It is illegal for an employer to ask that! Anyway, no i have never lied about it.

Despite its being illegal, even back in 1971, when i was 19, i was among a group of toys r us stock clerks whose new manager had the temerity to ask us, en masse, if we believed in god. I quoted mark twain's "malign thug" line to him. He was not pleased... But it was none of his business.

Half a decade later i was asked by a potential employer if i might change my surname, for the purpose of the job, to something less "overtly jewish." i didn't want to but i was living with two unemployed friends who were stealing electricity to survive so i said yes. It made me physically ill.

Another time i was calling from the sunday job listings to find employment and asked one receptionist if a certain job was still open. Oh yes! The relief in her voice was palpable. I heard her call out to the boss and speak in glowing terms about what portion of my qualifications i had given her, and about (best of all) my availability fir this job they were so eager to fill. Then she told him my overtly jewish surname. A second later she came back to the phone yo tell me, cold as ice, that she was terribly sorry but the position had been filled.

I have taken more shit throughout my life fir being a jew, without anyone's investigating my level of religiosity (i am an atheist -- which is none of anyone's damned business but on the other hand it is no secret) because being a jew already condemns me to hell (and apparently unemployability). People who are unhappy with my atheism tend to be total strangers on facebook who can neither beat me up nor fire me. Sticks and stones!

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i have never been asked about beliefs by an employer. it's hard to conceive of such a request.

It's against the law to ask anything like that.

In USA it is illegal to ask and illegal to discriminate on basis of religious affiliation. Though the Catholic Church has been guilty of firing teachers for violating church doctrine for things like divorce, pregnancy if not married, etc. Not sure if that still goes on.

It is no business of a potential employer or any employer what anyones religion or not is.

If ever you run across an employer who discriminates based on religious beliefs/ or lack of them, you can file a charge of discrimination with EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).

I have NOT lied to any potential employer about my being atheist. I don't even recall any potential employer asking such an irrelevant question.

Why on earth would it come up in an interview? These things, like marital status and sexual orientation should have no bearing. Having said that, I know you are in the US and I have read awful stories about the power of religion there, in some states especially. Appalling. I can't think of any time that has been a factor for me. Were it to happen I would scold severely and leave.

I once interviewed for a job as a youth counselor at a reform school. As I read more about the job, I realized it was a Christian organization running the place, which didn't come through in the job posting. So I danced around the issue as much as I could, and nobody actually asked me if I was a believer, I think they just assumed everyone in the world was.
I didn't get the job anyway, since I was just looking for something to fill in time before heading to grad school that fall, and they wanted someone permanent.

Out of curiosity, what does any employer have any business doing asking about your social media? Or anything you do on your own time? Only if you're running it on company time is it any of their concern. And then, only to tell you to quit fooling around and get back to work.

Religion never came up when applying for a job during my working career.

Never, I have always been out spoken. Perhaps that's why I've always had adventures.

How can we lie or deceive potential employers about us being agnostic or atheist when they have no right to ask that question to begin with? That would be extremely unprofessional of them.

religious affiliation has never come among employees. does anyone really care whether on Sunday you go to church or turn to the station airing NFL?

I have been an atheist since my teens and am now an old fart. When I was in the Navy, I demanded, and got, dog tags that stated my religion as "none". It took a lot of infighting to accomplish even this. My command refused to label me as an Atheist on my dog tags. This was in about 1977 or so. Everyone I knew at the command was aware of my position. I have never attempted to hide it from anyone.

The only time I was ever asked my religion was in the defence force and you were not allowed to list atheist. They didn't care if you were, you were just not allowed to list it because they needed to know what services to bury you with and they didn t have the paperwork for "none". . But that was 50 years ago and I assume it's changed (at least in this country, maybe not in yours ). I've never been asked my religion since and I would have become quite indignant if I was.

I grew up in California, and religion was seldom brought up in the workplace. I have lived my entire life ont eh West coast of the U.S. and when ti large cities religion is seldom discussed at work.

Not once in my life has religion had anything to do with my work, except for a summer job where religious services were conducted once a week at the plant. Even then, there was no pressure on individuals and anyone was free to not attend.

Remember, your employer has freedom of speech too. Only the most stupid employer would threaten anyone for non-belief, but if you are deeply disturbed by just his conversation the problem is with you.

It is important to be true to yourself by calmly stating your opinions. Any employer worth working for will respect you.

Thanks for the inspiring question that opened my eyes to an issue that an entrepreneur would not have experienced.

It has never come up as a question. When I was looking for a job some years ago I ran across an interesting company mission statement. I always researched any place I would send a resume and the mission statement noted doing work in the service of the lord. Needless to say, I declined to send a resume.

I must, however, put a plug in for my local Catholic Charities: they are very open to people of all faiths and the faithless! Shocking but true. And they are genuine! They didn't look like they were holding back some bodily function when I told them.

Asking about religion when screening potential employees is illegal, at least in the United States. I always tell people that I believe religion is a very personal topic and I don't discuss it with anyone. (Unless you are applying to work for a religious organization, in which case I would think lying about your religious affiliation could cost you your job.)

I work as a home health aide. My clients tend to all be religious and even though we aren't supposed to really discuss this topic at all, it comes up A LOT. I generally lie or avoid straight answers. One woman spanked me while I was washing her dishes because I told her I hadn't been to church in years. I'm not even kidding.

Never, I told my hardcore muslim ex-boss that I am not religious and don't believe in God.

So glad I don't live in an area where that is an issue - and people couldn't care less what I get up to on Sundays, or in my personal life, or in my head.

Sadly for you it is only a matter of time before companies like this: [nytimes.com] are peddling their wares to companies that want to do religious (or other) background screening based on your online presence. Sooner or later if you've shown your face on your YouTube or social media channels they will find you out at an interview.

Personally if someone would not hire me because I'm an atheist I would not want to work for them. But as I said, I'm just so lucky it is virtually never a problem in my life. Maybe visiting in-law relatives (not a problem now, thanks to Trump they are all estranged now), or traveling in the South - but those are temporary engagements when I would no more mention religion than I would Trump unless someone chose to go there first. But I could always walk out or drive away from such situations because my livelihood would not depend on it.