# Ever had a boss who held prayer in team meetings? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 22, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703 "2014-04-22T18:29:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Staggering\_Genius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@Staggering\_Genius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggering_Genius)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703/61 "2014-04-24T00:55:19Z")
Wow. I can’t believe stuff like this happens. On the scale of things my boss is likely to open a team meeting with, “prayer” probably ranks just below “seance” and above “wife swap”. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703/62 "2014-04-24T00:58:12Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > … I can pray once in a while without too much problem. I’m worried that if I pray, God will strike me dead, for hypocrisy. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703/63 "2014-04-24T01:10:56Z")
Thankfully no. And the head of the dept I work in is apparently quite the fundy, having his kids go to private school so as not to be corrupted with evilution and such. But I heard all this 2nd and 3rd have, because he knows it inappropriate to bring that stuff up in the workplace. Or maybe it’s not true, that’s also possible. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703/64 "2014-04-24T04:13:04Z")
It would be utterly unthinkable. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703/65 "2014-04-24T04:17:56Z")
> [@Staggering\_Genius](#): > > Wow. I can’t believe stuff like this happens. On the scale of things my boss is likely to open a team meeting with, “prayer” probably ranks just below “seance” and above “wife swap”. Heh - I remember a boss that was a rather devout muslem, he also was more likely to open a meeting with a wife swap than a prayer (of the Islamic variety) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703/66 "2014-04-24T17:10:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I could never be the “good” atheist that knew his place. I worked at a retirement home where the attendants were made to hold the hands of patients while the head of the (supposedly) non-denominational facility gave a distinctly Christian prayer. When I pointed out that I didn’t want to participate and that I knew that two of the patients were definitely Jewish, I was told that it didn’t matter because they didn’t know where they were anyway so it could only be to their benefit. And then what did you do? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703/67 "2014-04-24T17:20:14Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > And then what did you do? Got sick, lost my job, lost my apartment, and lived on the streets of Seattle for a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703/68 "2014-04-24T17:42:13Z")
I’m wondering if this ever happens with some non Christian religion. If any of my managers ever did something like that, our union would make a huge stink about it. One time a co-worker was talking to another co worker about some chronic illness he was suffering from. The other co worker said " I’ll pray for you tonight". The guy got so offended at this remark he immediately went to the shop steward and demanded they file a grievance against the other employee for harassment 😕 ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703/69 "2014-04-24T22:05:20Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Seems odd to me that you can’t imagine this happening, since several other posters have mentioned that similar things happened to them. I’m not a great imaginer. Also, it’s behavior that falls so far away from normal, that I’ve difficulty wrapping my head around it. Even my most religious bosses wouldn’t have led meetings with a prayer. ---
**Author:** ![Swamp\_Adder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Swamp\_Adder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swamp_Adder)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703/70 "2014-04-24T22:35:40Z")
The management of the company I currently work at is pretty exclusively conservative Christian. There is no “prayer leading” at any work functions – except the annual company Christmas party. I guess they figure that since they’re openly calling it a “Christmas” party there’s no point in trying to keep it religiously neutral. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-boss-who-held-prayer-in-team-meetings/686703.md?page=3)