Reply to Boss-led "fellowship" with prayer "...in Jesus Christ, our lord's name Amen"

Forum Index » Off-Topic

Reply to "Boss-led "fellowship" with prayer "...in Jesus Christ, our lord's name Amen""

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I agree that it is inappropriate, in any office, for a boss to kick off a gathering by asking everyone to bow their heads in prayer, or even ask someone to lead the group in prayer (even if they want to).  That said, what can OP do about it that won't turn into a huge clusterfuck?[/quote]

I agree with this. I think it's inappropriate. But it's not the only piece of OP's relationship with her coworkers and her boss, and I worry about her long-term experience in this office.

I was the one who asked whether it would be obvious that she was the one who went to the ethics office, and while I didn't use the word clusterfuck, I think it's apt.  If everyone else starts to hate her because she got her boss reprimanded/ended the fellowship meetings/got other staff interrogated by the ethics folks/got everybody signed up for mandatory ethics training, then she'll probably be a lot worse off than just being uncomfortable once a month. This still doesn't make the prayer session right, but it might make OP's life easier in the long run.

My first course of action would be to go to the boss, tell him I'm uncomfortable, and work out something with him. Maybe she can show up 20 minutes late for breakfast, after the prayer is over. Or, she could go for the prayer but use the moment of silence for something else, like meditating, or planning her family dinner, or something else. They can't actually force her to pray, after all.  [/quote]

+2.  The situation as described would also have made me VERY uncomfortable.  In fact (and I am making assumptions here), I think I would be far MORE comfortable with a Non-Christian prayer, as I (assume) it wouldn't be as awkward to decline to participate in that case.  But also agree that the mere fact it makes you uncomfortable doesn't mean there's any easy way to deal with it that won't have ramifications within your office.  Of course there *should* be, but we're dealing with reality.

This thread also got me thinking about my own religious classification, and I think what best describes me is "Cultural Christian."  I grew up in a pretty WASPy part of New England where I absorbed much of the moral / cultural components, but I don't actually 'believe' in the faith aspects.  Growing up I would have self-identified as Christian, but since living in other areas of the Country I have come to realize this means I am NOT a Christian according to most Christians.  So hence the "Cultural Christian" moniker.  (Although I'm also very socially liberal - which seems to me to mesh just fine with Christ's teachings - so maybe that's not the right term, as it could mean socially conservative?) [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics