Do you feel that religion should dictate employment parameters?

Question

Do you feel that religion should dictate employment parameters? Should employees be able to dictate how they act on their job based on their religion, if it infringes on their employer's ability to make money? Why or why not?


I have to do this paper and i need your opion. Also if you can provide any helpful website for this topic. Thanks

Answer 1

No.
Its like the pharmacists who will not fill birthcontrol prescriptions or for the morning after pill because of their personal religious belief that it is an abortion.

In March, 2004 a California Supreme Court ruling found that contraceptives must be included if a Catholic charitable organization offers prescription drug coverage because it discriminates against women.

"The Civil Rights Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations -- without placing a hardship on the company -- for religious practices. That can include offering flexible work schedules, swaps of work days for holidays, substitutions, reassignments or transfers. At the same time, employers cannot schedule examinations or interviews that are critical to a promotion so they conflict with religious practices." http://partners.nytimes.com/library/jobmarket/060897sabra.html

Other websites that might provide information you might be ble to use.

http://www.austinreview.com/archives/2004/05/religious_freed.html
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/04/29/loc_morningafter29.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4359430/
http://www.pfli.org/

Answer 2

If we are talking about the private sector, then no, employees really cannot dictate anything about their jobs. Employers(owners) have the right to dictate everything that happens concerning their business. Since they are the ones paying the bills, and salaries, they dictate what happens on their time.

Example. muslims are supposed to pray five times a day. That could possibly mean that an employee would have to take time away from their work to pray. An employer is not obligated to accomadate these practices in any way. Even if the employee were to "clock out" for this prayer, the employer does not have to allow it.

Many people think that the private sector cannot "discriminate" based on religion, race, etc. In all honesty, they can. What they can't do, if they practice discriminatory policy, is advertise as an Equal Opportunity Employer. But, that is not a requirement of owning a business.

*Added*

I do not know how one gets a thumbs down for stating law. If you would like to consult the US Dept. of Labor website, it is all their for you to read.

Answer 3

To start with it is illegal for an employer to even ask someone their religion. No matter how it affects the employer. It used to be a lot of businesses would not let men have beards. Well some religion require men to have beards (and some racial reasons as well) and so now they can't have that ban - they can only specify well trimmed. About the only exception is faith based business - Christian book stores, churches. But then how many people other than Christians are going to apply for a job at a Christian book store?

Now I have been fired from a job for my religion. My religion had no effect on my performance - just people knew I was Pagan and they were fundamental Mormans and they could not tolerate someone like me working there. (I had been hired by the previous owner of the business - and not all Mormans are that way either) I could have made a case but immediately had a job that paid more anyway and they ended up filing bankruptcy. (the managers that fired me embezzled $30,000 along the way - and they said I was immoral for being a witch)

Answer 4

I wonder what the world would be like if employers - being that it's their company, were allowed to hire or fire whomever they chose. If the place of employment is considered private property and the company is owned by a private citizen wouldn't free enterprise dictate its profitability and survival? If a mans home supposedly is his castle why not the place of work he created? One could always quit. Surely the employer doesn't owe society more than the unemployed.....
So, no. I don't. Or, yes I do depending on the parameters.

Answer 5

Only if the business is explicitly religious, for example a religious bookstore , a church office , this kind of thing. Most work places are religiously diverse and should observe the same rules that apply to racial and sexual diversity. I will say that I recently worked in an Indian restaurant. My boss was a Sikh and one of my coworkers was Muslim and there were constant issues about Islamic prayer times. I worked in a Thai restaurant for a while and my Buddhist boss did not understand why my Muslim coworker (not the same guy) would not touch the pork or shrimp. In the Indian restaurant the issue was never fully resolved. In the Thai restaurant we fixed the problem by me and my coworker working together and sharing the responsibilities in the kitchen. I think in most cases things can work out so that neither religion or profits are compromised.

Answer 6

Of course not. Religion is what's called a protected category -- in the United States, you cannot, in any public entity, discriminate based on religious affiliation or lack of affiliation.

This rule helps society cohere. If religion went hand in hand with employment, instead of having one unified economy, there would be dozens of sub-economies, where the minorities would be squeezed for resources.

Not a pretty picture. Religion is a private, not public, matter.

Answer 7

Not just no, but hell no. An employer can't deny you a job or promotion based on your religious preferences, and an employee can't impose their religion on an employer either. That crap is against the law for good reason.

Answer 8

If where you work infringes on your religion than you should look for another job. Morals or illegal activity are far more "excuses" than religious beliefs.

You can maintain your "beliefs" and how you conduct yourself without infringing them on your co-workers.

Answer 9

The problem is majority religions get their way and minority religions are ignored. Then those in the minority religions have to take up the slack for the major religion peoples' absence.

Answer 10

i think that if a person doesnt want to miss sunday service coz theyre religeous then the employer should bend to that .. if the employer catches him at home watching a ball game and having a party instead coz he said he was going to church then he should be fired ... thats how i look at it ...