Grumpy Religious Trouble Makers No More
She was either a dour lesbian who hated men or a fundamentalist Christian who hated gay people. It turned out that she was a conservative Catholic (today that sounds repetitious) of unknown orientation. She scowled at me for an hour and a half as her 200 colleagues laughed, cried, nodded affirmation, and clapped all around her. I was speaking about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues in the workplace at Eli Lilly as a man who grew up in an Irish Catholic household and was educated for sixteen years in Catholic schools, and she didn’t want me to talk about the Church.
She was offended that I spoke of wanting to be a saint, of making up sins as a seven-year-old in Confession, of being the unanimous choice of the high school faculty for the Christian Leadership Award, of being called “the dorm Catholic” at Marquette University because I went to Mass every day, of working for a Catholic newspaper, of recently receiving a standing ovation from five hundred bishops, priests, nuns, brothers, and lay people in response to a presentation on homosexuality, and of my personal relationship with a higher power. She reminded me of the woman who said to me after a workplace presentation a few years ago, “I resent you referring to yourself as an Irish Catholic.” But I am, “Blanche.” I am. I could say that I grew up as a Polish Jew but it wouldn’t be truthful, and if there is one lesson I have learned and embraced in my life, it is to be truthful.
It is ironic that I begin this reflection by talking about the grumpy Catholic lady with no sense of humor, as I had cautioned the company’s executives and human resource personnel not to give the crazies too much attention. For me, they’re like the drunk at the family reunion who makes everyone feel uncomfortable and who no one tells to go home and sober up. The presence of outspoken Bible-quoters in the workplace ruins it for everyone. Because many of us grew up in non-confrontative households in which peace was secured at any price, we don’t feel comfortable telling the obnoxious troublemaker to be quiet or work elsewhere. Gratefully, that is beginning to change.
As corporate executives become more adept at distinguishing between religion and religious beliefs, they are more able and likely to respond to those who protest on religious grounds the company’s support for gay and transgender people with a clear message of “Join the team or join the ranks of the unemployed.”
The truth be told, the loud-mouth Bible quoters in the workplace are an embarrassment to the overwhelming majority of people who identify themselves as Christian. One such person recently spoke out by saying “A bigot is a bigot regardless of whether they wrap their biases in the Bible.” As we all know, the Ku Klux Klan uses the burning cross, the symbol of Christ’s death, as a sign of their hatred for blacks, Jews, and homosexuals. But they too are an embarrassment to the overwhelming majority of Southern white Christians.
Despite being warned of how conservative Indianapolis would be, my experience at Eli Lilly was extraordinarily rewarding. The senior executives were very affirming of my message and eager to learn how they could help bridge the gap between their corporate policies and their corporate culture. The session I had in which I avoided looking at the grumpy, humorless, Catholic woman, was telecast to two other auditoriums and is available to 40,000 Lilly employees worldwide. These allegedly conservative Midwesterners, who voted Democrat (by the slimmest of margins) for the first time since 1964, gave me a long standing ovation.
The more that the silent majority of employees are given proof that senior management supports them, and the more education they are given on gay and transgender issues, the more likely it is that they will start speaking up to the trouble-makers in the workplace, taking back control of the company by those who embrace the concept of valuing diversity.
