Religion is a pretty loaded topic; there’s no secret about it. It’s because people have very different relationships with it, and thus, bringing it up can always make everything awkward, cause a disagreement or even a full-blown conflict.
Yet, apparently, not all people got the memo when it comes to steering clear of religion, especially in formal places like work. That’s what today’s story is about — a man who pushes his beliefs onto coworkers at any chance he gets to the point where it starts to look like he might have malicious intent.
More info: mumsnet
Typically, most people avoid mentioning religion in formal settings like work in order to avoid possible conflicts
Image credits: EyeEm / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Still, there are some folks who will happily bring up this topic, just like the author’s colleague
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
This colleague is a young religious man, which wouldn’t be a problem if not for his behavior
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
He keeps pushing his beliefs onto everyone, no matter if they want to listen to him or not
Image credits: ThatLadyLady
Over time, the situation became so toxic, coworkers started considering to report him
The OP has a young colleague who’s very religious. The fact that he’s comfortable with his beliefs would be admirable if he didn’t push them onto others. And he does it so often and in a way that many coworkers are starting to get uncomfortable with him.
For instance, he starts asking everyone loaded questions about evolution, abortion, gay rights; you get the gist. Then, when they answer in a “non-Christian” manner, he starts lecturing them and won’t drop it even if a person is rattled.
He also objects to any music that isn’t worship, criticizes artists for promoting “wrong” values, expresses opinions about women and marriage, and all things like that. The point is that his colleagues don’t inherently have anything against him having these beliefs (even though some of them are rather questionable ones); but they’re against him badgering them with them.
After all, there’s a reason why religion usually tends to be among the topics that should be avoided during small talk – not everyone shares your beliefs. In fact, it’s not only frowned upon to bring up during small talk, but in many workplaces overall, too. Human resources professionals often suggest that coworkers steer clear of this topic in order to avoid conflict.
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
And conflicts are never good, no matter where they happen. In the work setting, it might impact people’s productivity, team coordination, and overall vibe of the community, so it’s normal to want to avoid them.
There’s also the factor of people feeling pressured to join a religion—this aspect plays a part in this topic being taboo in the workplace. That’s why in some places there’s even a suggestion to avoid such expressions as “God bless” or make “Merry Christmas” change to a more neutral “Happy Holidays” one.
Sadly, such neutrality is lost in the OP’s office due to the said religious colleague and his antics. And not only was it not neutral there, but kind of toxic too – workers got tired of walking around the dude on eggshells not to wake his sleeper agent instinct to talk about religion. So, they started to wonder – how to deal with this? Would telling him to the manager be a solution?
Well, the netizens think that it would be – the coworker who’s making the workplace unbearable, so he must be dealt with somehow, right? And what’s better than to do it through official, proper channels?
What do you think? Is telling on the coworker a good choice in this case? What would you do in the OP’s shoes?
Netizens thought it was a good idea, as dealing with someone like that through official channels is always the most sensible choice
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