Ah, yes, that makes sense. Thank you.
Another who never had that problem at work, that I can think of anyway. If someone did bring it up in todays political or religious climate, I’d just cut them off and say “Not interested, take it somewhere else.” Best to put an unambiguous stop to that crap or you’ll never hear the end of it. @Crafter_Man’s situation would probably drive me to a mass workplace shooting.
This was 20 or 30 years ago mostly. Things have probably changed, and different companies had different unwritten rules then and now.
A lot of interesting (and some troubling) experiences here, for sure.
I work in New Zealand in the public health sector (so a government employee), and know that I’m in the minority politically - most employees are left-wing. However, some of the people I work close with are (happily) of a similar view, so we can have stimulating conversations around topics like tax rates, minimum wage, etc. Also religion - there are a few Christians, while I’m an atheist. If we talk about that, it’s more like finding out what they think, rather than starting a debate.
My only social media is LinkedIn, and I semi-regularly ‘like’ or comment on posts that are without doubt political in nature. However, my rule is to avoid doing so if there’s even one disrespectful comment there. Right now, we have our own ‘Convoy’ protest outside Parliament and it’s generating a lot of heated comment on both sides. Like many here, I simply ignore such ‘debate’.
I see the problem being largely a lack of respect for others’ views on the part of the more extreme elements. I have one good friend who is against vaccine passes and mandates, but he is Polish, so has (I think) valid reasons to be wary of any State action around segregating society… When I say, “I see your point of view”, that’s enough for him, and we then shift to other topics.
I’m all for honest and respectful conversations at work that include non-work topics. If you can negotiate those with respect, then it (IMHO) shows you can probably handle difficult work-related topics too.