Don’t think this is a post about me coming out as a Conservative! I did that a long time ago. I actually don’t consider myself a conservative. I would consider myself a social moderate. I hate big government, tax increases and 24 months of unemployment insurance. I also hate my government telling women they can’t get an abortion, and the fact our planet is dying and government does little to stop it. Every time there is a Presidential election I feel none of the candidates are good choices. The two party system is slowing killing everything that is great about America.
So, who am I calling out of the closet?
All those individuals, male and female, that you have working for you. All ages and ethnicities, that are considered to be ‘conservative’ in their beliefs towards issues in politics, society and culture.
Do you know why they are in the closet?
You put them there. You make it wrong for them to believe in Jesus, to believe women shouldn’t have abortions, to believe that people on welfare sometimes take advantage of the system. You make them stay in the closet by making them believe that the only ‘right’ opinion is that of the liberal minority in your workforce. You teach them that ‘inclusion’ is believing what you believe. That your liberal beliefs in politics, finances and social responsibility are the ‘right’ beliefs. That if you believe like we do, feel free to share it publicly around the office, but if you don’t believe like we do you aren’t welcome here.
So, they stay in the closet.
It’s not that they’re really bad people. They just believe differently than you. You might look at them as throw backs of by gone era. Must be from the Midwest, you think to yourself, no one on the coast would think like that. Must be from a small town, because big city folks are more ‘well rounded’ in their beliefs. You make them feel like their kind is unwelcome in your work environment. We like are employees to be progressive in their thoughts and beliefs. We are an ‘Inclusive’ workplace…
Until you’re not.
No one really wants to talk about this in the workplace, I guess it’s a sort of powder keg. I feel we should loosen up the political correctness and get back to having open respectful dialogue. I like this post and look forward to more.
We as a culture are so quick to judge, and claim that the person with a different opinion is WRONG! Who made us better than them, who made our battles harder than others? We need to learn to accept one another and support our differences in order to help our society as a whole. Have you ever looked into the Libertarian Party?
We never stopped. Love you. Now get back to work. Someone has to keep your family in clover!
You know what I like about you? That you initiate conversations no one wants to iniate but they secretly want to have! I think this point could be applied from either side, kind of like what Bobbi said, but regardless what the right answer is I like that you bring some of these topics to the table. I may put you on the “okay to hug list” after all lol
Food for thought! I think it depends on your geographic location and your industry. For example flip the above for where I live and work!
Hey, can you unlink me or at least represent my opinions (which you never ask about, btw) a little more accurately?
This is an offensive and incomplete representation of my views, and I don’t want the SEO gods at Google (or Jesus) picking this up and labeling me. And it doesn’t represent our really great friendship, either.
More importantly, you’re a much more skilled storyteller than this post demonstrates. Tim, I wish you could write this again and tell us what prompted this blog post. Did someone say something to you? Did you lose business to someone else? Were you misrepresented somewhere online? Was someone a bigot or mean towards a conservative friend of yours? Are you mad about something specifically?
That’s the real story.
Love you, buddy.
Done. Can we be friends again?
I agree with you – but I’ve seen it happen as well when it’s an ultra conservative workplace and someone has a more moderate viewpoint. We just need to get away from the Group Think mentality and allow people to have their own opinions of things.
Well said, Tim. I wish more people had the courage of their convictions to be as blunt and honest as your post today. It’s a message that’s overdue, that inclusion should include diverse opinions. I hope that your message gets picked up and spread far and wide.