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Religious expression isn’t just allowed in federal offices, it’s encouraged, according to a new memo issued to the heads of government agencies last week by the Office of Personnel Management.
Federal workers can display religious objects like icons, bibles, religious artwork and posters in their workspaces, the guidance said, and can pray privately or in groups, “so long as such expressions do not occur during on-duty time.”
The memo also affirms the right of employees to speak openly about their faith and even to attempt “to persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views, provided that such efforts are not harassing in nature.”
“This guidance ensures the federal workplace is not just compliant with the law but welcoming to Americans of all faiths,” Scott Kuper, the director of the Office of Personnel Management, said in a press release.
Legally, the memo doesn’t change existing protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on religion as long as religious expression does not interfere with job performance.
But the emphasis on broader inclusion of religion could shift workplace culture in more noticeable ways, said Elaine Howard Ecklund, a sociology professor at Rice University and co-author of a 2024 book “Religion in a Changing Workplace.”
“What workplace leaders and our political leaders do and say has a really important impact on what everyday people, and especially government workers, think about expressing their faith in the workplace,” Ecklund told me.
In many workplaces, she said, the instinct is to avoid religious conflict by discouraging all forms of expression. “Where we go too quickly is suppression, but suppression of everyone pretty equally,” she noted. That, she argues, is a mistake. People want to bring their authentic and whole selves to work, and for many that means not shedding their religious identity at work.
Living out one’s faith at work could mean relying on faith to cope with stress, praying for a coworker or observing daily religious rituals. But navigating this kind of expression requires sensitivity to power dynamics, Ecklund said, especially when expressions of faith come from managers or supervisors, which could carry unintended pressures or implications.
Religious identity also often intersects with other parts of identity, like race and ethnicity. For example, many immigrant groups are affiliated with particular religious traditions. Although the memo doesn’t single out Christianity — and it mentions Jewish religious symbols — Ecklund said that conversations about faith in the workplace must acknowledge the plurality of religions, including minority religions and those who identify as non-religious.
In practice, however, workers of minority faiths like Islam, Judaism, or Hinduism often face more difficulty when requesting religious accommodations. “Leaders need to help their employees understand and interpret policies related to religion in the workplace,” Ecklund said. “And create environments where people feel comfortable asking for accommodation.”
Fresh off the Press
Florida ranked number one when it comes to defending religious liberty, while West Virginia came in last, according to a new report from the First Liberty Institute that evaluated each state’s laws and religious liberty protections. Once considered a non-partisan issue, religious liberty has become associated with conservative politics. While there are exceptions, the report largely reflects this partisan divide.
Blair Buswell has sculpted more than 130 busts of celebrities including golfer Jack Nicklaus, actor Charlton Heston, a number of pro football greats and a few Latter-day Saint prophets, writes my colleague Jason Swensen. I especially enjoyed this detail from Buswell’s story: “To keep young Blair quiet during church services, his mother, LauRene Buswell, would hand him a Sucrets lozenges tin filled with molding clay and flat toothpicks — ‘and then I’d make my toys right there in church’.”
Term of the Week: Tisha B’Av
Tisha B’Av is a solemn day of mourning in Judaism that commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, along with other major tragedies in Jewish history. Considered the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, it was observed this past weekend from Saturday to Sunday. On this day, Jews traditionally fast for 25 hours, refrain from pleasurable activities, and recite the Book of Lamentations and other dirges.
This year, according to RNS, over 1,000 rabbis signed the letter asking Israel to send more humanitarian aid to Gaza. “In the name of the sanctity of life, of the core Torah values that every person is created in God’s image, that we are commanded to treat every human being justly, and that, wherever possible, we are required to exercise mercy and compassion,” the letter says.
What I’m Reading
In its latest move to expand protections for religious expression, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a public school district in Washington state violated the rights of a Christian football coach by disciplining him for praying on the field after games, Reuters reported. The 6-3 decision, backed by the court’s conservative majority, found that the coach was within his constitutional rights to lead post-game prayers, according to Reuters. The coach, who lost his job in 2015 over the issue, has since become a prominent figure among conservative Christian groups.
A recent lawsuit led the IRS to agree that political speech from the pulpit during worship services doesn’t violate the law, effectively loosening restrictions on church-based political endorsements. According to the New York Times story: “The change, which came via a legal settlement, functionally nullifies a core tenet of the law, giving Christian conservatives their most significant victory involving church political organizing in 70 years.”
This New Yorker profile tells the story of Guy Consolmagno, a Michigan-born and MIT-educated scientist and Jesuit brother also known as “the Pope’s astronomer.” He began working at the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, in 1993 and now serves as the observatory’s director. He once told an audience in Glasgow, according to the story, that he doubted his faith “only about two or three times a minute.” He went on: “But the opposite of faith isn’t doubt,” he continued. “The opposite of faith is certainty. Being comfortable with doubt, just as I doubt my science, just as I am constantly questioning my science, I do that because it makes my science stronger, and I do that because it makes my faith stronger.” For more on Consolmagno’s remarkable blend of intellect and belief, don’t miss the Deseret profile by my colleague Jennifer Graham.
Odds and Ends
Over a million Catholic youth gathered on the outskirts of Rome to celebrate the Jubilee for Youth, a major event of the Church’s Holy Year. “We are closer than ever to young people who suffer the most serious evils, which are caused by other human beings,” Pope Leo told the crowds, according to NPR. “We are with the young people of Gaza. We are with the young people of Ukraine, with those of every land bloodied by war.” He urged the young people to “aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are” and to “not settle for less.”
Amid a widespread decline in religious practice, especially in Europe, the sight of such a massive, vibrant crowd of young Catholics traveling to hear from the Pope was striking, and for many, deeply hopeful.