Here’s from the Independent: “Trump administration memo clears way for federal employees to push their ‘correct’ religion on other coworkers.” The policy change applies to federal workers, that is employees of the US national government, but it’s possible Republican-controlled states (like say Utah and Idaho) will follow suit for state employees or even try to extend such policies to private employers. So get ready for religious pestering at work.
Here is the OPM memo that went out to federal agencies. I’m sure any of you who spend five minutes reading it will come away thinking of at least ten ways this will go way wrong in many workplaces. IMHO, this policy change has only one purpose: to make MAGA Evangelicals happy. What will the results be? Either nothing will change (if there are no religious zealots in your department) or things will get worse. Even MAGA Evangelicals won’t be happy with the results. Why not?
Pretty much every example given in the memo refers to Christian religious discourse or practice. I’m sure a lot of MAGA Evangelicals and probably MAGA Mormons are thinking “White Christian Nationalism, here we come!” Sorry, folks, that’s not how it works. Here’s the first example in the Appendix attached to the memo:
An employee may keep a Bible on her desk, and may read it during breaks. Similarly, an
employee may keep rosary beads or tefillin on her desk. During breaks, she may use such
items to pray.
Of course, this also means an employee may keep a Quran/Koran on his desk and read it on breaks. With other coworkers, in a little circle in the cafeteria. They can put out prayer mats at mid-morning break and do prayers. Sikhs are going to want to wear their ceremonial swords. Flying Spaghetti Monster acolytes will wear their t-shirts around the office. Evolutionists will wear little fish jewelry to counter all those crucifixes that are going to pop up as necklaces and on lapels.
Here’s another example from the OPM memo. Honestly, what were these clowns thinking?
During a break, an employee may engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is
correct and why the non-adherent should re-think his religious beliefs. However, if the non
adherent requests such attempts to stop, the employee should honor the request.
I can just imagine how those conversations are going to go. Mormon to coworker: “My faith is correct because we have the real priesthood and we have temples. I’m sad you won’t be with your family in heaven, but …” Coworker’s curt response: “I don’t want to hear about your f**king religion.” You’ve seen those “no soliciting” signs posted around businesses or residences? Expect blunter signs to appear on most of the cubicles at your place of work (if you are a federal employee).
One more example from the OPM memo: “A security guard stationed at the front desk of a federal office building may display and use a crucifix, Bible, or use rosary beads.” Right, and when a security guard up front at a federal facility wears a turban and displays a Quran, MAGA Evangelicals and Mormons will have a fit. Tough luck, MAGA.
This line of thinking is premised on the longstanding line of Constitutional cases where the US Supreme Court has, since around the 1950s, extended religious protections in the US Constitution to all religions, almost without exception. As much as Evangelicals want it to and Trump likely thinks it can and should, the US government can’t play religious favorites. If the Court holds to its prior precedent, that is.
But we can’t really count on the Court sticking to stare decisis anymore. It could, for example, make an originalist argument that when the Constitution was written, the Founders thought of religion as just Christianity, so other faiths don’t get religious protections. Or they could make the originalist argument that only religions that were recognized in the world in 1787 should be protected by religious freedom. Any newfangled religion like Mormonism (established 1830) gets no protections. Wouldn’t that be a surprise for the MAGA types at the COB!
No, that kind of legal outcome is not likely. But it’s hard to have much confidence that the US Supreme Court will do the right thing anymore. Yes, the Court can overrule prior decisions when it determines they were wrongly decided, but that power to overrule (to set aside relevant prior precedent) must be used wisely, meaning only on rare and plainly deserving occasions. If you start throwing out precedent whenever you get five Justices who think differently, the whole concept of precedent and the rule of law loses its credibility. We’re already going down that path, in case you don’t read the news. And the new OPM memo and subsequent changes in practice in the federal workplace will undoubtedly spawn dozens of cases in the courts, some of which will work their way up to the US Supreme Court. So they’ll get a chance to make their opinion(s) heard within a year or two, if not earlier.
So here is today’s thought exercise. Pretend you are a federal employee. How do you respond to or deal with the following scenarios:
- Brother Jones, who works two cubicles down from you, asks you to join the Mormon group in the cafeteria to read a chapter of the Book of Mormon together at lunch.
- Fred, a JW who works across the hall, keeps asking you for details about Mormon doctrine. “I want to find relevant Bible verses on that topic so I can explain to you why your religion is not the correct one. In a friendly manner, of course.”
- Your supervisor wants to start every staff meeting with a Christian prayer. She prays, everyone else listens.
- Your supervisor wants to start every staff meeting with an Islamic prayer. He prays, everyone else listens.
- Your supervisor tells you your Flying Spaghetti Monster t-shirts are offensive and to stop wearing them.
- Your supervisor tells you your Jedi t-shirt (“My Jedi Force is the correct one, not your Christian Holy Force”) is offensive and to stop wearing it.
- On sale now: MASA hats: Make America Secular Again.
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Wheat & Tares 
I work for the federal government at a Prison in the bible belt . I’m intrigued to see how this plays out. I imagine most sane people won’t change anything but oh boy. The crazies will be out in force.
Yup, what could go wrong? The originalists don’t orig anymore. What a constant drip of insanity coming from MAGA.
You forgot the adherents of Malcom X and Louis Farrakhan. I assume these “protections” apply to them as well…
This feels like MAGA telling Michael Scott to hold their non bud light beverage.
Does this change anything?
There have been obnoxious Mormons at Los Alamos National Laboratory that have been doing this their whole career. No repercussions.
This is how America used to be, like say 20 years ago. We need to get back to treating Faith & Religion like any other personal preference. If a company allows an employee to express their joy of Star Wars or any other preference than it reasons that religion should have the same regard. And fellow coworkers have the same right to express their desire to be left out of a religious conversation just as they may desire to not talk about Star Wars.
Disciple, no, talking about religion is NOT the same as talking about your favorite movie. People have never been lined up and marched into gas chamber for loving Star Wars. There are no wars between countries because of Sleepless in Seattle. People seldom get fired for liking Star Trek. People were never afraid to be burned at the Stake over being a fan of Harry Potter.
Oh, it could be the same in some utopia where religious people didn’t hate other religious people. But that has never been the planet we live on. On our planet we have this nasty history of hating people because they use a different name for God. Or because they practice polygamy. Or because they don’t think God needs to have his only son killed before he is loving enough to understand he created *humans* and not other gods.
Even in the US with laws against firing someone because they are the religion you hate, it still happens. Pushy Mormons have been known to never speak to someone after they flat out say they won’t change their religion. My daughter was afraid that in Utah she would not be hired if it came out she was pagan, same thing in any other state in this country where we pretend that we don’t really hate people for not thinking God is three separate beings all rolled into one in some kind of mystery. People have been fired for wearing their religious required clothing to work. Even our Cheater in Chief is open in his hatred of Moslems and everybody around him pretends that he is just perfect. He has said anti Semitic things and his own daughter converted. And nobody even points out to him that he is a hateful jerk. In our dear country we are allowed to hate theirs because of their religion and somehow you think allowing jerks to brow beat others into joining their religion is a good idea.
Can we PLEASE get rid of all the hatred first?
Workplace evangelism is sooooo annoying. When we moved to the midwest and then the south, I was asked numerous times “Have you picked a church yet?” I’d say “yes”. They ask, “Which one?” Then I’d have to say, “I’m Mormon.” All the while I’m thinking, “What the hell does this have to do with our jobs? How does where I spend my time on Sunday have anything to do with my work performance?”
Give me the secular left coast and yankydom any day of the week. To quote 311, “Your denomination should be a private thing, how a spirit for all human beings.”
WCNs are the dog that caught the car. I have to think that rather than winning converts to their religions, they are instead going to give every the ick with their relentless pestering. Nobody wants to be bugged to join your church, and anyone who’s ever been a Mormon missionary should know that very well.
There will probably be some really annoying people. Most federal employees will ignore this and continue doing what they’ve been doing. In Utah, “how was your weekend” conversations already involve Church — mission farewell or baby blessing. Your hobby? You don’t have time because of a Church calling. And so forth. I guess what’s different is that Church conversations at work are about what people did, not attempts to convince you that their religion is correct.
Dave B. – I like your idea that all religions will be treated the same, but that article you linked, and Trump’s Proclamation, specifically talks about rooting out “anti-Christian bias.” It will be an interesting conversation if the case goes to court because one federal agency was fine with Bible reading, but not with Quran reading. That memo is firmly and obviously encouraging Christian practices, not other religions.
I predict MAGA will love this, and the rest of the country will ignore it or hate it, and no one will change sides.
The arc of the American religious landscape is long, but bends toward secularism. No single religion or sect or belief system will ever become dominant in American society, largely a result of our fierce independence (or rather, selfishness), greed and capitalism. The NFL isn’t going away anytime soon, and Walmart will always be open on Sunday. There is just too much money to be made, and much better sources of community.
When I started my professional career 20+ years ago, I occasionally ran into workplace proselytizing from a cabal of obnoxious, pushy, hypocritical evangelicals who were only too eager to make a big show of their beliefs. Not the majority at all, but certainly acted like it. Those people are long gone now, either retired or moved on to other endeavors. Millennials, and later, Gen Z folks gradually replaced them. These younger employees are mostly non-religious, or at least keep their beliefs to themselves, and generally have a much better sense of respecting the beliefs (or non-beliefs) of others. It’s been years since I’ve seen anyone openly proselytize at work; if anyone tried, my younger colleagues would collectively regard that person as an obnoxious a-hole, and nobody in any workplace wants that label hung on them. Young people today have no tolerance for pushy, hypocritical religious agendas, and this gives me hope.
“During a break, an employee may engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is
correct… However, if the non adherent requests such attempts to stop, the employee should honor the request.”
If your boss is the employee choosing to engage, this is not a simple “please stop”. Anyone who is in the private sector and in a client relationship where you’re trying to sell or promote and the person you’re selling to, starts pushing religion, you quickly realize how detrimental it is to push back.
I was Mormon and in sales at lunch with a broker. He decided to start evangelizing to me… guess who had to sit there, shut up and take it so I didn’t put the company at risk?
As for the Bible, Rosary, Torah, Qur’an, Bhagavat Gita on the desk, I have no problem there.
Visiting Georgia: “Do y’all have a church home?” “No, I’m just here for a week.” ARGGGGGGGGHHHHH!