Work a secular job. Boss has dual screens. The more public-facing one has a dramatic depiction of Christ (close-up view actor with sweat and a little blood) on the cross as a background. Freedom of expression, but seems so out of place. Is heavy religious imagery appropriate in the workplace?

Just thought this would be an interesting topic for conversation. I'm not questioning what is legal here - I'm sure this is legal. Heck, in the extreme, you can wear electric blue eyeshadow, face glitter, a pink mohawk, and have 5-inch finger nails, legally. But would that be appropriate in a business environment?

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By comparison: If I had a Muslim colleague who had a prayer mat in the corner for use in private, or a Catholic colleague who kept a rosary in their desk drawer, I wouldn't blink. They're not making a statement to others, they're just calmly practicing their faith. As long as they aren't ostracizing others, sexually harassing others, or what have you, I don't see an issue with it.

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Or there are hobbies: if you play D&D and keep a stack of cards in your desk for lunch, fine, but I wouldn't expect you to cover your office walls with your fan character art if it wasn't relevant to work, especially if you were in a management position.

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I'm not the type of person to keep personal family photos at work, but if you just have a framed photo sitting on your desk facing you, more power to you. I wouldn't expect pictures of your dog all over the wall, on the other hand. Would I be as surprised if his desktop image was just of his dog instead? I don't see a dog as a politically-charged topic the way religion can be.

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To be clear, the screen is facing out; it isn't a private reminder of faith, it is positioned so that guests and subordinates would see it first. Maybe I'm just too conservative, but this public, dramatic expression of religion just seems out of place in the workplace to me.

Submitted August 02, 2019 at 08:32PM by TotalThrowAwayAct https://ift.tt/2OBo2nq