Strange religious beliefs I encountered today....

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A strange thing happened today and I need to ask you all if you’ve ever heard of this: I work in Human Resources and my company is implementing a new timeclock system. With this system, the employee has to both swipe a badge and scan their finger in order to clock in and out. One of our employees got into a fight with the HR Director today because she refuses to scan her finger. She said it’s against her religion because it will damn her soul to Hell. Apparently, it’s similar to the Mark of the Beast or something. Anyone know of this belief? She and my boss were fighting because the employee follows traditions of her family and my boss said she only draws from the Bible as it has been revealed to her in her heart through the Holy Spirit…traditions are not of God.

Also, my boss was talking about how she believes, since Jesus died for our sins, that no matter WHAT you do on this earth, you are guaranteed a place in Heaven. She said murderers, rapists, etc. are all there with Jesus because of what He did for us. Because I want to keep my job, I left to go to lunch without launching into how nutty they both sounded. When I got back, I found out that the employee is probably going to quit her job so she doesn’t go straight to Hell for clocking in with a finger scan.
 
RHisComingHome said:
When I got back, I found out that the employee is probably going to quit her job so she doesn’t go straight to Hell for clocking in with a finger scan.
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Yes, I have encountered these beliefs before. The one corresponding to the person who is quitting was a non-practicing member of the Plymouth Brethren, who instead of attending Brethren meetings (because apparently the local Brethren community is heretical by her standards) has attended a series of “non-denominational”, Campbellite, and, most recently, Mennonite churches.

The one corresponding to the other person is a relative of mine who has a fundamentalist Baptist father and a United Methodist mother - she herself attends a United Church without believing its teachings; she’s there for the sense of community.
 
If murderers and rapists can go to heaven in spite of what they have done, why would she go to hell just for letting a machine read her fingerprint?

She’s probably thinking of the “mark of the beast” passage in Revelation, which refers to the mark being in the forehead or in the right hand. So let her scan a finger on her left hand instead.

Someone needs to point out to her how silly she sounds.

DaveBj
 
DaveBj said:
If murderers and rapists can go to heaven in spite of what they have done, why would she go to hell just for letting a machine read her fingerprint?
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I think you may have misunderstood. It was two different people - one who believes that getting the scan means a trip to Hell and the other one (different person) who believes that no one can go to Hell.
 
RHisComingHome said:
A strange thing happened today and I need to ask you all if you’ve ever heard of this: I work in Human Resources and my company is implementing a new timeclock system. With this system, the employee has to both swipe a badge and scan their finger in order to clock in and out. One of our employees got into a fight with the HR Director today because she refuses to scan her finger. She said it’s against her religion because it will damn her soul to Hell. Apparently, it’s similar to the Mark of the Beast or something. Anyone know of this belief? She and my boss were fighting because the employee follows traditions of her family and my boss said she only draws from the Bible as it has been revealed to her in her heart through the Holy Spirit…traditions are not of God.

Also, my boss was talking about how she believes, since Jesus died for our sins, that no matter WHAT you do on this earth, you are guaranteed a place in Heaven. She said murderers, rapists, etc. are all there with Jesus because of what He did for us. Because I want to keep my job, I left to go to lunch without launching into how nutty they both sounded. When I got back, I found out that the employee is probably going to quit her job so she doesn’t go straight to Hell for clocking in with a finger scan.
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johnleary.com/messages.asp
This site is all about the coming of the forced spy-chip in the
body to buy and sell and how The coming antiChrist will
use these identity-chips to try to control the world.
 
I used to work as a temporary secretary in a computer-design company, and one of the men there was convinced that in every computer was a camera that spied on you constantly, and THAT was the Mark of the Beast (which, of course, begs the question, “Why was he working there?”).

I’ve found that people who are influenced by fear of/anticipation of the Rapture tend to have some very strong ideas on what the Mark will be. Your co-worker sounds like one of them.
 
Your boss could get the company sued if she keeps up what she is doing.

The employee with the religious beliefs needs to go talk to HR. The may be able to accomodate him/her.
 
I have heard of people who won’t buy a certain product at the supermarkets as the bar code on them has 666 in it, or something similar.

I remember seeing a web site too that showed how bar codes are the mark of the beast.

I will try and find it again.
 
It sounds to me like superstition, not religious belief.

In a way, that persons fear is justified, although misguided, because the devil loves superstition.
 
RHisComingHome said:
A strange thing happened today and I need to ask you all if you’ve ever heard of this: I work in Human Resources and my company is implementing a new timeclock system. With this system, the employee has to both swipe a badge and scan their finger in order to clock in and out. One of our employees got into a fight with the HR Director today because she refuses to scan her finger. She said it’s against her religion because it will damn her soul to Hell. Apparently, it’s similar to the Mark of the Beast or something. Anyone know of this belief? She and my boss were fighting because the employee follows traditions of her family and my boss said she only draws from the Bible as it has been revealed to her in her heart through the Holy Spirit…traditions are not of God.

Also, my boss was talking about how she believes, since Jesus died for our sins, that no matter WHAT you do on this earth, you are guaranteed a place in Heaven. She said murderers, rapists, etc. are all there with Jesus because of what He did for us. Because I want to keep my job, I left to go to lunch without launching into how nutty they both sounded. When I got back, I found out that the employee is probably going to quit her job so she doesn’t go straight to Hell for clocking in with a finger scan.
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Your boss sounds like an idiot. Who cares what her religious beliefs are. What does that have to do with the employee??
 
1ke said:
Your boss could get the company sued if she keeps up what she is doing.

The employee with the religious beliefs needs to go talk to HR. The may be able to accomodate him/her.
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It would appear that the boss mentioned is not only HR, but the director of HR, though how in the world someone could have reached such a position with so little understanding of their appropriate role in such a situation is beyond me.

I can imagine few less appropriate, professional, or, to come down to it, legal, responses by the HR director to the situation than the one described. HR has no business trying to tell an employee what their religious beliefs should be, they should be following the law that requires companies to accommodate religious issues as long as it does not place an undue burden on the company. The HR Director’s personal religious views have, in my opinion, absolutely no place in such a discussion.

Sounds like the OP did the right thing by going to lunch.
 
KarenNC said:
I can imagine few less appropriate, professional, or, to come down to it, legal, responses by the HR director to the situation than the one described. HR has no business trying to tell an employee what their religious beliefs should be, they should be following the law that requires companies to accommodate religious issues as long as it does not place an undue burden on the company. The HR Director’s personal religious views have, in my opinion, absolutely no place in such a discussion.

Sounds like the OP did the right thing by going to lunch.
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My boss is normally highly intelligent. I am impressed with her normally…and strive to be like her. (I am the second in command as the HR Generalist and am being groomed to take over when she leaves.) However, today I was shocked. She is the wife of a Baptist minister and usually keeps her religious beliefs to herself, mainly because she is outnumbered by Catholics I think. Our HR department of 4 people is 50% Catholic, 25% Baptist, and 25% Pentecostal. Within our department, we can talk about anything but she normally doesn’t go out into a tangent about her beliefs. It all started because the employee said that the belief that scanning her finger would send her to Hell was a tradition in her family. That started her, my boss, on a tangent about how tradition is not of God because beliefs should only come directly from the Bible and the truth should be revealed in your heart through the Holy Spirit and not through tradition or interpretation from anyone but yourself. I got sooo uncomfortable because as a new Catholic (been baptized for 6 days now) I am extremely passionate about my faith and the beliefs of God’s TRUE church and just wanted to start spouting things off. I am also extremely passionate about having a job to pay my bills…so I kept my mouth shut. But I was just shocked by the whole situation. And later I heard my boss make a phone call to our employment law attorney - so maybe she was having second thoughts??
 
It’s outside the mainstream of course, but there are a lot of hyper-fundamentalist groups out there that believe bar codes, finger print, or eye scans are what the book of Revelations refers to as the mark of the beast. I fail to see how a private employer’s policy could been seen in a such a matter, the book of Revelations is clear that without the mark individuals will not be able to take part in economic activities. Refusing to take part in such a system would in no way bar you from finding employment else where and taking part in finanical transactions.
 
I can see everybody (in the situation)'s point.

I can see how some interpret the scan as a sign of submitting to the mark of the beast.

I can see how some interpret the story of the harvesters hired at different points throughout the day and all being paid the same wage…as a sign that God may let whom He chooses into heaven, even those that “we” don’t think have earned it.

I can see how you think they sound nutty…and it’s probably just as well that you went to lunch, because you probably have a bunch of beliefs that sound nutty to them too.

I expect that there are reasonable ways for all the religious beliefs to be accomadated as far as the time clock goes.

As a high up in HR…it is best if you don’t bring your own religion into the picture at least not in discussion when someone comes to HR with their own religious conflict. That is their time to discuss their issue, and only as it relates to conflict at work.

Whether you think it’s nutty makes no difference at all, and expressing your opinion when you are representing the company…could lead to all kinds of ugly.

Glad you brought it here instead. No lawsuits!

Neither of those people’s beliefs are unusual, in my experience of discussing beliefs. I know many people who would raise the issue with HR about the scan being incompatible with their faith, and not all of them would be Christians.

cheddar
 
cheddarsox said:
As a high up in HR…it is best if you don’t bring your own religion into the picture at least not in discussion when someone comes to HR with their own religious conflict. That is their time to discuss their issue, and only as it relates to conflict at work.

Whether you think it’s nutty makes no difference at all, and expressing your opinion when you are representing the company…could lead to all kinds of ugly.

Glad you brought it here instead. No lawsuits!

cheddar
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🙂 Precisely why I brought it here! I’m not about to voice my religious beliefs at work. Had they stuck to the work issue at hand, it wouldn’t have been a problem but ohhhh no they had to go off on tangents. So that wasn’t good. I use to have free flapping lips and would think before I spoke all the time but age and experience have allowed me to control myself better and I’m glad I did! I just don’t want the employee to quit over it, especially because there IS a way around the finger scan but I don’t think my boss will allow it.
 
KarenNC said:
It would appear that the boss mentioned is not only HR, but the director of HR, though how in the world someone could have reached such a position with so little understanding of their appropriate role in such a situation is beyond me.

I can imagine few less appropriate, professional, or, to come down to it, legal, responses by the HR director to the situation than the one described. HR has no business trying to tell an employee what their religious beliefs should be, they should be following the law that requires companies to accommodate religious issues as long as it does not place an undue burden on the company. The HR Director’s personal religious views have, in my opinion, absolutely no place in such a discussion.

Sounds like the OP did the right thing by going to lunch.
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DUH… I didn’t read carefully enough…

If I were the employee, I would get a lawyer.
 
One way or another, the company should accomodate the employee who refuses to be “scanned.”

As long as her religious beliefs don’t interfere with her job performance, the company should make reasonable accomodations. I know that people who are Muslim are allowed to pray. We had a Coptic Christian who had to fast for most of Lent–she was hungry a lot, but we all helped her out. Lots of people say grace before they eat. None of these religious practices interfere with work duties. I personally think that allowing an employee to check in manually (paper log) instead of through a scanner shouldn’t interfere too much with work duties.

It could also be considered an issue for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). According to ADA laws, a company has to make reasonable accomodations for employees with a disability. For some reason, religious or othewise, this employee has a “phobia” about scanners. Phobias are psychological conditions, therefore, they could reasonably fall under the category of “disabilities.”

If an employee had a phobia about spiders, the company would make some kind of accomodation (e.g., ask someone to kill or remove any spiders in the employee’s work area, not allow spider decorations at Halloween in the employee work area, etc.).

So now we have an employee with a “phobia” about scanners. I’m sure the company could figure out a way to reasonably accomodate her phobia.

As for the other employee, it’s the “snow-covered dunghill” theology of Martin Luther. I know that there are other threads on this forum where that particular theology has been discussed. It’s one of the reasons I became Catholic–I couldn’t accept this incorrect interpretation of the Bible anymore.
 
This is the strangest thing i ever heard, i was wondering if something of this kind happen in my country , how does the employer handle. The anser is very simple ,you want the job , just do it, else please get lose:p
 
I’m not sure I’d want to clock in using a fingerprint identification either. Not because of religiouse beliefs, but because of privacy concerns. Fingerprints are a unique identifiable marker, I’m not sure I’m willing to just give it up to my company like that.
 
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