Religion at Work: Who's Listening?

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joyce-s-dubensky/religion-at-work-whos-lis_b_3937191.html

Joyce S. DubenskyCEO, Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding

Posted: 09/17/2013 5:03 pm

Recently, with appropriate fanfare, we acknowledged the 50 year anniversary of the March on Washington. Many of us paused to consider that pivotal event and what it means to America today. There were numerous public discussions on how far we have come in race relations, how far we need to go and how the civil rights movement influenced other movements for equality -- for women; the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community; and people with disabilities, among others. Indeed, the march was an empowering event. It represents another step in our national movement for the respect of differences and inclusion of people across our society.

Though these discussions covered an array of important social, economic and political issues, they were generally silent on a matter that touches many Americans: religious bias and discrimination. Most discussions failed to consider how our nation's powerful movement for justice and civil rights affected freedom of religion for people from every tradition and none. That's probably because religion remains the step-child of diversity and inclusion discussions, even though it is a salient identity that affects the majority of Americans and emerges in both their private and public lives.

To be fair, addressing religion and those who are religiously different is not easy. To be true to the promise of liberty from which the civil rights movement drew strength, we must find ways to include people from religions that are different from the traditional Christian base of our nation. We must also acknowledge and include people who consider themselves "none," meaning people who don't identify with any religion (e.g., atheists, agnostics, spiritual but not religious).

Religion is different from the other identities for which social justice movements have emerged. It is only sometimes visible and often the source of a powerful truth for believers. And yet, different beliefs inform many public policies: from abortion to the death penalty. They also inform how people conduct themselves in daily life and how they interact.

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