When Life Was Understanding

I have a small statue of St. Francis of Assisi on my desks in both of my homes.

When I worked in a larger office, I didn’t have statues but a few of my co-workers had holy cards, rosaries, crucifixes, a mezuzah and religious tracts. I never thought anything of it, and I can’t remember any of my coworkers making a big deal of these things either. It just was a fact.

I am not talking about private offices but rather desks without partitions in an open room. What I don’t remember is anyone trying to persuade their coworkers to go to their church, or pray, or have a bible study after hours. If these symbols helped my officemates add numbers, type letters, and file correspondence so be it.

Having attended a Franciscan school, I fallback on a prayer to St. Francis or even read things that were attributed to him. Would that bother my office mates of 50 years ago…30 years ago… today? I can answer for the past but not now.

Through its Office of Personnel Management, the federal government issued a Memorandum last month Protecting Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace. Most of it covers things about what I wrote above. None of it would be a problem in places I worked.

They go on to mention paintings would be allowed as an expression of an employee’s faith. The first thing that popped into my mind was how big? My mother (who was not Catholic) bought this portrait of Jesus that was back lit and hung it in the living room when I was about 6 or 7. She couldn’t get over how Jesus’ eyes followed you as you walked around the room. It was kind of creepy.

If someone hung that in a federal workplace, would it be sanctioned? One thing Catholic Schools and hospitals never had enough of were crucifixes. They are hung usually over the doors in every room. Would that be acceptable?

Then there is the part of the policy that states that one employee can proselytize at work to another employee unless told by the intended convert to stop. The policy doesn’t preclude a doctor from praying over a patient in a government hospital. I guess I wouldn’t care if it were a silent prayer of any faith, but I wouldn’t want any other kind.

Does that mean a federal employee that happens to be a Shaman, or an Iman can perform their prayers and incantations over an Evangelical Christian patient? I can see this turning ugly at some point.

The real difference between now and in the past is that people were just more polite and understanding. They were not as in your face about so much. They tolerated each other better and did not need an employment manual to tell them how to behave. I guess they didn’t need permission to practice their faith because they had respect for their coworkers. You leave me alone, and I will do the same for you.