We value our freedoms, not just Americans but all people. In America we have taken steps to try and guarantee certain freedoms. These guarantees always come with rules, limitations and expectations that we will exercise these freedoms in a responsible manner. As guarantees go, they are limited. In many cases, the guarantee on paper is not so black and white when implemented in the real world and are seldom as broad as people might think. You may say you have the freedom of speech and it is guaranteed in the constitution, this is true. The first amendment guarantees this freedom:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Of course one can interpret something to mean anything they wish but what I read in that passage is that the congress will make no laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion, and general free speech be it what we say or what we write or publish. This simply means the government cant stop you from saying and worshiping whatever you wish as long as you aren't hurting anyone. This is an extremely important restriction to the governments power, one that does not exist in many countries. However it only deals with the right of the people as it relates to the power of the government.
The first amendment does not say that you are protected from the real world societal consequences your free expression of religion and speech might bring down upon you. You can tell everyone you meet that you worship Satan and admire Adolf Hitler, this is your right. It is also the right of 99% of the people you meet to want nothing to do with you and it is a company's right not to employ you. You can say what you wish and worship how you wish but you must take ownership of your words and deeds. The government can protect these rights but they can not protect you from the opinions of those around you. We must remember that these guarantees of freedom do not come with protection from real world consequences in ones everyday life.
When I was younger and far more naive, I was quite open about my personal beliefs. I wouldn't shout them from the roof tops mind you, but I certainly wouldn't shy away from a healthy debate and had no problem letting my opinions be known. Once I entered the working world, the real world most of us must face each day, it didn't take long for me to realize there could be negative consequences to what I saw as simply a healthy difference in opinion. I found it best to not wear your religious and political beliefs on your sleeve unless you are a person who thrives on conflict.
I have heard religious people lament the fact that they do not feel free to express their faith openly in their workplace. They are asked not to put up overt religious items in their work space, or when they do express their faith openly, people begin treating them differently. I have even heard pundits call for their listeners to challenge this in the courts as it robs a person of their freedom of both speech and religion. Of course those radio pundits will probably not be there to help you when you are looking for a new job and cant pay your mortgage. In reality we do have the right to say and believe what we want as long as we are not hurting anyone. It is also a reality that we will face real consequences, good or bad, when we do.
There are no laws prohibiting a man from wearing his hair long but I can assure you that if I let my hair grow I would be looking for another job. I used to have long hair, but most office environments I have worked in frown on long hair on men so I wear my hair short now. I would love to wear shorts and a T-shirt to work as well, it would be much more comfortable and my job does not require me to meet customers. If I did, I would probably be told 'Its not working out' and I would be asked to leave. Sometimes we must make compromises to get by. Indeed It is often said that life itself is just a series of compromises. if we refuse to ever compromise then we should expect great difficulty. Why is it that compromise is seen as such a bad thing? It is seen by many, if not most, as if it is a sign of weakness. So many people pride themselves on never having compromised and are proud of the hardships they have had to live through because of it.
I dress the way I am expected to for the time I am on the job and wear my hair the way they expect. This is just outward appearance, I am still the same person. I did not lose my personality when I cut my hair. My personality and identity is not dictated by my outward appearance. If you compromise and take down the cross or that verse from the Qur'an at work because such things are frowned upon there, will that make you any less devout? Where does it say in the bible 'thou shalt hang a cross in your office at work.'
One can argue theoretical wrong and right all your life but all that matters in the end is the reality. I took a painting class and one of my paintings was not well received by my classmates. After the negative criticism I went on the defense and said something like 'I don't care what others think about it.' My teacher then asked me 'Why are you in this class then? You could easily not care what others think about your work at home.' Wrong or right we are being judged by what we reveal of ourselves through what we say and do. Wrong or right, how we interact and what we say colors peoples opinion of us and often such opinions are important in the reality of our day to day lives. You may say you don't care what others think, you will say and do as you please. This is certainly protected by the constitution but the first amendment does not guarantee any further protections.
When I was younger I was hired by a small company in East Texas as a screen printer. I liked the work and the people were all very nice. My supervisor looked like your typical biker, he rode a Harley, had long hair and a long scruffy beard and seemed like quite a character. I also ride so I hoped we might hit it off. One day while on lunch break he struck up a conversation with me. Over the course of that conversation I unknowingly talked myself into the unemployment line.
The conversation started harmless enough with small talk about bikes, my work experience, trivial likes and dislikes but it didn't take long for things to go south. I may have mentioned I liked rock music and when asked what church I went to, I said I didn't go to one. When asked why, I said I didn't believe in God. I soon learned he was a fundamentalist Christian, a biker for Jesus, and he spent his free time picketing abortion clinics and handing out pamphlets outside music venues telling of the evils of rock and roll. Most of our core beliefs could not have been more divergent.
It became apparent that he lived his life completely for Christ in all he said and did. His life revolved around his religion. If someone asked him to write something about himself 'Christian' would be pretty high up there right after 'white male'. Our casual chat over lunch quickly turned into an attempt to save my soul. He gave me a pamphlet about the evils of rock music in cartoon form., on the back it listed bands they deemed to be especially vile like the Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. These were all bands I liked.
Saving me became his mission. My beliefs were wrong and offensive and he had to at least try and put me on the right path. He assumed I did not believe because I did not understand or that I came to my conclusions out of ignorance and that ignorance could be corrected with guidance. It fell to him to show me the truth. He told me he pitied me because I did not have any faith and without Jesus I was lost with no moral compass. He seemed to think that because I did not believe in God, there was nothing to stop me from doing whatever I wanted to do. As if the only thing stopping people from committing rape, murder, or trying to steal all your possessions the minute your back is turned is God. He seemed to think I could not comprehend the difference between wrong or right without God and the promise of heaven or the threat of eternal damnation.
Its frightening how otherwise nice people can turn so ugly when their faith is threatened and often all it takes to do this is to have divergent beliefs. Over the next few days he continued to try and convince me of the error of my ways and I continued to politely tell him that whatever he believed in was fine with me, who was I to say he is wrong? But it wasn't for me. He was undeterred and I finally just had to tell him, in no uncertain terms, why I did not believe in a God, why I don't think rock music is evil, and there was absolutely no chance of him convincing me otherwise. The next week I was fired and told 'Its just not working out.'
I was told by people I should sue but what good would that do? It was their word against mine and in the end, why would I want to work for a company and with people who so obviously found just my presence there as a disruption. What would a trial accomplish? It would not save my job, it wouldn't give me back the steady paycheck, and it wasn't going to pay my rent. I would be going against Christians in an area renowned for Christian fundamentalism. In reality we are, most of us, just people trying to make a living and get by, we are not crusaders. Life is hard enough without making it harder with lost jobs, burned bridges and legal battles. I moved on, I found another job, and it turned out to be a much better job. Learning a lesson from my previous experience, I was far more cautious as to what I said to my fellow coworkers and revealed nothing personal until I knew them better. Ultimately I decided I would not talk religion and politics at work regardless.
This is just a personal experience to show how wearing your beliefs on your sleeve can have unintended negative consequences, it is not a condemnation of the Christian faith. In this case I unwittingly walked into a small local company of fundamentalist Christians who had an unwritten rule not to employ people of divergent beliefs. This is just one scenario and It just so happened to be a Christian company. Christians certainly do not hold a monopoly on intolerance nor are they all intolerant. Some of the most intolerant people I know are Atheists.
Small localized companies can do these things with little consequences but with multinational corporations its a different story. More often than not these companies exist on the opposite spectrum. I have now worked for several international companies and have found they are more likely to frown on any religious expression in the work place. These types of companies often have a more diverse work force employing a wide variety of people with different nationalities and religious beliefs. For them, it is not about your religious beliefs or who you vote for, it is about what skills you bring to the table, dependability and professionalism.
In such companies it is generally recognized that the workplace is no place for religious and political expression. Its just bad for business not to try and maintain a neutral atmosphere. Often you will have Muslims, Christians, Jews, black, white, hispanic, asian etc.. all working side by side with few problems. These companies will be less likely to tolerate expression of religious or political beliefs as this might cause conflict and conflict is bad for productivity and besides, you are at work to work, not debate whose political party or god is the greatest. It is not terribly surprising that when religious and political views are not allowed to become an issue, people of all nationalities, religions, colors and creeds are able to coexist and work together.
There is a thin line we all walk and it is easy to end up on the wrong side of that line in other peoples eyes and those people may have the power to affect your life. The line between being seen as decisive or rash, being seen as thoughtful or indecisive, intelligent or pompous, a person with strongly held beliefs or a zealot. In your daily interactions with people, be it at work or just in your daily life, the best course of action is to always know your audience. When in doubt, say nothing. You never know when your views will be received poorly and affect your life in a very negative way. Having the freedom does not relieve you from exercising common sense and the government cannot protect you from the consequences of what you say and do....nor should it.
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