Respect for religion(s)
Today, a coworker was getting ready to leave the office when he passed in front of another coworker's door. 'So, what do you think of the location of our holiday party?,' the first guy asked the second.
'Uhh... I think the holiday has a name,' said the second, laughing. (This guy often laughs.)
Conversation ensued, and the first guy repeated, later on: 'What do you think about the location of our holiday party?'
'I think the holiday has a name,' insisted the second guy, again.
I kept my eyes down at my desk and didn't say anything. I knew exactly what the second guy meant: It wasn't a "holiday" party; it was a "Christmas" party. Because that guy is Christian.
I felt hurt. I've said before in the office that I'm Jewish, but I don't know if this guy ever took notice. He's otherwise a great coworker... I like bantering with him... but his comment made me feel small. Yes: the majority of this country is Christian. But we, in that office, work for a secular institution with people of multiple faiths. His comment made me feel disrespected.
I think back to my dad's company when was a kid. Yes, they had an office Christmas party every year— even though the person who owned the business was Jewish. Were those different times? Maybe. Are there not currently people and places in this world that are rife with Anti-Semitism? Absolutely there are. Was my coworker's comment not relatively tame in comparison to some of the vitriol that's out there? Sure, it was.
If you believe that everything is relative (a wide-sweeping statement, I know), then I guess I've got it pretty lucky. I didn't live in Europe during the Nazi regime; I don't live today in a part of the Arab world where Jews are hated, even persecuted. I live in a country that protects all religious beliefs and expression.
A slight by my coworker? Yeah. Did it adversely affect my life? No. Does it remind me in its reflection of American society on the whole that being part of a minority can be lonely?
Yeah.
'Uhh... I think the holiday has a name,' said the second, laughing. (This guy often laughs.)
Conversation ensued, and the first guy repeated, later on: 'What do you think about the location of our holiday party?'
'I think the holiday has a name,' insisted the second guy, again.
I kept my eyes down at my desk and didn't say anything. I knew exactly what the second guy meant: It wasn't a "holiday" party; it was a "Christmas" party. Because that guy is Christian.
I felt hurt. I've said before in the office that I'm Jewish, but I don't know if this guy ever took notice. He's otherwise a great coworker... I like bantering with him... but his comment made me feel small. Yes: the majority of this country is Christian. But we, in that office, work for a secular institution with people of multiple faiths. His comment made me feel disrespected.
I think back to my dad's company when was a kid. Yes, they had an office Christmas party every year— even though the person who owned the business was Jewish. Were those different times? Maybe. Are there not currently people and places in this world that are rife with Anti-Semitism? Absolutely there are. Was my coworker's comment not relatively tame in comparison to some of the vitriol that's out there? Sure, it was.
If you believe that everything is relative (a wide-sweeping statement, I know), then I guess I've got it pretty lucky. I didn't live in Europe during the Nazi regime; I don't live today in a part of the Arab world where Jews are hated, even persecuted. I live in a country that protects all religious beliefs and expression.
A slight by my coworker? Yeah. Did it adversely affect my life? No. Does it remind me in its reflection of American society on the whole that being part of a minority can be lonely?
Yeah.
Replies
I consider myself primarily and atheist and it seriously aggravates me when people try to shove their religion down my throat and these people are always the Christians. When I did research on religions I was appalled by how Christians slaughtered the pagans and burned people on fire for no good reason in the name of Jesus.
Even in my own country most of pagan priests were killed when Christianity was forced onto the villages.
Now we are expected to celebrate the legacy of this...
I understand the need to belong and to believe in something, I understand that people have something sacred, but don\'t try to dig into what\'s sacred to me and show how superior your god is over everything else.
I m really sorry that you have to deal with such insensitive people .
Thank you for your sympathy.
I do hear that you want everyone to be respected-- and be safe. Me, too.
David...I really enjoyed reading this journal entry, because it allows me to better understand how you feel as a Jewish person in a primarily Christian country. I wish you would have communicated your feelings to the two workers in your office, in exactly the manner you did so here. Maybe it would help all of us Christians to better understand. However, I have to respectfully disagree with you on one point. You state that our country protects all religious beliefs and expressions, but that\'s simply not true. If it were, children in schools would be allowed to sing Christmas carols, alongside of songs celebrating Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Instead, children are being punished for even mentioning the birth of Jesus or singing something as secular as Jingle Bells. I would prefer to have a country that truly includes and celebrates ALL religions, rather than stifling religious expression, which is what is happening now.