Alright... I think this is a dicey situation. I have a new job at a company. The company was apparently founded by people on one of the extreme ends of the political spectrum, while most people place me moderately on the other side. (I don't place myself on that side, or either side, for that matter, mainly because I think a one-dimensional political spectrum is stupid, inaccurate, and polarizing.) Not only was it founded by said people, but apparently many, if not all of the rest of the people who work there are on that side as well. I found out none of this until I was already working for the company for several days, and even when I did, I was figuring that it wouldn't matter, since this is a work environment, so, in theory, this shouldn't even matter. We're all professional.
Well, yesterday, we had a guy from the main office come to the US office to help get some things set up. (The US office is new.) We all went out to lunch together, and it was cool. Discussion topics ranged far and wide. Then, we got into politics, and despite that being a dicey subject, everything was fine. But then, the guy got into religious beliefs, and that's where it got hairy with me. He brought up a certain belief in a negative context, most probably not realizing that one of the people he was talking to was a holder of that belief. I tried to be professional, and, despite me going for jovial to stone-faced in an instant, I simply said, "I'm not taking part in that conversation." He then attempted to attack the subject from a different angle, and I said again, "I'm not taking part in that conversation." Finally, he basically said that holders of that belief are idiots. I'm sitting there, feeling insulted, patronized, and offended, but I simply reiterated more firmly that "I'm not taking part in that conversation." He finally broke off onto a different topic, and everything was OK from there.
My questions are simple. First, am I correct that he should not have made such comments in an environment where he did not personally know the people he was talking to? Second, was I right in my response? Third, should I take this up to HR? This guy is leaving the country tomorrow, and I probably won't even see him today, so I won't have to worry about him personally anymore? Do I want to risk that they may not see it my way, since they are of the roughly same opinion as him, which may see them viewing me more critically and more likely to get rid of me over minor issues? Should I even keep this job when it's filled with people who are of that opinion, even if they are not as vocal about it as him? I mean, in a perfect world, you should even be able to have gays and homophobes working together because the topic should never come up in a professional work environment. (That's probably a much more extreme scenario than my case, but the concept remains.) However, since this is not a perfect world, and as this social situation showed, these things do happen.
So, what do you think I should do?
Well, yesterday, we had a guy from the main office come to the US office to help get some things set up. (The US office is new.) We all went out to lunch together, and it was cool. Discussion topics ranged far and wide. Then, we got into politics, and despite that being a dicey subject, everything was fine. But then, the guy got into religious beliefs, and that's where it got hairy with me. He brought up a certain belief in a negative context, most probably not realizing that one of the people he was talking to was a holder of that belief. I tried to be professional, and, despite me going for jovial to stone-faced in an instant, I simply said, "I'm not taking part in that conversation." He then attempted to attack the subject from a different angle, and I said again, "I'm not taking part in that conversation." Finally, he basically said that holders of that belief are idiots. I'm sitting there, feeling insulted, patronized, and offended, but I simply reiterated more firmly that "I'm not taking part in that conversation." He finally broke off onto a different topic, and everything was OK from there.
My questions are simple. First, am I correct that he should not have made such comments in an environment where he did not personally know the people he was talking to? Second, was I right in my response? Third, should I take this up to HR? This guy is leaving the country tomorrow, and I probably won't even see him today, so I won't have to worry about him personally anymore? Do I want to risk that they may not see it my way, since they are of the roughly same opinion as him, which may see them viewing me more critically and more likely to get rid of me over minor issues? Should I even keep this job when it's filled with people who are of that opinion, even if they are not as vocal about it as him? I mean, in a perfect world, you should even be able to have gays and homophobes working together because the topic should never come up in a professional work environment. (That's probably a much more extreme scenario than my case, but the concept remains.) However, since this is not a perfect world, and as this social situation showed, these things do happen.
So, what do you think I should do?
