Are Christians Morally Allowed To Deny Employment To Non-Christians?

Great Debates
21

No need for a barrage, although this is really fodder for a whole 'nother discussion.

The 30-second summary is that (surprise!) people disagree on what’s morally right, and there’s no objective standard of what is moral or immoral. So basing the law on ‘morality’, in a country that has no state-sponsored religion to be the final arbiter of what is moral, is not feasible.

OTOH, it’s easier to see when harm is being done to one person by another, and it is easier to arrive at a consensus of what acts are harmful. So it’s more feasible to base laws on that concept instead.

22

You don’t many any harm, do you, RT? If you wake up to find a burglar in your bedroom, is it wrong to harm him?

23

Oh, come on, won’t someone disagree with me?

Actually, I was more interested in the moral aspects rather than the legal aspects. I know that there are some Christians who believe Christians should not associate with non-Christians, and that there are people who believe an environment in which everyone shares the same views is somehow safer than one which doesn’t, although as we demonstrate around here regularly, Christians don’t necessarily share the same views.

CJ

24

If an employer refuses to hire a person based on anything but competency, whether it be creed or ethnicity it’s still discriminating against that individual. Period. I mean, isn’t the Christian faith about showing others God’s love? Look at the life of Christ to begin with:

  1. He came to save the lost…
  2. He dined with Zacchaeus…a publican (or was that republican) :rolleyes:
  3. He demonstrated, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone” with the woman taken in adultery
  4. He had mercy on the poor and sick
    …the list goes on…
    My point is, He was the epitome of non-descrimination…so should be Christians.

steps down off of the wee soapbox

~eNiGma

25

Employment example:

We used to contract out our photocopier maintenance contract with a decidedly Christian-based business - prayer card display in the lobby, morning prayers before work, even worked a cross into their company’s logo. (Best damn workers, too - and never witnessed on the job. I’d hire them again in a minute.)

All I could think, as a non-Christian, was, “I’d never want to work for them.”

Now, is there a case to be made that an employer, having a majority Christian workforce and being plain and up front about their religious leanings in how they run their business, might find themselves in trouble legally if a non-Christian employee worked for them; i.e., if they felt pressure, or if they considered it the religious equivalent of a “hostile work environment” (to borrow the phrase from the relevant sexual harassment laws)? I wonder. Any cases anyone can cite that deals with this?

Esprix