The BHA has responded to a story in the Daily Telegraph on 30 May 2009, “Christians risk rejection and discrimination for their faith, a study claims”.
The story implied that the BHA, in its advice on the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, had made particular statements about Christians (a claim that was repeated by BBC News). The Telegraph said that the BHA’s resources “warn that employees face dismissal if they share their faith with colleagues at work.” The BHA’s resources on this issue in fact make it clear that the prohibition on harassment in existing law applies as much to non-religious people as to religious people, and that, in order to constitute harassment, behaviour would have to be far more than simply sharing ones religious or non-religious beliefs. The BHA guidance says:
“In some religions, it is considered acceptable for believers to evangelise or ‘spread the word’. Attempting to convert people to the religion may be seen as a religious duty. But the right of others to freedom of ‘religion or belief’ must be respected and this is particularly important in a ‘closed’ setting such as the workplace.
“Attempts by employees to convert people or to use the work environment to proselytise are highly likely to amount to harassment of their colleagues. The fact that this harassment is based on their own religious or non-religious beliefs does not make it acceptable. Similar considerations would apply to attempts by non-believers to undermine colleagues’ religious beliefs.
“This does not require a blanket ban on discussing ‘religion or belief’. Training and guidance on equality and harassment should allow employees to distinguish between reasonable discussion and behaviour that may be offensive.”
Pepper Harow, former Equality and Human Rights Project Officer, who supervised the project drawing up the advice, stated, “We consider the resources to be very balanced. They make clear that a ‘blanket ban’ on discussing individual beliefs is unnecessary and that equality and harassment training will allow employees to distinguish between reasonable discussion and harassment. It also notes that attempts by non-religious individuals to undermine colleagues’ religious beliefs are just as unacceptable as religious people trying to convert colleagues.”
In the BHA’s quote, given to the Telegraph when they first approached us about this story, some weeks ago, the BHA made it clear that we were not focussing on Christians in particular, and that the same points applied to both religious and non-religious people in the workplace. Unfortunately, this was not reflected in the article published by the Telegraph.
You can see a representative of the BHA appearing on BBC News to rebut the Telegraph’s claims on our YouTube Channel.
Notes
Find out more about the ‘Equality’ project.
The British Humanist Association (BHA) is the national charity representing and supporting the non-religious and campaigning for an end to religious privilege and discrimination based on religion or belief.