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Summary of Feedback regarding resistance to spirituality or religionin the workplace

  • 1.  Summary of Feedback regarding resistance to spirituality or religionin the workplace

    Posted 12-01-2007 03:55

                Aaron,

     

                Thanks for the summary. Workplaces practices based on a particular religion are the greatest point of contention if the employees belong to

                different religions. Secularism has been found to maintain harmony at the workplace (at least apparently). Religion is what one belongs to (given)

                and spirituality is what one believes in. I would be interested in exploring cross cultural differences if someone from the MSR group is interested in.

     

                Sincerely,

     

                Radha R. Sharma, Ph.D.

    Professor, Organisational Behaviour & HRD

    Management Development Institute ( http://www.mdi.ac.in )

    Po Box 60, Mehrauli Road

    Gurgaon 122 001

    India

    Tel.: +91-124-4013050- 59, 4560331(Direct)

    Fax: +91-124-2341189

    Mobile: +91-98185-64114

    Email: radha@mdi.ac.in

     

     

    -----Original Message-----
    From: Management, Spirituality & Religion [mailto:MSR@AOMLISTS.pace.edu] On Behalf Of AARON CUEVAS
    Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 9:36 AM
    To: MSR@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
    Subject: Summary of Feedback regarding resistance to spirituality or religionin the workplace

     

    As promised, I am providing a summary of the key points made by those of you that responded to my query:

     

    'What have you found to be the greatest point of contention organizations have for resisting programs aimed at spirituality or dealing with religion in the workplace?'

     

    and also to my sub request concerning:

     

    '...what counter arguments may not have been considered from the organizations perspective.'

     

    Foremost, I would like to thank each of you for your insights. Although the feedback seemed minimal in that there are many more of us in MSR than responded, the feedback was rich in detail. In fact, the feedback has been very beneficial to me as I devise practical mechanisms for introducing both spirituality and religion into the workplace. But more importantly, the feedback seemed to have motivated some thought regarding future research and friendly dialogue. Fortunately, I am also in the dissertation phase of my PhD program and will eagerly consider some of the insights gained to glean ideas for research.

     

    The summary (not a synthesis) of the feedback is in the attached Word document. I was sure to informally cite the respondent(s) responsible for the feedback but did not formalize it as each of you that followed this thread will easily identify the sources (emails).

     

     

    I would appreciate any additional feedback any of you might have. More importantly, if any of you are entrepreneurially minded, please feel free to contact me at your convenience and perhaps we take the discussion further.

     

    Sincerely,

     

    Aaron Cuevas


    > Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 08:40:54 -0800
    > From: drrichardperegoy2001@YAHOO.COM
    > Subject: Re: Resistance to spirituality or religion in the workplace?
    > To: MSR@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
    >
    > hi aaron,
    >
    > you have touched a nerve.
    >
    > most employers run on fear of religion becoming a
    > divisive issue in the workplace. spirituality however
    > seems to be less fearful...not eliminating the fear,
    > but alleviating the so called threat.
    >
    > pardon my typing i am in brasil using a portuguese
    > based keyboard.
    >
    > anyway is talk about spirituality as the oneness or
    > uniquenes that unites us all and religion as the
    > particular set of beliefs that one follows. when one
    > sees these beliefs as relating to a god \a person\
    > then it is religious. when one sees this as a force a
    > thing rather than a a person it is spiritual.
    >
    > i appreciate your offer to bind the diverse comments.
    > as you can see they are opposite sides of the same
    > circle. thank you for addressing the queston.
    >
    > kindly,
    >
    > richard
    > --- AARON CUEVAS <ar_cuevas@MSN.COM> wrote:
    >
    > >
    > > Richard,
    > >
    > > If I gather enough responses I would gladly
    > > summarize them to share with the group.
    > >
    > > Aaron Cuevas> Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:04:55 -0800>
    > > From: drrichardperegoy2001@YAHOO.COM> Subject: Re:
    > > Resistance to spirituality or religion in the
    > > workplace?> To: MSR@AOMLISTS.pace.edu> > Hi Aaron,>
    > > > Interesting question...are you going to share the>
    > > responses?> > Kindly,> > Richard> --- Aaron Cuevas
    > > <ar_cuevas@MSN.COM> wrote:> > > I would like to
    > > query the MSR group to ask...> > > > What have you
    > > found to be the greatest point of> > contention
    > > organizations > > have for resisting programs aimed
    > > at spirituality or> > dealing with religion > > in
    > > the workplace?> > > > For example, did the
    > > organizations fear 'religious> > discrimination'
    > > because > > of implied connotations?> > > > Be as
    > > specific as you can. Anyhow, if you can,> > please
    > > explain what counter > > arguements may not have
    > > been considered from the> > organizations
    > > perspective.> > > > > >
    > >
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  • 2.  Summary of Feedback regarding resistance to spirituality or religionin the workplace

    Posted 12-03-2007 12:39
    Hi Radha

    On Dec 1, 2007, at 12:55 AM, Radha Sharma wrote:

    Workplaces practices based on a particular religion are the greatest point of contention if the employees belong to different religions. Secularism has been found to maintain harmony at the workplace (at least apparently).


    Apparently is right. Secularism has caused many conflicts in the U. S. workplace. 

    The number of religious discrimination complaints and suits skyrocketed in the 1990's in the U. S. in part because people of faith found that some zealous secularists in their workplaces discriminated against anyone who was religious--often saying things like "religion had no place in the workplace." (An ideology, by the way, that is apparently endorsed by Mitroff and Denton. They even use these exact words in their articles and book.) Actions and comments like this crossed the line, violating the employee's freedom of religion, which is protected by the U. S. Constitution. For a while, the fact that actions like these discriminated against people from all religions and not just less popular ones obscured the actions' moral and legal problems.

    An common example of secularist discrimination happened when some Christians, for example, were told that they could not wear a cross around their neck at work, even though this did not interfere with their work and there had been no complaints about it. The U. S. Guidelines on Religious Expression and Practice in the Federal Workplace were, in part, a response to incidents like this.

    Religion is what one belongs to (given) and spirituality is what one believes in. 


    I have a problem with this statement. Scholars in religious studies have struggled for decades to define the term "religion" and haven't been all that successful. It is a very problem-filled term; some scholars have even thrown up their hands and declared that the term should be abandoned, to be replaced with a more accurate term (or terms). 

    Similarly, David Wuiff (author of the best textbook on the psychology of religion that I know of) tracked the use of the term "spirituality" as he encountered it in various readings. He found 37 different meanings of the term. 

    On the other hand, I deeply believe in the tag line of the oft-spoken wisdom of the once-left-wing-now-right-wing comedian Dennis Miller; he often ends one of his comedic rants by saying "But that's just my opinion. I may be wrong" I'd be interested in hearing your view and others' view from the list.

    Rantingly yours,

    - Don

    ---
    Don McCormick
    Department of Management, College of Business and Economics
    California State University Northridge, Juniper Hall 4218
    18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge CA 91330