My boss just sent me an e-mail telling me I need to pray because I believe in evolution. Huh?

Question

My boss was telling me and a co-worker that he is sending his children to a local Christian school. My boyfriend has mentioned sending our children to that very school. I asked my boss if they teach evolution at that school and he laughed and said no. "Why would they teach that?" He asked. I told him that it is taught in Catholic school and he laughed again. I told that would be the first thing I asked the school if I were thinking of sending my children there and he said that they probably wouldn't allow my children in the school if I asked that. He was half joking but mostly serious, I'm sure.

I then got an e-mail from him that read:

'I think you need this

"Prayer"

I'm sure all of us pray, but I suspect that many of us only pray in
times of crisis. If your child is sick no one needs to tell you to
pray. You do so with great urgency. But prayer should be central
to all of life.

Prayer is our humble acknowledgment that we need God in
every dimension of life. Many of us find prayer difficult. Let me
remind you that we don't need to make a speech to God the Father, but rather we express our thanks to Him, confess our sins, and then pray for others and ourselves. Are you praying for your family? Are you praying for your children to grow up to love and serve our Lord Jesus Christ? Let me encourage you to pray daily.

Jesus said, "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall
be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7).'

Note: I'm not offended. I just found it very, very amusing.

Answer 1

I am seeing all these people saying it's discrimination but I don't know of any law that says you can't discuss religion or faith at work. As a matter of fact, it's against the law to NOT allow it! I used to work with this guy who was very vocal about his faith in Christ and would frequently say things like "Jesus loves you" and "God bless you". One day he told a guy that Jesus loved him and the guy got offended and asked for the boss who confirmed that Jesus did, in fact, love the guy. After the guy got extremely irate and threatened lawsuit, he was told that Jesus would still love him even if he did that. In the end, he had no case because nobody said anything derogatory or offensive to him... he had his own issues. We were all told that we can't stop people from proclaiming their own faith because that's discrimination. They are allowed to express their faith. What they aren't allowed to do is to stop the other person from expressing their faith (or lack thereof) or to use that as an excuse to discriminate in some other way. This guy told everybody that Jesus loved them and was, therefore, allowed to continue!

With that said, it's not that big of a deal... he probably just cares about you. I know I've spoke to people at work about faith. But I have to admit, I wouldn't send an email like that. Maybe he thinks your open to it?? I don't' know... I don't think I'd discuss it with somebody that doesn't want to just because it is a fruitless conversation. But, I hope he sees that and allows you to make your own decisions. Be blessed!

Answer 2

You did not mention if you are a Christian or not.

It is tough to figure it out: You have children with your BF (not Christian) but he thinks it is a good idea to send them to a Christian school (Christian).

You also did not mention how the subject of religion originally came up. Many religious people (often but not always Christians) are the first to violate the "don't ask, don't tell" rule. This is because they arrogantly assume that if you are a good person that they like, then you must be Christian (and more specifically THEIR kind of Christian).

They are often shocked to find out you have different ideology or even a different religion. This can often lead to an awkward situation.
If you both agreed to talk about it, it both of your faults.

(As you pointed out the Catholic schools DO teach evolution, they are not the problem. No you know why "Fundies" even make other Christians uncomfortable)

Answer 3

Wow, I am completely surprised how quickly all the atheists appealed to legal action, changing workplaces, discrimination, the ACLU, and so on. As if your boss isn't also a regular human and if you disagree or respond normally you will suffer retribution. If all my workplace relationships were only defined in terms of power and control and hierarchy and the ACLU squeezed every last scrap of personality out of all of us then we'd be looking at a very sad state of affairs.

I suggest you respond with nonviolent communication. Heck, just try drawing out a little empathy - tell him you appreciate his caring but ask how it would make him feel if you had sent an e-mail telling him that he was wrong and needed to pray for guidance, and mention that you are perfectly square with your beliefs on spirituality and science. He's just a guy that you work with, not The Man.

Answer 4

If your religious beliefs differ from your boss, then you could have a potential problem.

First decide if it is worth it to you to make the peace or to sue the pants off of him.

People who sue don't always win, and sometimes they hurt themselves in the job market especially in small towns where everybody knows everybody.

You could call for legal advice, keep the email, and then make up your mind.

For me, I'd be happy to say I pray all the time. And then, I'd politely thank him for the email. Then I'd keep it, though and if there were futher problems with evangelizing that became distasteful to me I'd go to him privately after work - and not on the job, and try to address the idea that my religious beliefs are what they are and I respect his for what they are, but that I would prefer to keep it out of the work place.

If you are a Christian, remember Jesus wanted us to go our peers privately first to try and settle our problems peaceable with each other. If you aren't successful then, you could take another peer from work and let them know your quandary, and see if they would go with you a second time to the guy and see if he'll respect your wishes. After that, you'd have no choice but to go over his head.

BUT DO follow normal lines of protocol in the work place. You'd also be wise to keep this quiet until you've had a chance to think this over a few days and make a decision as to a reasonable path to take that would suit you.

I'm sorry you have this problem, and I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers for a wise and peaceful solution... and I do hope it doesn't affect your work or your raises or anything like that.

Sympathetically, StudiousOne

Answer 5

I fail to see where he said you need to pray because of believing in evolution. I see that he sent you an email about prayer, most likely a mass forward type email. And you were just discussing with him Christian schools and your thoughts on sending your children to one, maybe he had this email and wanted to share it with another Christian, is that so bad?

I am also confused on how this is a lawsuit? Does everything have to be a lawsuit and a way to further yourselves or get rich quick? Can't someone just make a mistake or perhaps a mis-judgment on wanting to share a nice email about Prayer with a fellow Christian? I see no malice or wrong doing here.

Answer 6

We have the right to think.....and have knowledge of all theories is a matter of science. Does evolution or creation changes anything in yr relation with God and Jesus? We were taught to love and tolerate. Jesus didn t came to teach us theories. He lived all what he teaches. Scientist still are working in the origin of the world. What s wrong to know what science say us. There exist so many intolerant people within religions. That s no good. Makes any good.
Let your boss think whatever he can An follow your deep feelings about what You have learned and believe in. Nobody can tell you how or where educate your children.

Answer 7

If your boss will let you have access to the email then it is possible to track down the IP address, but not everyone has a fixed IP Address also they could be using an Internet cafe! Also the person concerned will almost certainly have used a false name and address when registering with yahoo. If the emails are deemed to be potentially criminal then the police may be able to locate the person responsible if they feel it is worth their time to investigate. You may have more luck by observing your ex-friends/partners and work colleagues, but you must be 100% correct before you confront anyone. Good luck.

Answer 8

Where do you work? Do you work for a church or something?

Sounds like you at the very least have grounds to make a complaint. That is completely inappropriate.
Save the e-mail. Print out a copy and keep it.

If he's a friendly guy, and you have no complaint against him, I would go and give him a friendly warning that that sort of thing is inappropriate, and he should never send anything like that to anyone ever again. (Still keep the e-mail, as well as a copy for the future, in case it's needed.)

Answer 9

I don't think you have a case at all. You were in a discussion about Christian schools, Catholic schools, evolution, what your children will be taught, etc. It sounds like you were taking part in the discussion. So if you are honest, there's really no basis for a law suit.

If you don't want to discuss these things with your boss, then don't get involved in personal discussions about it.

Answer 10

Save that
forward it to your yahoo account. I'm serious, they could never fire you.

I would have went off myself though. I wish we had more crazy people up here, but then again I am probably the other end of the crazy scale so you should just sit there happy in the catholic middle and enjoy life.

Oh, you aren't a Catholic. or a recovering catholic, whatever you want to call it. I thought I was a bit mixed up reading that, but I have a few catholic friends on here too so I hope you can understand and forgive my confusion.