Workplace Problem
Offline Hello all. I don't post here but troll these forums avidly. I would greatly appreciate any insight as I can not find much on the internet.
I was speaking to a coworker of mine and our conversation led to his sons atheism, while he himself is an agnostic. We got into a rather heavy discussion, not negative, but very.....deep I guess you could say. It was not an arguement, just a deep conversation between us about religion (mainly his wife being catholic). Apparently a coworker was eaves dropping outside the office and decided to pop his head in, asking about our conversation. He had said that only an intense, long lasting conversation like we were having could be related to religion. Then he mentioned something about dinosaurs, and followed up sarcasticly with "Oh like how they were before Jesus?". I was totally shocked. I hear of people being left speechless and I always thought it was a figure of speech. I was literally speechless. I could not speak one word I was in total shock. He walked away and I think might have said something to my boss about our conversation.
Now my questions.
Can I legally have such conversations with coworkers, assuming the person I am having the conversation with is all for it?
Can I ask this guy that was eavesdropping if he really believes dinosaurs were not around prior to Jesus' supposed existance?
I live in the Maryland / DC metro area if that makes a difference.
Any light shed on this topic would be greatly appreciated! 
PS: Big fan Hamby! Keep up the good work
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Steven,
Any concerns about the legality of your conversation should be taken up with your human resource department. If you are worried, I would certainly give them a call, or better, walk down and talk to them (if they are available). I believe the only worry you have is wasting time at work talking about non-work things. It's more about how your boss will react than anything else. However, I'm not an HR person, nor do I play one on TV. But there's no law that restricts conversations about religion, if that's what you mean.
I'd leave the fundy alone, just because they can be tetchy, and it won't be a productive conversation.
"Yes, I seriously believe that consciousness is a product of a natural process. I find that the neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers who proceed from that premise are the ones who are actually making useful contributions to our understanding of the mind." - PZ Myers
Nigel,
It's a slow day at work due to the upcoming holiday weekend, I have no concerns about getting attention for my lack of working as I'm very effecient. My concerns were in regard to the actual subject matter. Small private company, no HR department.
I left him alone, was just curious as to the legality of approaching such a conversation in the event it is brought up in the future by him.
In that case, it sounds like you have very little to worry about. Unless your company has bans on certain topics (which should be listed in your employee handbook), you should be fine. I'd certainly not lose any sleep over it.
It's cool that you have someone at the company who's willing to talk rationally about religion.
"Yes, I seriously believe that consciousness is a product of a natural process. I find that the neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers who proceed from that premise are the ones who are actually making useful contributions to our understanding of the mind." - PZ Myers
I hate political correctness. Certainly one should not fire or hire someone because they are this or that, that is a given. Generally speaking you can be silenced by the boss OVER any issue, if it is not work related. If I am talking about the Redskins for 20 minutes and the boss walks in and sees that I have not cleaned what he asked, I can be fired.
BUT, I warn against EITHER side pressing the issue about the ability to say certain things at work, when the common law is already there. I don't myself, demand that my co-workers not talk about their religion. But, I do say, if you are going to bring it up with me, do not be a hypocrite and demand my silence when I counter what you say.
I constantly overhear my co-workers talk about Jesus or church, and as long as I don't object to it, I can also say what I want to say as well. BUT, in the end it doesn't matter if you are talking about Jesus, or Allah or Richard Dawkins, or the U.S. Open, your job comes first.
Don't try to silence this person because you are outnumbered and they will pull the politically correct, "Don't pick on my god" card. If you want to say what you have to say and they want to say what they have to say, the law is pretty clear, as long as it doesn't interfere with your work.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
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I would refrain from those types of conversations during work hours
(or close your door!)
You should be okay, he engaged in conversation...he didn't storm in and say "Stop talking about this right now!"
If your boss approaches you about the situation, simply state you were engaging in a private conversation inside your office when the eavesdropper popped in and joined the conversation. Do not get into a discussion with your boss about your feelings around the eavesdropper dinosaur comment or his belief.
Slowly building a blog at ~
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Get your complaint in first. Mention to your boss at an opportune time that he/she runs a place infested with eavesdroppers (and crazy ones at that, who believe that Jesus rode dinosaurs). It might be something that he/she would be interested in hearing.
If he/she seems to want to support dinosuar-riding messiahs, think about a career change.
I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
This reminds me a time when my mother worked at Lazarus. Apparently a fellow employee of hers overheard one of my mothers clients (she worked in the make-up department) say "god damn it" and she over to her client and started telling them not to take the lords name in vein and they should be ashamed of themselves. This in turn got my mother quite angry as and she went off on this lady telling her not to speak to her clients ever. My mother ended up getting fired over this. Of course I might have a biased story as I have only heard my mothers side of it.
Sounds made up...
Agnostic Atheist
No, I am not angry at your imaginary friends or enemies.
HR is a must, but I would also suggest a casual conversation with a lawyer. In my experience, even HR reps aren't necessarily fully aware of the law and workplace rules, and workplace rules have been known to violate laws. The best lawyers to contact are, in my opinion, lawyers working for the ACLU. Or the ACLU itself. Or a similar organization or group.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.