Hi Don,
Nice to have your feedback. Secularism works to the extent there is religious tolerance at the workplace which, of course, varies from organization
to organization. Considering the diversity and sub sects of religions which are quite large in number, employees at Indian workplaces show a lot of
religious tolerance. However, there are institutions and organizations run by minority communities and those who have strong religious alliance
study/ work in those places. But social situation may be different as illiterate or less educated people are volatile and problems do occur. Besides
constitutional provisions, Govt. treats all the religions alike and provides national holiday for the main festivals of all the religions. People can wear
religious symbols to the places of work and can also keep religious book/picture or any such thing in their personal office/desk.
I am in total agreement with you about the disagreements regarding the terms 'religion' and 'spirituality' so far as academics is concerned. It is
time we make an attempt to move ahead/ add to/ or attempt to resolve the problems surrounding the terms.
Best,
Radha
Radha R. Sharma, Ph.D.
Management Development Institute ( http://www.mdi.ac.in )
Mehrauli Road, Sukhrali
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 Don McCormick
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 11:09 PM
To: MSR@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
Subject: Re: Summary of Feedback regarding resistance to spirituality orreligionin the workplace
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.
Department of Management, College of Business and Economics
California State University Northridge, Juniper Hall 4218
18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge CA 91330