# Religion at Work...Help me explain this no-no **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 9, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317 "2004-02-09T20:09:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![laigle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laigle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laigle)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/21 "2004-02-10T01:32:10Z")
Just use fair play. Put up a poster encouraging people to read something along the lines of _Jesus Sure Liked Little Boys, Wink Wink_. And send an email out that you will continue promoting said literature until the moron with the poster cans it and publically apologizes to all non-xians in the office. People have been putting up with these twits far too long. If you insist on dragging your personal issues into the office, you should be humiliated and fired, in that order. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/22 "2004-02-10T01:35:11Z")
> [@laigle](#): > > Just use fair play. Put up a poster encouraging people to read something along the lines of _Jesus Sure Liked Little Boys, Wink Wink_. And send an email out that you will continue promoting said literature until the moron with the poster cans it and publically apologizes to all non-xians in the office. > > People have been putting up with these twits far too long. If you insist on dragging your personal issues into the office, you should be humiliated and fired, in that order. I don’t think such a confrontational stance is wise, when we’re talking about a co-owner. Unless one has a new job all lined up. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/23 "2004-02-10T01:40:21Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Look at it this way: you made this guy’s day. > > Tell him that you really appreciate him treating your savior like an adverstising sales pitch for Nike. Maybe he should think about pop up ads next? Ohhh… I don’t care if my PC freezes, long as I got my pop-up Jesus ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/24 "2004-02-10T01:43:10Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > If the sister company has a business reason to display the poster, then I don’t see the problem in their doing so… and apparently they do, being a sponsor of sorts for the local showing of the movie. > . . . > > There should be some sort of agreement concerning their promotional materials being displayed in shared space. If it was promotional material for one of their products, then yes, there should be some agreement between both _owners_ regarding the shared space. But this is “promoting” the sister company’s participation in some community event–and b/c of the controversy, a dumb way to promote, IMO–, but while sister company may derive some benefit from promoting its community activities, the OP’s place of work gets either no benefit or, screwed. It might offend some clients arriving for **ThatDuckIsEvil** ’s place of work and any benefit from a positive reaction will be for sister company, the actual sponsor. The other owner can then decide how he wants to display it in his company’s non-shared area and let him deal with the reactions from his employees and their HR dept (you’re not HR for _both_ companies, are you? If so, then also do that rules about posting thing others are suggesting.) Personally, I would have taken it down first, then sent the e-mail, but, because the day is over . . . anything happen? ---
**Author:** ![Edlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8797f3/32.png) [@Edlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edlyn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/25 "2004-02-10T01:43:41Z")
Excuse me, but what is _confusing_ about the poster to some people? And BTW, it’s _The Passion of the Christ_. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/26 "2004-02-10T02:13:00Z")
> [@Edlyn](#): > > Excuse me, but what is _confusing_ about the poster to some people? And BTW, it’s _The Passion of the Christ_. um . . . its confusing to co-workers of the OP since their interent provider/computer networking company has no connection to it, nor is it a sponsor of its viewing? ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/27 "2004-02-10T06:12:20Z")
> [@Libertarian](#): > > Oy. What exactly do you think might happen to you if someone loves Jesus? Or Buddha? Or Mohammed? I’ve resigned myself by now to the fact that the hand-stabbers will go into hysterics over the slightest hint of anything religious, but I do not yet understand why. Why the Slim Wittman effect? You don’t mind invoking the name of Jesus whenever you want to turn a colorful swearing phrase. In fact, you applaud one another and wallow in it. “Jesus on a cracker!” “Oh, band name!” […giggles…] So, why do you mind so terribly when someone invokes His name reverently? Are you still around? I thought you stomped off to Fathom is a snit or something. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/28 "2004-02-10T06:24:24Z")
**CheekyMonkey613** , as to your third point: was that just a good example of how to be overly confrontational in a religious discussion at work? protip: you probably don’t want to go around here calling people idolaters over religious differences…besides, I thought you Jews considered Christians _polytheists_, right? BTW, what’s up with that bit about the airplane in your second point? I’m familiar with the American Airlines pilot, and think he’s an offensive idiot and completely unprofessional, but I’ve never heard of Christians hijacking planes for religious reasons, they tend to prefer handing out lame comic tracts. “Considering recent events” as you say, wouldn’t it be a certain other prominent religion that you, as a Jew, would be likely to fear hearing proselytized by a man commanding an airplane? ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/29 "2004-02-10T06:52:41Z")
I’m an equal-opportunity criticizer, so I’ve got some for everybody here. But first, it should go without saying that this is a veerrrrrry delicate situation, since you may have unintentionally gotten on the bad side of the owner of Sisterco. So ignore the advice of those facetiously or seriously advising you to make a Big Hairy Aggressive Deal out of this. The reality of the politics of the situation is that there’s Big Him and Little You, and having right on your side won’t count for much if this blows up in your face. That said, let’s look at your e-mail: > [@](#): > > “Good Morning Everyone! Whoever taped up the movie poster on the door to reception, can you please take it down? This is a place of business. If you must hang that poster up, you can do so in your own cubicle. We dont want any potential customers possibly being offended or even just confused by the poster being there. Thank You. HR” What with the talk about “_that_ poster” and “customers possibly being offended,” this sounds very much like you’re not objecting to movie posters as such, but to this movie poster in particular. You assume it is offensive to some – which it may well be, but the _fact_ of its offensiveness should not have been your starting place since – surprise! – a lot of Christians don’t find it offensive at all. As you’ve discovered. You say you’re a “believer” but still were offended – why? One assumes you haven’t seen the movie. I’m a believer too, but I’m not going to assume the movie is offensive (or, for that matter, unoffensive) until I see it. The better tone, IMO, would have been the one taken when you said: > [@](#): > > Frankly, I don’t care WHAT movie it is, it’s confusing and a customer would likely think they were walking into a teenager’s bedroom seeing a taped-up poster on the door. This to me is entirely defensible and, incidentally, less likely to offend. It’s entirely defensible because it’s not premised on the content of a particular movie, as your e-mail implicitly was, and it’s less likely to offend – well, for exactly the same reason. You’re talking about movie posters generally. Not one movie particularly. So the line I would have suggested taking would have been more along the line of “Movie posters just scotch-taped on the door make our reception area look unprofessional. And they confuse the customers, who wonder why we are promoting films that have no apparent connection to our work.” Etc. etc. blah blah blah. Looking at what he said: > [@](#): > > “I will take it down when I return. As for this being a place of business, you are correct. This is also my place of business and Sister Company, LTD, is a sponsor of this production when it is released locally at This Movie Theatre. As for you not wanting any potential customers being offended or confused, I would hope that the confusion would be solved by them talking with a believer and finding out more about Jesus. Those who may be offended, I will pray for.” Handle with asbestos gloves, man. I probably would forward this up to my supervisor – actually I’d talk to my supervisor in person, with the door closed. I would explain that I was worried by the clear implication that Sisterco owner doesn’t care if he offends people (so long as he can pray for them) and doesn’t care if he confuses them (so long as there’s a believer handy they can talk to). I would ask for his/her guidance on how to respond, if at all. I would also make very clear that my concern was prompted not by anti-religion-ism, but by concern for the professional appearance and reputation of the company. I would tell him that employees had complained and one explicitly asked that the poster be removed before customers arrived. It is not the privilege of Sisterco’s owner to confuse and offend your clientele, and then to make so explicit that he doesn’t care if he does so. But it’s not your place to explain that to him. This is manifestly not your battle and it would be six kinds of foolish for you to wade into it. You have nothing to gain and potentially a lot to lose. Kick it upstairs, express your concern and dismay, and then leave it to the Powers That Be to figure out. Your best recourse at this point, IMO, it to back the heck away from this hand grenade. But you don’t want to drop it, so . . . hand it to someone else. In short, my advice on how to communicate with this individual is . . .don’t. I’d have different advice if he was anyone other than the owner of Sisterco, but that’s what he is. CYA, my friend. Cover your ass. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/30 "2004-02-10T06:57:55Z")
"Oops, I didn’t know that the poster was placed there by someone prepared to invoke oppression under color of office. Regretfully, your poster was damaged, but a hasty google search of “Jesus” and a rapid color print-out has put things right again: [![](https://www.thecityreview.com/s00conc2.jpg) ](https://www.thecityreview.com/s00conc2.jpg) (Suicide, I know, but a guy can still dream.) ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/31 "2004-02-10T07:01:23Z")
And one more thing: I’m a great believer in presenting solutions as well as problems because I think that keeps you (anybody) from coming off as a whiner or complainer. I realize I didn’t suggest any solutions, so I’ll add just that bit. Your complaint is clear – it’s two-fold actually: (1) the poster was put up in the first place and (2) the response of Sisterco owner, which you don’t know how to respond to. The potential solutions to present, IMO, are: (1) "I think it would be a good idea to have some guidelines as to what is acceptable to display in the public areas of the companies. That way we won’t have any confusion about what is allowed and what isn’t. And it would be great if Sisterco could give us a heads-up as to when they are putting up promotional materials, so we can be ready for them, and tell us what the connection is to Sisterco’s product/function, so that we can explain it. Part of the problem with this poster was that no one had any idea who put it up, or why. As far as (2) is concerned . . . well, I don’t have a solution for that, because I don’t know the guy or what your relationship is to him or what your bosses’ relationship is to him. So I think this is an occasion when the best bet is to just frankly say, “I’ve got a problem and I don’t know what to do. What do you think?” So I guess I really only had half a solution. Hardly worth three paragraphs really . . . . ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/32 "2004-02-10T09:24:18Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > Are you still around? I thought you stomped off to Fathom is a snit or something. Oh well. You thought? What was it like, being the first time and all? ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/33 "2004-02-10T11:30:06Z")
> [@Libertarian](#): > > You thought? What was it like, being the first time and all? :lol: What the hell is fathom anyways? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/34 "2004-02-10T11:34:42Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > What with the talk about “_that_ poster” and “customers possibly being offended,” this sounds very much like you’re not objecting to movie posters as such, but to this movie poster in particular. You assume it is offensive to some – which it may well be, but the _fact_ of its offensiveness should not have been your starting place since – surprise! – a lot of Christians don’t find it offensive at all. Well, maybe some _Christians_ don’t find an image of a man literally nailed to a torture device after having the skin flayed from his back and his scalp pierced by thorns and left to die in the hot sun offensive but **I** do. I find it pretty fucking disturbing, gross, and nauseating. Hanging that in an office is like hanging up pictures from a morgue depicting violent death. Which may be the point - there are a lot of folks out there who _aren’t_ Christian and may, like me, find a graphic depiction of death-by-torture to be utterly gruesome. How is that appropriate for a place of business? That’s just a sick thing to hang up in public. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/35 "2004-02-10T11:41:56Z")
> [@RexDart](#): > > :lol: > > What the hell is fathom anyways? Opal’s board. I got mad at Lynn and made an ass of myself over there. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/36 "2004-02-10T11:55:15Z")
**Duck** , this man is a numbskull, much like the American Airlines pilot. > [@](#): > > Oy. What exactly do you think might happen to you if someone loves Jesus? Or Buddha? Or Mohammed? I don’t care about how people choose to waste their time. When they start sticking it in my face, I reserve the right to get annoyed about it. This guy is not making use of his free speech rights or anything, he’s using a public area to proselytize. > [@](#): > > You don’t mind invoking the name of Jesus whenever you want to turn a colorful swearing phrase. In fact, you applaud one another and wallow in it. “Jesus on a cracker!” “Oh, band name!” […giggles…] So, why do you mind so terribly when someone invokes His name reverently? The FCC decided Bono didn’t swear when he used ‘fucking’ as an adjective (“this is fucking great!”). In much the same way, nobody minds the name Jesus when it’s used in a way that’s amusing or interesting instead of obnoxious, preachy, stupid, self-important, arrogant… well, you get the idea. More average swears like “aww, Jesus!” tend to be reflexes, not actual attempts to persuade the unfaithful that “Aww, Jesus is great! He made me stub my toe!” So it’s perfectly logical to interpret the two things different. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/37 "2004-02-10T12:04:46Z")
> [@](#): > > In much the same way, nobody minds the name Jesus when it’s used in a way that’s amusing or interesting instead of obnoxious, preachy, stupid, self-important, arrogant… well, you get the idea. Yeah, I do. And I find the idea obnoxious, preachy, stupid, self-important, and arrogant. Has it ever occured to you that those are not objective standards? That someone else might think cursing is obnoxious and praise is interesting? Do you hate just 'cause hating’s fun? Or what? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/38 "2004-02-10T14:33:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Oy. What exactly do you think might happen to you if someone loves Jesus? Or Buddha? Or Mohammed? I’ve resigned myself by now to the fact that the hand-stabbers will go into hysterics over the slightest hint of anything religious, but I do not yet understand why. Why the Slim Wittman effect? **You** don’t mind invoking the name of Jesus whenever **you** want to turn a colorful swearing phrase. In fact, you applaud one another and wallow in it. “Jesus on a cracker!” “Oh, band name!” […giggles…] So, why do you mind so terribly when someone invokes His name reverently? So, do you mean the OP, in particular? If so, could I see a cite of his flippantly using the name of Jesus…_particularly in the workplace_? If you mean all those who are not unapologetically mystical…well, I don’t blindly follow anyone, but don’t take anyone’s name in vain, either. Please apologize to me. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/39 "2004-02-10T14:36:31Z")
> [@RexDart](#): > > What the hell is fathom anyways? [The Fabulous Furry Forums of Fathom](http://fff.fathom.org/forums/) Hi, Opal! ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317/40 "2004-02-10T14:50:08Z")
You should have just added a caption. “Just hangin’ around this weekend? Go see _The Passion_, sponsored by Sister Company at the Googolplex!” /window seat please [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-at-work-help-me-explain-this-no-no/228317.md?page=3)