Religion in the Workplace
Nursing wasn't my first job. I worked for ten years in the for-profit coorporate world prior to becoming an RN. But I never ran into what has been bothering me lately.
Overt religious speak in the workplace.
This isn't Utah. It's Seattle. I mean, we are far from church-going as a population. But somehow all these fundy christians ended up working on the floor I work on. And that's really okay. I would never disparage people of faith. I respect that people have something that important in their lives that gives them strength and comfort.
Where my respect ends is when their faith starts to invade my life.
I'm sitting in the break room today eating my lunch and one RN who is particularly bad starts religiously counseling a colleague, reading outloud from the bible and carrying on. This is the same person who brings her bible every day and leaves it on the break room table instead of in her bag. She's also the one who has said incredibly offensive things about queers (my word, not hers), Jewish people, Italians, Filipinos and pretty much anyone NOT like her.
I just think I should be able to eat my lunch without having to listen to a crazy christian missive on faith. If she wants to counsel other people, go to the cafeteria, or the hallway, or outside...anywhere away from me.
M. says I should say something. She's right. I'm chicken. The RN has been on my floor pretty much her entire career. I just think she needs to keep her religion at home and her bible in her bag and talk about the weather, like the rest of us.
posted by Sacha @ 5:25 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
I'm so with you on this. Recently I found a pamphlet in the kitchen at my work urging people to donate money to build a "school of jesus christ" in africa. I shredded it! If you're worried about being singled out for speaking up, could you speak to your supervisor or union rep instead of speaking to the woman yourself?
PS: I should mention that if the pamphlet I saw was from a legitimate and registered charity and was actually for an educational institution and not a conversion factory I wouldn't have shredded it.
!
Relioud counseling has no place in the work place. Making the comments she did is discrimination. If there is a human resources director you should talk to them. If a patient heard her rude discriminating comments it could cause problems for the hospital. So you wouldn't be just helping yourself if you said something.
I completely agree! Nothing more invasive than someone on a mission "from God" to save others, whether they like it or not.
Though I'm almost always for directness, I agree with Anne about speaking to a supervisor or union rep instead of the direct approach this time. If the woman in question is a big cheese/old timer at your workplace, it could make things unpleasant and tense for you to bring it to her attention directly. And the other thing to remember is that proselytizing is part of their whole religious doctrine for some fundamentalists...They see it as their holy obligation/duty. So they won't take it lightly when you say "keep the bible in the bag where it belongs".
Anyway, love your blog...excited for you. We're also two moms, expecting our third child, due in three weeks. Keeping an eye on you and glad things are going so well :-)
Melissa (www.growingfamilytree.blogspot.com)
I'm with the others--speak to someone else about it. If she's been there so long, you don't want to approach her being the newbie. She shouldn't be spouting off such remarks at work.
I hate when people push religion on to you.
I'm originally from the South where "Bible-speak" is a common occurance. It used to really irritate me when I heard others speaking on matters with such righteousness and superiority when quoting from the Bible. And I would get angry and have to bite my tongue.
But I'm going to go out on a limb and disagree with the other commenters. I wouldn't address this with the person or with personnel. Here's my reasoning.
She wasn't preaching to you or to her patients. She was preaching to a co-worker. And I believe in freedom of speech.
So let's look at this another way. Let's pretend you were talking on your cell phone with a friend in the public lunchroom. And you were talking about how much you loved your partner and couldn't wait to see her. Now this might really offend some homophobic that you work with.
How would you feel if someone from personnel asked you to not talk about your partner openly because it bothered or offended other people? Wouldn't you feel that this was discrimination and infringed on your freedom of speech?
So now, when I hear Bible-speak (less common since I now live in the Pacific NW), I take a deep breath and tell myself the following: "I'm a gay person and I want acceptance, tolerance, and understanding from others. Therefore, I will try to incorporate acceptance, tolerance and understanding FOR others within myself. Even when they don't make much sense to me."
By the way, I hope that you don't take this comment as me preaching to you. It's just my view on the matter.
Take care,
Wendy
I'm afraid I'm going to have to go with Wendy on this too. The fact is if she wasn't prostelysizing to patients or bugging you with repenting then she has every right to speak to a colleague who wants to receive this message. From what you're saying it was a conversation between two consenting adults totally within free speech rights.
And using the term "fundy Christians" isn't somehing that conveys a respect for their perspective. So you might as well fess up on the fact that deep down you can't stand what fundy Christians in power are doing to this country. I am quite vocal on my active disprespect and prefer the term right wing Jesus freaks that make us real Christians look bad. But I digress.
Now her outright racism is another matter. If you have concrete proof or concerns that her racist attitudes is affecting her job performance then that's what can you bring up to personnel.
But sorry she's within her rights Just like Mikey is when she posts bible quotes in her cubicle and I have the St. Francis prayer on my door.
I totally agree. Until recently my cubicle was next to a very religious woman who would pray and prosteltize all day. To top it off, she listened to gospel music, loud enough for me to hear it. She has since left. I am much happier now.
I've been debating on whether or not to respond. I guess my decision has been made.
Wendy - If someone complained about me talking about my spouse, who happens to be the same sex, I would simply respond that I will stop discussing my relationship on the same day all employees are prevented from wearing wedding rings, discussing their husband or wife, announcing their engagements, and all other forms of ways that we identify the people we share our lives with. Bottom line. My cooperation has not been bought by any form of tolerance I experience in the workplace.
I am not talking about a one time incident. I am talking about a pattern. I spend 83% of my shifts working with this woman and she behaves this way every single day. That is 60 out of 72 working hours. Her behavior dominates the space shared by EVERYONE. There are people who no longer eat in the breakroom because they can't stand the constant religious and prejudice talk. If you were Jewish and walked into our breakroom, you would feel unwelcome. If you were athiest, you would feel unwelcome. As a homosexual, I feel judged. That is NOT appropriate.
Sophia - This woman does not put bible quotes in her cubicle, or a picture of St. Francis in her locker. I wouldn't care if she did that. I don't care if she wanted to sit and read her bible during lunch. But it's not quiet, it's not occasional, and it's not just one conversation. It's every single day, every single time I'm in the breakroom. Her bible is NEVER in her bag and ALWAYS on the shared table. No one else leaves their personal reading materials on the table. I can't get away from it and I can't sit and eat my lunch without having to listen to her discuss religion.
It's pervasive. It's wearing.
I don't think this woman is within her rights. I just don't know if I have enough strength to stand up against her.
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