Xtian loons in the workplace

[two sheds]

1 guy in our office is full-time christian - his wife quit drugs with religion and they both do lots of charity work. He's one of the friendliest, chilled people in the company. Doesn't preach at all and you wouldn't know he had strong faith unless you asked him.

so no, no loons, just one of the nice ones.

Yep I've met a few similar - remarkable people when they live their beliefs like that.

 

[DarthSydodyas]

We have 3 or 4 prayer rooms for different religions in our place, but no loons.

 

[Corax]

Maybe it's just they have something in common thats made a big deal of collectively, frequent group chattering and suchlike that has nothing to do with work.

We often get the same thing in my workplace - except it's golf they're banging on about.

my colleague will challenge them, in a very nice way, she brought up the subject of homosexuality the other day. those two tolerate them but believe it's wrong, against god, marriage was meant for a man and a woman, sex is designed for procreation etc etc etc ad nauseam

Fundamentalists of any hue don't do rational thought ime.

 

[Part 2]

We often get the same thing in my workplace - except it's golf they're banging on about.

If I'd been meeting with my manager and said "Oh by the way, the office is a bit noisy, these discussions about golf are just getting disruptive now" she'd be happy to have words with people.

She won't confront people about this though.

 

[Corax]

If I'd been meeting with my manager and said "Oh by the way, the office is a bit noisy, these discussions about golf are just getting disruptive now" she'd be happy to have words with people.

She won't confront people about this though.

Fair point then!

 

[Mungy]

Nail em to a cross and see how they like it

 

[phildwyer]

1 guy in our office is full-time christian - his wife quit drugs with religion and they both do lots of charity work. He's one of the friendliest, chilled people in the company. Doesn't preach at all and you wouldn't know he had strong faith unless you asked him.

Describes the vast majority of Christians ime.

 

[ericjarvis]

Firstly. It isn't what the behaviour is that is relevant. It's how it affects the workplace. I wouldn't complain about it in terms of Christian fundies causing a problem, I'd deal with the specific affect on how the workplace operates. That way problems can be dealt with without any disrespect to anyone's beliefs.

I'd class myself as a Christian, in that I try to live according to what I see as the principles of the religion. However I find intrusive evangelism annoying, and really hate religious stupidity of any kind. Best example I've encountered at work was an evangelical colleague who objected to me playing some music at work. It was Tata Nzembe by Bisso Na Bisso, and she complained that since the lyrics were in an obscure Congolese dialect that none of us could understand they might be persuading us to do the Devil's work. It was such a completely insane idea that I simply changed the music to something else rather than burst out laughing, as I inevitably would have if I'd tried to argue. A few weeks later a Congolese carpenter came to my flat to fix a window, and the same album was playing. When Tata Nzembe came up he mentioned it was in his native dialect. So I asked what it meant. "It's a hymn" he told me "the title means Father God".

 

[Mrs Magpie]

1 guy in our office is full-time christian - his wife quit drugs with religion and they both do lots of charity work. He's one of the friendliest, chilled people in the company. Doesn't preach at all and you wouldn't know he had strong faith unless you asked him.

so no, no loons, just one of the nice ones.

I work with people like this.


One or two girls at school are a bit full-on but their parents are even worse. They are deeply ensconced in the wilder fringes of fundamentalist bible-prophesy type weirdness.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I work with a guy whose a deeply committed Christian, and he's cool, not preachy in any way at all.

He didn't even mind when we used silver gaffa tape to add little legs to the fish symbol on the back of his car

 

[Corax]

1 guy in our office is full-time christian - his wife quit drugs with religion and they both do lots of charity work. He's one of the friendliest, chilled people in the company. Doesn't preach at all and you wouldn't know he had strong faith unless you asked him.

so no, no loons, just one of the nice ones.

Describes the vast majority of Christians ime.

I work with a guy whose a deeply committed Christian, and he's cool, not preachy in any way at all.

He didn't even mind when we used silver gaffa tape to add little legs to the fish symbol on the back of his car

See, this is my overarching experience of christians too. Which is why I struggle to understand the depths of hatred towards christians often demonstrated on these boards.

I'd class myself as a Christian, in that I try to live according to what I see as the principles of the religion. However I find intrusive evangelism annoying

Add utterly counterproductive to that as well.

have you heard of Jesus?
Who?
Read this!

....

Oh! Right, okay then, I had no idea! Where do I sign up?





We're not all creationist nutcases, and many are quite happy to have their beliefs questioned. Personally, my faith is quite rational (I think). I'm not convinced that blind faith counts for a lot. If you can't internally criticise your own beliefs and justify them rationally, then they must be a bit flimsy.

 

[Citizen66]

There's only one Christian that I can think of at work but he's alright. He has got a bit preachy to some folk but never to me. He probably thinks I don't look the right sort.

We do have loads of patriotic types though. Always wearing the poppy and banging on about people who don't know the meanings of the dates and stuff. Talk about not being able to move on!

If anyone tuts at that then you're exactly the type I'm referring to.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

To be honest, the type mentioned in the OP is basically the kind of loon that espouses a cause ad nauseam, whatever their particular obsession. This could be Jesus, Animal Rights, the SWP, conspiracy theories, diets and related food fads, alternative medicine etc etc.

 

[Corax]

To be honest, the type mentioned in the OP is basically the kind of loon that espouses a cause ad nauseam, whatever their particular obsession. This could be Jesus, Animal Rights, the SWP, conspiracy theories, diets and related food fads, alternative medicine etc etc.

Bingo!

 

[butterfly child]

Personally, I can't see what the fuss is about.

They're being a bit noisy? If it means you can't work, a gentle request for a bit less noise wouldn't go amiss.

I make a lot of noise when at work - nothing to do with being a Christian and everything to do with being loud!

 

[Nemo]

No fundies where I work; in fact, the majority of us are atheists in spite of our salaries being paid by a church-linked charity. We tend to go in more for political radicalism; although only among those with a confirmed interest.

 

[fubert]

Guy at my work, one of the nicest people you'd ever meet. Deeply religious guy but doesn't mention it.

I would say live and let live, simple as that. Nobody's asking you to like it, but you should at least accept it.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

...I would say live and let live, simple as that. Nobody's asking you to like it, but you should at least accept it.

I disagree.

People practising singing their hymns in an office would be extremely distracting. No one should have to accept that.

It doesn't really matter whether they're singing hymns or having a bit of a karoake session singing Take That or Mariah Carey songs or even something more in tune with one's own taste in music, it's distracting and inconsiderate to other colleagues who are trying to work.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Bingo!

And if they were causing an issue with whatever it was, you would expect complaints to be at least addressed. The whole bit with the line manager worries me, it makes me think that maybe pressure is being put on people not to challenge intrusive workplace behaviour... combined with recent changes in management it makes me think that perhaps a faction has come in that thinks it can do this sort of thing without concern for the feelings of staff.

 

[Corax]

And if they were causing an issue with whatever it was, you would expect complaints to be at least addressed. The whole bit with the line manager worries me, it makes me think that maybe pressure is being put on people not to challenge intrusive workplace behaviour... combined with recent changes in management it makes me think that perhaps a faction has come in that thinks it can do this sort of thing without concern for the feelings of staff.

Agreed.

This needs cautious wording if I'm not to be misinterpretted - but I see this kind of manager as no different to one that allows someone to behave inappropriately/take the piss/underperform without consequences because they're BME/gay etc. Some people, usually ime those with no real understanding of discrimination, are terrified of being accused an 'ism'. I'm guessing it's the same mindset that tolerates choir practice in the office.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

I few months back I was basically called a racist Islamophobe at work, which was deliciously ironic.

We had an intern who had a really annoying habit of going off to the prayer room in the afternoon, leaving her mobile on her desk or in her bag, and every day her going off to the prayer room coinciding with her husband calling to say he was waiting to pick her up in the car park, and she had a really annoying ring tone.

And another colleague used to go off to the prayer room and leave her phone lying around with the ring tone switched on as well.

The awful tinny quality really gets to me, and one day, I'd had enough, and rummaged in the side pocket of the intern's bag to turn off her bl00dy phone, because I was trying to work and the noise was driving me to distraction.

And then the next afternoon, they buggered off to the prayer room again, and what sounded like a ringtone started again... so I went round the desk thinking the mobile would be on her desk and I'd switch it off. But I realised it was coming out of the speaker of another colleague's computer. So I asked if he wouldn't mind turning it down, as I was trying to work and I was finding it distracting.

He went off on one at me, saying that it was the adhan (he'd set an alarm for the muslim call to prayer on his computer) and that if it was church bells ringing then I wouldn't complain about that.

Erm, yes, I would. It was a f'ing annoying tinny 'orrible noise coming out of his computer speaker, and I was finding it distracting, and if a different colleague had set an alarm on their computer that was church bells ringing, then yes I would have complained about that as well.

What made it worse was that after setting the alarm on his computer he didn't go off to the prayer room when the alarm went off anyway!

Basically, he'd looked at me - white, English - assumed I was Christian, and that my motivations were based on racism and Islamophobia.

 

[phildwyer]

Personally, I can't see what the fuss is about.

There's plenty of people on these boards (and I therefore assume in British liberal society as a whole) who actually hate Christians, no matter how inoffensive they are.

 

[fogbat]

There's plenty of people on these boards (and I therefore assume in British liberal society as a whole) who actually hate Christians, no matter how inoffensive they are.