So I thought that my workplace was fairly immune to this kind of behavior. There's a wide variety of religions and cultures in our staff and in our patients. I had just started feeling comfortable with my coworkers.
Yesterday my coworker tried converting me to Christianity while on lunch break. It was completely unexpected and horribly awkward, all mixed in with terribly insulting. She started innocently enough by asking me what religion I was. From there it went into why I'm not Christian, why don't I believe in Satan, how the Bible is real, how Jesus will save non believers only if they ask. Then she asked me to promise her that I'd re-read the Bible and ask her about any parts I don't understand.
I'm angry. Embarrassed. I don't want to "rock the boat" at my unit. She's been there longer than I have. At the same time, I'm worried she's doing the same to other employees or even patients.
I'm just curious - what would you do if you were in my situation? I'm still trying to weigh my options before I act.
The course of this thread is an illustration of what happens when one answers rude behavior with snark and outrage. If this is what you want in your nurses' stations (and what happens in the breakroom does spill over), then carry on. I'd say leave your patients and uninvolved co-workers out of it, but that probably won't happen. Proving the other guy is not only wrong, but stupid and bigoted and a Nazi oppressor is just too much fun.
The workplace does not exist to provide opportunities to expand god's fan base. I think he can handle representing himself without help for 8 or 12 hours. Or for non-christians to add a few curlicues to their victim cards. Nor is it a venue for atheists to do their Bill Maher impressions - find a coffee house with an open mike night.
I read that the OP has found some of these suggestions useful. I'm glad for that. The interface between different religious traditions, as well as with non-religion, can be a tricky one. Civility is key, in my view. Regardless of whether I enjoy a co-worker's behavior, s/he remains a co-worker who may well be working a code across the bed from me in twenty minutes. Find a way to establish boundaries in the workplace without declaring war ... is that too hard to understand? Find another hill to die on.
I think most of the snark and outrage in this thread is because we don't act like that at our nurses' station.
Farawyn
12,646 Posts
I think most of the snark and outrage in this thread is because we don't act like that at our nurses' station.