The Religious passion: I Refuse to do My Job If...

I've never seen a list of the plethora of religious demands in the workplace. It's not all Christianity. Religions from around the world have landed here and many make demands to be accommodated at work.  For some Muslims, it's accommodations to pray five times a day. For anti-abortion pharmacists it's to not fill prescriptions for abortion medicines. There is refusing to take work shifts on some day of the week. There preachers who refuse to perform weddings for gay couples. With women finding work they enjoy in fields where women did not formerly work, a demand I had not heard of is being discussed, refusing to work with a woman when no one else is present. This includes electricians climbing, drilling holes, stringing wire and setting up boxes for homes. 

I can't put myself into the heads of people who have these passions about religion. It's not hard to see, however, the cost placed on the rest of society when some demand extra accommodations. Others have to perform the work not done. If the cost to an organization could be established there some justice would be achieved. Employees with religious aversions could pay the employer for the costs incurred.

I grew up on an Iowa farm in a community dominated by a conservative branch of Christianity. Among the sinful taboos were alcohol, play cards with the standard deck (other cards were ok) and ballroom dancing. Worst among the long list of sins was using a tractor in the fields on Sunday. Doing other farm work like caring for animals and milking cows was not a sin. I've always wondered where these ideas about "sin" came from. The origins were never discussed. 

While tolerance in areas like gay marriage and abortion continues to grow, my impression is there is an expansion of demands for accommodating religions at work. I hope some limits will one day be established on these demands.