AIBU to stay in a religious workplace where my views differ?

[Rosycoded]

I feel disingenuous. My workplace is a religious organisation, where you are expected to believe and live out the faith.

I do have faith, but let’s just say that my faith is a much much less conservative and less rule-bound version than theirs.

I struggle with attitudes in the workplace sometimes, because I do not share my colleagues views on the rainbow community etc.

I work in admin, so there is not much direct need to discuss or expose my different beliefs, but I still am immersed in the environment.

i would look for another job, but the job market is so difficult right now, that it is very hard to find admin roles.

AiBU for staying in this job?

Ok so let’s presume it’s a school
They won’t give a hoot
half the kids there won’t be religious (I went to a catholic school…. Never ever ever went to mass aside from forced to at school and my folks weren’t catholic). If state… many parents would have just gone to church to get them in.

don’t give it another thought

“Found out”?

Just crack on with your work. I very much doubt that there’s much god talk in the back office

Even priests have very different beliefs.

Yes but they generally don’t differ so starkly from the church they are working for that they feel like a fraud and may be “found out”, I would imagine

You would be surprised at how divergent the beliefs and views of clergy members are.

I would not

Look at it this way: some people have to work in munitions factories or Russian bot farms. Never mind the odour of sanctity if the general atmosphere tends towards the decent and not intentionally harmful.

Jeez the things that were talked about in various GB Civil Service offices I once worked in! Give me raving God-botherers any day, instead of those blockheaded bigots.
What I’m saying is, religion’s just another vibe, really. Like football mania, how to eradicate Irish people, or the joys of Freemasonry: it can swirl around you in the office but it needn't take up your attention. You : 🙄.

We don’t all agree with everything in our workplace. This isn’t really any different is it?
Unless they test you each morning?

have a fake profile of your self as if you were to believe then you would have views of x etc and then remember them

Oof; I knew young RC parish priests in 1970s England who encompassed Communism, atheism, and even paganism, and one wild, occult and Prog Rock-fascinated oddbod; not to mention TWO very young ones who each eloped with a local maiden.
This was a small parish in a lovely market town near the flipping Cotswolds, for crying out loud!
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I work at a Catholic School as a teacher. I was clear at my interview that I wasn’t Catholic but I have a faith and it was broadly Christian in values. The priest on the interview panel smiled and replied. “Well, no one’s perfect”. There have been times when I have disagreed with what is on the Religion syllabus but I just quietly gloss over those bits - I refuse to tell small children that they were born into sin or that they have to spend their whole lives trying to make it up to God and never being able to achieve this. I will not promote homophobia and discrimination against diverse family set ups, but many of my colleagues who identify as Catholic also don’t promote hatred and division. What I absolutely do promote is that we should all look to Jesus as an example of how to live our lives and be inspired to live more like him.

In all other areas I love my school and the community I have been welcomed into, so I just continue to do my best to be true to my personal values and continue to draw my paycheque.

It sounds to me as if you're really questioning whether it's ethical for you to work for an organisation which is fundamentally (eg) homophobic and where the prevalent views are ones that you think actually harmful.

Personally, I would be looking for another job if my employer was promoting views that I considered to be offensive or harmful. I don't have a religious faith but I wouldn't, for example, work for an organisation that was actively against a woman's right to abortion or which was opposed to same-sex marriages because I'd feel like a massive hypocrite and I'd feel complicit.

It is highly likely it is a school

and categorically won’t be homophobic

bits - I refuse to tell small children that they were born into sin or that they have to spend their whole lives trying to make it up to God and never being able to achieve this. I will not promote homophobia and discrimination against diverse family set ups

this isn’t in the syllabus 😆

And he was open about it
and no backlash?

A Christian school so not even a church… Seriously, most parents and children attending won’t be Christian so why are you even sweating it?

Exactly!

did they stipulate that 100% adherence to all their views is part of your contract? are you likely to be ostracized and pushed out of thru found out, for example, your son was gay? or you didn't preach the word of the gospel to every sinner you meet?
cos otherwise I think you just keep your head down and get on with it. you can murmur assent if it doesn't feel like it's crossing boundaries for you.
what would happen if they found out your actual beliefs?

Working in an environment where your personal values conflict with the organisation's core ethos can be incredibly draining, and adopting a "work persona" is a highly practical way to protect your energy. The strategy mentioned by a previous poster -combining a specialised version of the "grey rock" method with a gamified mindset -can be an effective survival mechanism.

Think of your work self as a character or a uniform you put on. You are there to perform a specific job (e.g., teaching, administration), not to be converted or to convert others. Be polite, professional, and completely uninteresting when it comes to controversial topics. If religious or political discussions arise, offer neutral, non-committal responses like, "That's an interesting perspective," or "I see why that's important to you," and swiftly steer the conversation back to operational tasks.

Treat the environment like an anthropological study or a game. When I was at uni I took a job on a sex line for an anthropological or ethnographic study. or how such an environment is still a workplace. I noted, observed and wrote about it - carefully anonymising all the characters. Got a 1st for it!

I dont agree with a lot of what children's services do but I still turn up and get paid every month!

I would check things like their social media policy carefully. Ultimately, you probably would be happier looking for another job, but you don’t need to leave until you find something better.

Since your role is admin and you aren't a faith leader it's perfectly fine. We all need to survive! I would keep an eye open for something else though.

I would have guessed they were ‘anti LGBT’ and you were not, but from your term ‘the rainbow community’ I assume you are the one who has issues with the LGBT community?

I’ve worked in religious settings (also admin), and my affliction was different to that of the setting and it wasn’t a problem at all. I didn’t have to pray there, people of other religions were employed too. I don’t see an issue unless your employers are religious fundamentalists.

I can lend you a pentagram pendant?
That might keep them at bay.