I have never in my 45 years of employment ever been asked about my church or religion. What gives?

Sure have!! When I told them I was a member of The Sponge Bob Square Pants Temple Church of Deliverance, they STFU.

If they do, you have a valid HR complaint.

No, but I did get memo on my desk at my first job at an architecture firm in a work study program while at Texas A & M. The message said that "from this Friday and every Friday forward there wil be a mandaory meeting on the role of Jesus Christ in Architecture". I swivelled my office chair around (I was an indoctrinated Jew back then) at the same time that Mohammed swivelled his chair around and we both exclaimed what the fuck in unison. Unforgettable! I typed up an anonymous reply and left it on the desk of both partners, informing them that what they did was illegal and it was never spoken of again. The firms principals and the admin staff all meet at church and just figured they could have some fun. Lol... we had to go into one of the engineers ofices and close the door if we had a dirty joke worth telling!!!

I just say, "I work over the weekend." I once had a kiddo ask me, "Do you read your bible on your days off?" I told her "Nope, I never read tbe bible."

NOPE

30 years ago in the Deep South the bank manager asked me "what my local was?" I had just moved from the U.K. and that sentence translated to "which pub do you drink at?" So I scratched my head trying to remember the name of any of the bars I had frequented, fortunately for me I couldn't. I then said "I'm sorry but I can't remember any names" at which point he invited me to join him and his family at their church....? I had the biggest smile on my face, I bet he thought he'd made my day.

No, my boss hasn't asked me what church I go to. If she does I will tell I'm a atheist. I wish I had the nerve to burn some bibles.

I have not.

What is really bad is if after your Doctor examines you he asks..."Are you religious?"

When someone would ask my father what church he went to church he answered, "St. Eddy's". It was 'Ed's Bar and Tap' a few blocks from my house in Chicago.

That is surprising that it is still happening in 2018. Back in the 70s and 80s it was almost a given that some do-gooder would want to know what church you attended in an effort to gather another lamb to their flock. And if you were self assured (or stupid!) enough to say you didn't attend church, you had better be ready for a non-ending full on frontal attack in an attempt to get you converted (to their religion and church) and save your soul. The only way to end the attack was to either lie or become rude and verbally insulting, which would make you a pariah at work. And even affect your existing friendship with others that had just never inquired to your sanctity.

Gladly that behavior has seemed to all but stop over the past ten years. However now that I am much older, a little wiser and could care less what others think of me and always ready for a good debate, in a perverted way I sort of miss that old form of religious abuse.

I, too, live in the bible belt. Since I moved here, I have been asked numerous times about which church I belong to, not by my Boss,as I am disabled and retired. Unfortunately, for me, I have not come up with a decent response as you. Even though I have been churched all of my life, I now renounce religion all together. We moved here some 6 years ago, and as soon as I left the church I belonged to when I moved I’ve been an atheist. Thank you for your insight.

You got off easy!! I had a job where the boss/owner (super Christian nutcase) would ask all his potential employees if they masturbate and if they watch porn. In retrospect, that should of been a major red flag for me.

I also grew up in the Bible belt, Texas to be a little more specific. I've lived here my whole life. When I was younger, I used to dodge the question. After years of becoming more and more offended by the presumptions of evangelicals, I think differently about it now. When a boss or co-worker asks me that, I look them straight in the eye and say, "I don't go to church."

I pause, looking them in the eye, and wait silently for their response. It's funny the range of reactions. To be blunt, my response is motivated by anger, no, by rage. I'm an American. My religious beliefs should not be relevant at work. Wait. Let me rephrase. My beliefs about religion should not be relevant. If you don't like that, bite me. I ain't sitting at the back of the bus in silence anymore to make you comfortable. I'm excellent at my job. If you want to fire me for not being Christian, your loss and my gain.

Welcome to the 21st century.

I've never been asked that question in the US, but a couple of times. my Thai students have assumed I"m Christian, and I corrected them. When asked what I am, I shrug and say "sort of Christian-ish, mixed with Buddhism." That seems to satisfy them.

But if an American asks me seriously, I usually say I believe in quantum physics, and any religious beliefs that match it.

I have never has such tremendous sympathy for Americans. Anyone is free to believe whatever they want, but such pressure to conform is unacceptable.

I wouldn't be wanting to know from my boss how that is relevant to my job.

In New Zealand we are not to ask it is personal ,

I used to live in a small town in the north Georgia mountains. When I was an older teenager, I was constantly asked by neighbors what church I went to. I responded honestly and said I didn't go to church, but that was a big no-no for them. I tried going to a Baptist church with a neighbor just to appease them. Very unpleasant. I had to lie and say I was "saved" several times just to have them get off my back so I could go home. The next week, one of the members knocked on my door and waited with his car outside my house until it was time for them to go to church. He continued to do this every Sunday for weeks. I wanted to open the door and scream, "I'M AGNOSTIC! FUCK OFF!" I even thought about calling the cops before he gave up and stopped.

My daughter was recently asked, "Do you know the lord?" by a customer at her new job. She's not particularly tactful, and just said she's not religious, which was apparently offensive to him. He proceeded to show everyone else a [photoshopped] image of clouds that appeared in the shape of a horse, asking, "How do you explain that? ... God."

Hi we in NewZealand ,would never ask as it is deemed personal ,

I live in NJ. It's never happened to me from my boss, but I have shared info to my co-workers.

One of my favorite blogs is AskAManager.org. She has worked HR forever, and has great insight and experience. So I searched her site for "religion"and found this: [askamanager.org] It might shed some light. Seriously, it is a great blog for everything related to employment.

Yes. An HR/Ops Manager at the state university I worked at asked me about the church I attended. And also, while working for another state organization, my supervisor asked me if I was Catholic. She asked me at a later time what church I went to. She sent religious material to the team on state-owned computers during work hours to the team. She was a complete maroon.