Away, away, away

I've been rather lax about posting lately and shall continue being such for a while at least... I'm in Europe for a few weeks. I'll be up and about in the online world again after the 29th of December.

Cheers! (from England)

Workplace expression

The growth of diversity in the workplace, along with the influence of religion in America, has brought faith -- once as taboo in the office as talk of sex and politics -- to the job, experts say.

"Work is invading people's personal lives, so people are bringing more of their personal lives to the workplace," said Paula Brantner, director of Workplace Fairness, a Washington, D.C.-based group that promotes employee rights.

Religious expression at work may take the form of affinity groups or faith networks, prayers at business meetings or the citation of Biblical verse in office memos.

If people are going to be permitted to pray religion during business meetings, I certainly think I should be permitted to have sex on the conference tables during business meetings. I’d only be bringing my personal life to the workplace because work is invading my personal life… my personal life just involves less praying and more ‘laying.’

"We have an increase in the number of employers and employees who are choosing not to hide their faith," said Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute in Sacramento, California, which provides legal defense for religious freedoms.

- Religion finds firm footing in some offices

There is a difference between praying during business meetings and not “hiding” your faith. There are many things that I don’t hide that I wouldn’t do at business meetings (having sex on conference tables apparently isn’t one of these things). Being openly Christian is one thing; posting your Christianity at the top of business memos is another. You’re Christian. You like to pray. You like the Bible. We got it.

I don’t think any of this is a direct violation of Title 7 unless it affects hiring and promotions. However, I’d be much less likely to work for a company that had say, Bible study on its premises. Being a non-Christian minority in setting where openly Christian practices are acceptable makes it more difficult to navigate networking and promotions—somewhat like being a woman navigating the “old boys club” of some larger corporations. It’s not that religion itself makes me uncomfortable. I live in the Midwest of the United States. Religion, frankly, is all around. However, it would be lovely to keep theism entirely unlinked to my wages.

Values In Action (sans god)

My sig. other, Jason, recently found the VIA Inventory of Strengths, a fairly comprehensive self-reported assessment of “character strengths.” As he noted in an email to the site owners, spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith are merrily lumped together as one strength:

You have strong and coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe. You know where you fit in the larger scheme. Your beliefs shape your actions and are a source of comfort to you.

If the phrase “the higher purpose and meaning of” were deleted, I’d label the above as a strength of mine. I don’t believe that there is “inherent purpose and meaning” in the universe, but I’m entirely fine with the idea that humans create meaning, and I have no trouble being a “good” person even without adding a touch of divinity to my perception of reality. My beliefs about the world and its inhabitants DO shape my actions and ARE a source of comfort to me. However, this strength was still in my bottom five out of 24 possible strengths, likely due to the following included questions:

20. I am a spiritual person.
44. I practice my religion.
68. My faith never deserts me in hard time.
140. My faith makes me who I am.
164. I believe that each person has a purpose in life.
236. I have a calling in life.
66. At least once a day, I stop to count my blessings.
162. I feel thankful for what I have received in life.
234. I have been richly blessed in life.
188. I believe in a universal power, a god.

The person who responded to Jason’s email explained that “VIA's approach to purpose and meaning is simple and does not require a bleif in God...it simply states that we find purpose when we set our signature strengths in play for a purpose greateer than our own self-interest. That could be for others or it could be for a higher power.” (shrugs) I suppose I still think that a sense of purpose shouldn’t be squashed between spirituality and faith. When I took the assessment, I actually tried to see where I could substitute some of my humanist principles for their more theistically worded ones, but it was still one of my lowest rank strengths. I suppose just couldn’t interpret religion, faith, faith, purpose, calling, blessings, received, blessed, universal power, and god liberally enough.

Then again, out of 24 potential strengths, “spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith” was actually only 20. What are the other strengths that I’m apparently even more lousy* at exercising?


21. Caution, prudence, and discretion

Yes… prudent would not be a word to use to describe me. For a rationalist, I’m awfully prone to living my own life as a series of leaps and whims. (shrugs)


22. Modesty and humility

Oh, come on… I’m definitely the most modest person I know! My friends tell me how modest I am all the time! It’s my definitely one of my many best qualities! ;)

Actually, another post I have in the works addresses “atheist arrogance.” It shall be up soon.


23. Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty

Citizenship and loyalty definitely pulled my scored down on this one. I’m generally okay as a team player (though sometimes grumpy to be on a team in the first place), but I’m bad with the “special status” often given to the people and things honored with citizenship and loyalty.


24. Forgiveness and mercy

(coughs)

So don’t freakin’ mess with me. ;) Apparently, I hold grudges.


* I suppose I could have instead talked about the things that I’m good at but where is the fun in that? Anyway, I have to make strong efforts to raise my modesty score. Didn’t I do an excellent job?? (preens)

Back-Room Bones

Famed paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey is giving no quarter to powerful evangelical church leaders who are pressing Kenya's national museum to relegate to a back room its world-famous collection of hominid fossils showing the evolution of humans' early ancestors.

(skip a few paragraphs)

The museum's collections include the most complete skeleton yet found of Homo erectus, the 1.7-million-year-old Turkana Boy unearthed by Leakey's team in 1984 near Lake Turkana in northern Kenya.

The museum also holds bones from several specimens of Australopithecus anamensis, believed to be the first hominid to walk upright, four million years ago. Together the artifacts amount to the clearest record yet discovered of the origins of Homo sapiens.

Leaders of Kenya's Pentecostal congregation, with six million adherents, want the human fossils de-emphasized.

"The Christian community here is very uncomfortable that Leakey and his group want their theories presented as fact," said Bishop Bonifes Adoyo, head of the largest Pentecostal church in Kenya, the Christ is the Answer Ministries.

- Scientist Fights Church Effort to Hide Museum's Pre-Human Fossils

Well, Martin Luther is on your side at least: "Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has: it never comes to the aid of spritual things, but--more frequently than not --struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God." Definitely... hiding the evidence in a back room is the way to go. (nods) Wouldn't want anyone to use that nasty reason stuff.