Discrimination
Posted on: September 26, 2007 - 3:16pm
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Discrimination
I was in a meeting at work today and they were discussing an employee lunch for the next day. My boss said “they were going to open it up with a prayer and anyone who did not like it could leave.” I said, “Well then I will leave.” My partner also said he would leave. Another co-worker asked me if I was serious and my boss said,” yes he is serious.” I said, “How would you like it if we said a prayer to Allah!” They all looked at me humorously and then my boss said, “God bless you” and I got up and walked out. What are your thoughts on this?
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my initial thoughts as an ex-hr director are that you can't be subjected to this or at least penalized for your failure to participate but i'm on my way out the door...
can you tell us more about your job? ie do you work for the government, a private employer, a religious organization...? have they had these prayer sessions in the past?
http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/vii.html
They may pray. They may not cause a hostile work environment though. So, I think it was reasonable. I would have been irritated by the parting remark, but that is not necessarily actionable.
"Tis better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven." -Lucifer
what i was going to say earlier was basically along the lines of a hostile environment which was why i wanted to know what the work environment was like in the past.
however, it looks like the link and post above has this covered well.
I work at a Catholic Hospital and they do a prayer during the overhead announcments each day. Everyone bow's their heads except me. People ask me why I don't pray and I tell them the truth. They usually tell me that I should just bow my head out of respect and I tell them when they bow to mecca each day then I will bow my head to respect them.
Note: I am not muslim I just use that as an analogy.
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It's not a hostile eviroment. Yes they have prayers at every dinner. I was not offended at the prayer just the accusation to leave if I did not like it.
It looks secular, if none is forcing you.
But what could be the reasons for praying before. One needs to go into that. The reason obviously stems from a belief . What belief that could be ? Maybe a christian would be able to throw light.
I am a Hindu . We Hindus (some of us) have a practice of a prayer before food intake. The belief behind is that you and the entire world is one and also one with the divine. The prayer in Sanskrit literally means that I offer the food to few gross elements (like water, fire , wind etc) which were intermediate to creation . Also all food comes from these gross elements. These gross elements also rule various parts of the body. All the food offered to these elements , pass through to the divine and then essentially to the universe and thus somewhere a hungry person also gets the food . Simply put , what you eat , if you pray , also goes to various others.
If you dont pray , it goes to you only (brings out a feeling of unselfishness)
Thus you neednt believe in a god , but can still have a belief that it will do good to others by a short prayer of this type.
I am looking for Atheists to increase my belief in God
I hope you don't suffer any blowback from this. In my experience you might have to start looking for a job. But then again I've always worked for bastards.
Morte alla tyrannus et dei
How would they like it if you had an atheist motivation speech before the lunch and that religious employer was told if he doesn't like it leave. Group prayer, especially when instigated by the employer, in private industry, should not be permitted in a work envirornment. Although this was a luncheon and not during working hours the fact that it was the employer who allowed this shows he/she is forceing (for a lack of a better word) their employees to go along with their personal beliefs. the employees will most likely go along with it if they want to or not. It shows them the employer is incapable of being impartial towards his/her employees regardless of religion and that could also lead me think and the other employees to think this to be the case with race, creed, color, sex, religious beliefs, atheists, non religious beliefs, etc etc. if there were a promotional position available and an employer like that had to choose between two they would most certainly and obviously, to me, the employee who participates, agrees with in the employers personal beliefs. I truthfully think this employer was deliberately forceing their employees to feel they have to participate, even though he/she gave the option for those who don't care to participate to leave. That is unacceptable to me. If he/she really wanted to allow for the freedom to choose and wasn't trying to influence or force their beliefs then they would have simply said their own private prayer on his/her own before the lunch without makeing it a group prayer or announcing it publicly to all employees attending in the luncheon. I have been to many luncheons and have my lunch buddies at work I have lunch with everyday. Anytime someone wants to pray before eating they just simply quietly say their prayer while myself and anyone else who doesn't pray before eating just continue with our conversation. That person who prays is being respectful by being quiet and not praying outlound and doesn't attempt to say can we have a prayer before eating or say anything to instigate group prayer, or make anyone feel they have to to be polite. A person should not need someone to do their praying for them and that is what group prayer is, someone else doing their prayer for them. How lazy can they get? they can't even say their own prayers in a quiet personal way with the one thing they claim to have a personal relationship with.I'm sure there is a better way to say this but I'm sure you get what I mean.