In the culture of the workplace, it is now taboo to make jokes about race. ย Nor can you make jokes about ethnicity. ย Nor can you make jokes about disabilities. ย Now you can no longer make jokes about sex. ย Or gender. ย So what can you make jokes about? ย Religion.
Those now forbidden attempts at humor at other peopleโs expense were part of the pattern of bullying and harassmentย that sometimes took place at work. ย Sexist humor often offendedย women in the office. ย Now religious peopleย are feeling the harassment.
So says a British study, reported on after the jump. ย Do you think this is happening in the United States as well? ย Why do you think workersโusually, ironically, in the jolly spirit of camaraderieโfeel they have to find a class of peopleย to target?ย
From Olivia Rudgard,ย Religion now the butt of workplace humour as sexist jokes have become taboo, survey finds, Telegraph (UK):
Religion has become the butt of workplace jokes as workers who would never make sexist or racist comments mock belief instead, a survey has found.
A study by ComRes found that up to a million workers may have faced harassment, discrimination or bullying because of their religion or belief.
The reportโs authors suggested that this tended to be in the form of โlower level exclusionโ which people did not bother to report because they did not feel it was serious enough.
Respondents said they had been made to feel uncomfortableย by colleagues making jokes about religious beliefs.
Katie Harrison, director of ComRes Faith Research Centre, said: โSome people told us they felt uncomfortable about mentioning that they pray.
โOr we heard of people feeling upset that religion was the butt of jokes in a workplace where people have become much more aware about making disparaging comments about gender or disability.โ
One survey respondent said: โIn our office, everyone is very respectful of minorities and would never be disparaging about women or people with disabilities, but when it comes to religion itโs fair game.
โPeople can be very insulting, especially when they express it through humour.โ
Ms Harrison said many religious people felt unable to tell colleagues that they had been to a mosque or church at the weekend and could not talk freely about the religious parts of their lives.
[Keep reading. . .]ย
Illustration by rebeccadevitt0, Pixabay, CC0, public domain