

The beliefs of Christians that Jesus turned water into wine, and fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish is no more or less absurd than the belief that a man can have a vagina and a cervix. Personally, I'd be putting the latter in an asylum, if we still had them.

Just ignore it. Religion is not something that belongs in the workplace. I don’t care what other people believe, but I’m certainly not accommodating eg fasting by changing from my usual pattern of eating and drinking.

Can you elaborate on what this means in practice? People who are not fasting should pick up work from those who aren’t for example?

No. You should be a decent person, respect other people and actually learn a few FACTUAL basics about other religions, and accept that your own preconceived biases are making you intolerant of others.

Due to the time of year, I assume that you are referring to Ramadan. Surely its common curtesy to understand that if someone is fasting they may have some difficult days, they do need to work effectively, but equally you dont need to be pigheaded about it.

As an atheist, I have no issue with respecting whatever religion someone chooses to follow, and find it interesting to learn about different celebrations/customs.

Christianity, Islam and Judaism are all linked to each other and technically all believe in the same 'God', yet they all teach that other religions are 'false' and not the true 'god'. I was aggressively told "don't pray to Jesus when you get cancer" when i told someone i dont go to church, so Christians can be intolerant too.

Because "Jean in Accounts is giving up KitKats on her tea break before Easter" is not as significant to the running of an organisation as "Jamal won't be eating or drinking anything at all during the hours of daylight for a month".

The UK is not a majority Christian country. Less than half of the population identified as Christian is the last census.

Well with that attitude OP I can’t imagine why you’re workplace needs to tell people to have compassion 🙄

Rather than moaning, how about having a conversation with a Muslim person about their various celebrations? I promise you nobody will be forcing it on you. You might even learn something

And if you don’t want to do this then you’d better button it come Christmas, and never speak of your plans, excitement and what you’ll be up to

It’s more like not banging on about food when fasting colleagues are around

Of course. I would avoid eating or, especially drinking in front of a colleague who was fasting. If possible, I would avoid scheduling events like parties during Ramadan. As a manager, I would try not to ask a member of staff who was fasting to take on particularly heavy or physically arduous tasks.

What does ‘banging on’ constitute? We eat lunch at our desks habitually. Does continuing that during Ramadan mean it’s a problem?

I have a very demanding job where I’m on calls all day. How am I expected to leave my desk to even drink? Personally my Muslim colleagues have said they don’t give a crap (their choice to fast etc) but I’m intrigued by the virtue signalling. I’ve been on a diet the past few months. I haven’t been offended by anyone eating cake at their desk in front of me, or if another colleague brought brownies in.

Badly expressed on my part. The largest group professing a faith is Christian - 42% from memory. A fair proportion of those who answered 'no faith' in the census will have an understanding of Christianity sufficient to understand the significance of Christmas, Lent and Easter.

No, just being a prick about it.

How can you ‘be a prick’ about eating?! We just… eat…..

It’s not hard to decipher - but not constantly talking about food, what you’re gonna have for dinner, how much you enjoyed your meal last night etc. you know, basic respect.

Or, for example, scheduling Muslims to be behind the scenes rather than public facing at the time they can break their fast.

I fast for up to 100 hours every other week. I can confirm there are no screensavers at work reminding colleagues to be respectful of me.
I’ve taken it up with HR.

😂

Many people may be ‘post Christian’, or vaguely culturally Christian only. However England does have an official state religion of which Charles III is the head.

You notice my use of words like “if possible” and “try not to”, right?

And actually, if I knew someone was on a diet, I wouldn’t talk excitedly about the delicious cream bun I was about to eat, regardless of that person’s religion.

Do you experience discrimination and hate due to the reasons that you fast?

For those unwilling to be sensitive around the fasting issue - if a colleague had just lost a loved one would you bang on about death?

As usual, what some people call being PC, or virtue signalling or wokery is just being considerate to others, and trying not to do things that make someone else’s life any harder than it already is.

You can’t seriously be comparing someone choosing to restrict their mealtimes to a window between dusk and dawn, to death.

“And don't bother with the 'Christian country' rubbish. We are not a Christian country, we are a majority agnostic country.”

Actually @JustSawJohnny we are constitutionally a Christian country with the Lords Spiritual as part of the democratic apparatus, the Monarch head of the church, the church own a quarter of the school estate, and prayers are said every single day in the House of Commons. Like I said, whether you like it or not.