Yesterday my work group had its monthly mandatory staff meeting. Everyone is required to attend, since the staff meeting is the major arena in which official news is disseminated, ideas discussed, complaints aired, solutions derived.

Since yesterday's meeting was so close to Christmas, a buffet brunch was included, courtesy of our manager, the quintessential nice guy. He is a joy to work with.

The meeting began with a dramatized recorded reading of the nativity tale of Jesus' birth. I exited the room, offended not so much by the story--it is a myth I've enjoyed since childhood--but by the hyper-religious way in which it was told, accompanied by many hallelujah lord exclamations, praise Jesus exhortations and suchlike. Part of the narrative extolled the joining of man and woman in proper holy matrimony, I think referring to Mary and Joseph. (We have several gay employees who were deliberately made uncomfortable by this.)

I belong to a liberal religious community. We celebrate and honor religious observances of all kinds (including Christianity) and we embrace nonbelievers and agnostics as well. We eschew proselytization, believing that each person must be given space and time and support to find his/her own path to truth. We welcome gay, lesbian and transgender people under our roof and in our activities.

Then our manager asked who was going to bless the food. The story was over and jazzed-up Christmas songs were playing in the background. The blessing was highly offensive. Blessed jesus, holy jesus, said over and over, like a chant, and the rest of the cant repeated several times, praise god, praise god, hallelujah, and so on.

Quite a change from just a few years ago, when the secular workplace was kept separate from one's personal religious observances. The religious conservatives have come to power and we are all afraid to remind them that the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights established a separation of church and state. For fear of being accused of discrimination, we are subjected to religious observances which affront us. Me, anyway.

I told my boss that this was highly offensive, that I considered that a hostile work environment was in place, and that I would not stay if it continued. He looked hurt, as though I had abandoned the team, and went in and brought the meeting to order (but did not address the issue I raised).

I re-seated myself at the table and we covered the agenda items.