Angered by co-workers

[MDK]

Hi everyone,

I’m angry at my coworkers. we just had a meeting where there were about 10 of us, and the topic turned to religion. anyway, I was totally outnumbered. they all sang the same tune. they were saying, “oh well, the Bible is just what the church decided to put in there”, “oh, they just take whatever they want from the bible, and ignore the rest, or twist it around at church” “the bible is man-made anyway” and they kept saying everything was man-made.

then one guy made the comment about religion being just a weapon to use against other people. etc. etc. etc.

I was very angry, but I was completely outnumbered. it was me vs. everyone else, and I didn’t have anything to say. I don’t know if I just didn’t have convincing enough answers, or if I just didn’t want to speak up amid so much opposition. Anyway, please let me know your thoughts about this.

Phil

When you have the truth of God with you, you’re never outnumbered.

 

[Julianna]

Maybe you should have mentioned that that is an inappropriate topic for the workplace? That it’s unprofessional?

If you have a union, you could probably let them know about it, say that the conversation created an unsafe work environment for you, and it won’t happen again.

Yes, it is an inappropriate topic for the workplace…where disagreements will be inevitable.

I disagree that it is an unsafe work environment…hostile maybe…unsafe…no.

Where I work you cannot post anything of a religious nature on the workplace bb or in an email that is arguementative. (most everything about the subject can turn into an arguement) Also, regarding politics…we are bound by the Hatch Act not to discuss politics.

I do have the St. Francis prayer at seating eye level on the wall. No comments have been made. However, if I started putting crucifixes all over the office walls and pictures of the Pope…Uncle Sam would tell me I would have to remove it. But we do have pictures of the President…and some Generals.

Work is for work. Religion is better left to discussions via Bible Study or formal classroom.

Of the 26 ppl I work with, myself and one other are Catholic.

 

[BlestOne]

Simply ask your coworkers, ah, What if you are wrong?

and promptly walk away with a smile on your face.

Daniel… the first thing I thought of was Pascals wager too… great minds think alike eh?

Seriously, I have 1 person I work with that always brings up that I am Catholic when I do something wrong… like if I say a bad word she will say things like… “And you call yourself Catholic?” It used to tick me off until I found the perfect come back… “Yeah but I am still a work in progress… at least I am working on it” and she shuts up. She used to be the only non-Catholic at work but we have recently hired a 4 square guy and another woman who is Protestant but I don’t know what denomination. 99% of the time we all get along, but every now and then the 4 square guy like to try to get me riled by saying things about Catholicism so I made him exchange personal emails with me so we could correspond outside of work about the topics he brought up. When I didn’t fold he stopped emailing…

As for the other Catholics I work with… we are all strong Catholics but I am the only one to get tested like this maybe because the others are CEO’s and Presidents of the companies I work for. I think that stops them from getting harassed… I guess they like working for Catholics just not working with them…

 

[KingAlfred]

There have been times when my co-workers have been so hostile, I actually imagined myself standing before the Sanhedrin that fallaciously condemned Jesus.

 

[surfinpure]

Maybe you should have mentioned that that is an inappropriate topic for the workplace? That it’s unprofessional?

This was my immediate thought. Religious discussions really don’t belong in the workplace at all. So if I were in that situation, I would, in a very adult way, remind my coworkers that it is inappropriate and let them know I’m available after hours if any of them would like to have a serious discussion. (For the record, I do not consider religion-bashing a serious discussion.)

 

[timotheos]

Anyway, please let me know your thoughts about this.

If I pretty much knew that they were not interested in a serious conversation, but only bashing you from their safe (for now) point of view, I would just smile and say, “Everyone is entitled to their own WRONG opinion”.

I won’t debate people who are not open to learning something.

At some point, one of them may privately and sincerely ask you how it is you know your opinion is right.

-Tim

 

[COPLAND_3]

I agree with the suggestion to continue to use forums like this to build up your knowledge, it will allow you to learn how to pick your battles, learn how to reply with good answers, and hopefully to learn how to tolerate those with offensive attitudes about our Faith, it will come through experience. I know that forums like this have truly helped me. I used to have some down right nasty arguements while trying to defend the Faith, but over time I have learned to have the same passion for my Faith but experience has helped me to deal with certain people without getting angry.

Try to be understanding of those who are skeptics while at the same time stand firm and don’t be ashamed to proclaim the Truth!

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Hi everyone,

I’m angry at my coworkers. we just had a meeting where there were about 10 of us, and the topic turned to religion. anyway, I was totally outnumbered. they all sang the same tune. they were saying, “oh well, the Bible is just what the church decided to put in there”, “oh, they just take whatever they want from the bible, and ignore the rest, or twist it around at church” “the bible is man-made anyway” and they kept saying everything was man-made.

then one guy made the comment about religion being just a weapon to use against other people. etc. etc. etc.

He was right. Historically, it often has been used in just that way. This is clear from the history of the US alone.​

As for the other remarks, most of them, can be parallelled from posts by Catholics on this site. People do distort the Bible, all the time

I was very angry, but I was completely outnumbered. it was me vs. everyone else, and I didn’t have anything to say. I don’t know if I just didn’t have convincing enough answers, or if I just didn’t want to speak up amid so much opposition. Anyway, please let me know your thoughts about this.

Phil

There is no harm in admitting facts. If anything, it is wrong not to admit unpleasant facts one knows of. “Being right”, like winning an argument, is irrelevant to being Catholic.​