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Has anyone experienced any workplace prejudice regarding their atheist points of view?

Beerkiller 3 Sep 25
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Yes. I worked in an office full of religious people. The first day on the job I noticed bible verses on the walls and sometimes they would have bible readings, prayer and gospel music. Keep in mind that this is a federal government facility. It took a while for me to come out. I normally don't bring it up unless somewhere in the conversation there is an opening for it. They asked me where I go to church and I told them I didn't. Then I told them I was an atheist. One co-worker told me that they would convert me in a short amount of time. I told her that I have been an atheist all my life and I doubt anything she could say would make change my views.

Things went south one morning when the boss decided to check on what time everybody came to work. Of course I am always 15 minutes early so I was ok. The rest of them came in 15-45 minutes late that morning so they decided I was the snitch. After that loud gospel music played every day for most of the day and more prayer and bible readings. They eventually moved on to other positions and the bible verses on the walls went straight into the trash.

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Numerous times.

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East Tennessean here...so yes. On holidays, someone always leads a prayer to pray for the food, or the holiday, or whatever. The one person who was an outspoken atheist was told if she didn't like it, she could leave the room. Other staff argued with her and spoken so badly about her, they managed to push her out of her job. It's brutal in this neck of the woods. I just keep my mouth shut. I don't agree with them, I don't disagree, its not worth it. Nice to be who you are, but not with those consequences. Pitiful ?

So true. I've learned the hard way. Better off keeping it to your self. That's not quite true. I'm still learning. Damn, sometimes I hate my stubbornness. For real, it can be a bitch. But religion caused me alot of problems when I was younger. I'm also recovering from alcoholism and it's caused me substantial problems in that arena.

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I cannot wear my Pinnacle when I was a manager at the major department store, if somebody noticed it...i would b ova lol

BkCAT Level 4 Sep 26, 2018
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I used to work for a major secular health care corporation. Sometimes when I was in meetings with my boss and his boss, would they end them by inviting me to join them in prayer. I would stand with them in a small circle and try to be respectful, but I wouldn't bow my head or close my eyes. They clearly noticed this, but I never experienced anything that made me believe they thought less of me. But it was still very uncomfortable, since I feel if I had reported it our relationships would have been detrimentally effected.

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They think I am a satanist and appear to fear me.
I know it's wrong but that shit is funny

Some do.They're nuts. The family I was partly raised in was Pentecostal and the guy would demonize athiests. Probably still does. Their ignorance blows me away.

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As a nurse I feel the need to hide my beliefs because the majority of my coworkers are Christian. One of the first questions I am asked when meeting a new staff member is, " what church do you belong to"?

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Majority of my peers in the software industry are atheist, and we are all tolerant of religion! 🙂

I am a software engineer and instrumentation specialist. I only know of one atheist at work, but I'm sure there are more. He is way more vocal than I am about things. As far as I know, he is the only one at work aware of my standpoint.

@stinklizard I wonder if it has to do with your location. Tech companies in the west coast are a lot more atheistic. In my team we discuss religion and politics a LOT. I could probably count the number of religious people in my team of around 200 people. Plus, in the west coast, software engineers have a lot of opportunities. If one employer fires you for your religious views, you can easily switch to another company (and probably get a raise in the process).

@Akshaylive I'm sold. I work in a specific field, I guess I could change to working a Pacific field

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As a healthcare provider, I’m very aware that my patient/families turn to thier religion of choice when they’re ill. Religion and politics are subjects best not brought up.

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Religion or lack thereof has no place in a work environment, unless you are working for a church. Christian? Keep your mouth shut about it at work. Muslim? Mouth shut. Atheism? Mouth shut.

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Normally I am self-employed but the last time I worked as an employee for somebody else I was the warranty manager of a construction company and I was literally Irreplaceable so I was very very adamant about my being an atheist and the religious people were told to shut the hell up and leave me alone because they didn't want them to upset me

It really helped that the owner of the company was also an atheist

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Nkkk9

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Theres a place in town. Emails me about an interview. I check their website. Tons of Godly memes and daily scriptures that could apply to the occupation.
I never bother replying. I know I don't belong there.

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I’ll talk politics fairly openly these days.. even did so with a couple of CEOs at multi million dollar companies.. in a very conservative area & I’m not conservative, but I refuse to talk religion. One CEO was the son of a preacher. People can tolerate a difference of politics better than they can religion is my experience. And like they say you can run for office or the presidency as a minority in either party but you can’t really run as an atheist or agnostic.

If I want to advance in business in the south then either I play the game at this point or stay silent. I refuse to play the game, just staying silent & biding my time. Nothing depresses me more than listening to religious rhetoric at work, but this is just a regional problem.

BenR Level 3 Sep 25, 2018
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Not really. I live in Australia and people don't seem to get upset about religion as they do in the US.

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I don't bring my dirty laundry to work. Not saying atheism is dirty, but there is nothing to be gained and everything to lose if you talk religion or politics at work. That being said, I know who the other dirty atheists are at work, and we make our jokes when nobody else is around.

On a side note, a few years ago in Roanoke VA, I had a job nailed down. I guess in the closing of the interview, he asked me if I believe in god; not being a liar when I can help it, I said no. He said he thought that god was needed in the workplace, and he would be in touch. He called me too short of a time later, and said he was no longer interested.

I feel like that's not legal. But perhaps you dodged a bullet by not getting on for someone like that

@Remi in the heart of the Bible belt, I don't know what I could achieve. I don't (and especially didn't) have the money to do anything legal... maybe pessimistic to say, but I doubt the ACLU would be all on board with such a small incident. Then, rather than being famous, I'd be infamous; and might not be able to get a job scrubbing toilets.

Sadly people probably have this happen frequently, but do nothing about it in fear of reciprocation.

@stinklizard I understand your position. I suppose I am just fed up with religious policies shaping our government. It is a position of ignorance that genuinely affects other people. We can’t do stem cell research because of the religious right. This stuff about SCOTUS and the possibility of Roe v Wade being overturned. In certain states you can’t even run for office if you espouse atheism. One could argue that marijuana laws have stayed intact because of religious observation. The list goes on and on. The sad truth is that appears that our numbers are two few to march on the capital and people are afraid of reprisals. If this isn’t discrimination, I don’t know what is!

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I would never talk about it at work. I don't talk politics or religion at work as I doubt anyone shares my views on either topic.

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No, but I work for a native tribe that incorporates prayer and spiritual ceremonies and just don't feel like it would be appropriate to bring up my own personal beliefs...i just do my thing and then clock out and go home. I like to keep my personal and professional lives separated 🙂

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