Discrimination
Offline I have always been atheist, when I was younger i didn't associate myself as an atheist, but i was. I have always remained pretty much quiet about it, i made jokes about religion now and then, but not openly professing it. About a year ago I started being a little more open about the title "atheist", i put it on my myspace profile, and recently added a few videos relating to atheism. Although i have noticed widespread religious discrimination across the country, i never felt like i was being discriminated against personally for this.
I have been at my current job for almost 2 years now and i am happy there. I had a friend who was looking for a job in the same field and found a headhunter that had a great opportunity for multiple people, and that if he knew anyone else to refer them also. My friend told me to send the headhunter my resume, so i did. We talked on the phone about the position, it was out of state but much better pay than i make now. I let him know that i was open to the idea of moving out of state, but the job had to be right with the right pay. We talked about me and my friend interviewing together since it was out of state and i said i would get back with him in a day or two to confirm that. The next day (today), my friend copies an e-mail from this guy. here's part of it:
"Also, I viewed his MySpace page and it's got some really funky stuff on there - I'm not sure it's a good representation of him. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some old-foggy. I just want to stay on good terms with my client."...
"However, I'm just not confident Adam is what they're looking for and vice/versa."
That was the first time i have ever felt discriminated against. I must admit i'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner, but it was still a shock to see it. I did give him the benefit of the doubt and maybe it was something else about my profile he found "funky". Keep in mind i did not send it to him, but i knew it was a public profile so anyone could stalk me on it. Here it is, unchanged as it has been for a few weeks: http://www.myspace.com/adams_antics
So in giving him the benefit of the doubt, i of course had to reduce that amount of doubt. I did a few searches for him and did find that he has affiliation with christian based groups. As far as I can tell, the one company he owns (I think he is a sole proprietor, not sure) is not christian based.
In his defense, after i e-mailed him saying i wanted to go to the interview for sure, he quickly replied saying that was great. he seemed happy with my decision and showed no signs of discouragement. I am not sure if he has really changed his mind about me being what they're looking for, or if he has decided to "deal with the devil" to make some referral money.
I am not sure how things will go from here, or if they will even take it seriously. I have always been against lawsuits for everyday things in life like this. I think those are mainly by people just out to find something to sue about and make a quick buck in the process. I just wanted to get some opinions on this or see if anyone else had a similar situation and how it went.
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I'm not a lawyer, but I am an employer, and I do know a good bit about employment law. I doubt there's enough in that little email to demonstrate discrimination, but if you were interested in pressing the issue (in other words, you're not hung up on getting the job) I'd suggest asking him for particulars. You can tell him that you want to know exactly what about your myspace is funky so that you can consider changing it to more accurately reflect a "good representation of you."
Unfortunately, this kind of thing (if it turns out to be about your atheism) is really, really common. Most of the time, it doesn't come out because there's simply no way to prove it in court.
Welcome to the club.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
Yeah, i know it would be hard to "prove"... especially to a christian judge. i prefer not to give his specific name since i still have a chance at this position (or so i think), but this is one of the websites i found his name on: http://workmatters.org/
With a website like that, it's hard to believe anything besides my atheism was in question, especially considering there is nothing else "really funky" on my profile. That website itself is an abomination.
Ugh.. anyway, it's not as much of a personal thing as i feel it is an attack on all atheists. What drives me nuts is people that say to make your profile private. That is something that has infuriated me for years now. I do not have inappropriate content on there, no illegal activities, no racy pictures, just my beliefs. If that is something that should be private, then why not suggest that all jews keep their profiles private? or all blacks since they're discriminated against a lot? Gay? No chance any of you are getting a job.
It's almost as if we're accepting prejudice by telling the people being discriminated that it's their fault they're being discriminated against.
I guess you summed it up.. welcome to the club.