Huh?

[alexpgp]

According to a story in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a chaplain at a Boca Raton, Florida hospice has resigned over the issuance of guidelines banning the use of words such as "God" and "Lord" when delivering inspirational messages during staff meetings.

Saith the article:

Hospice CEO Paula Alderson said the ban on religious references applies only to the inspirational messages that chaplains deliver in staff meetings. The hospice remains fully comfortable with ministers, priests and rabbis offering religious counsel to the dying and grieving.

"I was sensitive to the fact that we don't impose religion on our staff, and that it is not appropriate in the context of a staff meeting to use certain phrases or 'God' or 'Holy Father,' because some of our staff don't believe at all," Alderson said.

[...]

Alderson said she was surprised by Signorelli's reaction to what she characterized as a minor administrative directive aimed solely at improving the decorum of monthly staff meetings, where the desired tone from a chaplain should be motivational, not religious.

Alderson said it started after she asked a chaplain — not Signorelli — to say something "inspirational" and "thought-provoking" at a staff meeting. The remarks did not strike the secular tone she wanted, Alderson said. So, "I issued some guidelines."

In a follow-up story published today, the hospice fired back:

"Chaplain Signorelli's statement that Hospice by the Sea has restricted use of the word 'God' or any deity is wrong," Senior Chaplain Fred Mortensen said in a second statement.

"The only time the issue has risen among our hospice team has been concerning all-staff meetings that do not in any way include patients or families," Mortensen said. Chaplains, who sometimes are asked to give inspirational talks at such meetings, have been told to keep the diversity of staff members' beliefs in mind. It was a "suggestion — not a policy, not a directive," Mortensen said.

Yeah, Mort. I understand. Back when I worked in the corporate world, I always thought of guidelines issued by the CEO as mere "suggestions" too, and not as something with a little more oomph behind 'em.

I once worked for a company where pretty much the entire management layer and a fair number of my coworkers were devoutly religious, whereas I... was not. I worked there for over two years, and about the most vicious thing I heard in that time was a heartfelt "Darn!" when power was interrupted to a computer in the middle of an 6-hour program loading procedure (LISP code loads slowly).

I don't know if this is some kind of character flaw, but I have to say that I did not feel threatened or intimidated or belittled or imposed-upon when I was asked to do things like join the rest of the employees in the conference room (it was a small company) to pray silently for the success of a proposal that was about to be picked up by the FedEx driver.

Criminy, you'd think that people would be intelligent enough to figure out that if you ask a chaplain to say something inspirational, you should expect to hear a reference to God in there, in some form, somewhere.

Cheers...

UPDATE: This post has been updated and used as an essay in the Week 26 LJ Idol competition (just so's ya know!).

Comments

[crocotiger.livejournal.com]

Banning the words 'God' and 'Lord' is a scary symptom.

[bdunbar.livejournal.com]

Alternate headline:

"Hospice CEO surprised that chaplain takes 'God stuff' seriously."

[hyrkanian.livejournal.com]

LOL

[hyrkanian.livejournal.com]

I once worked for a subsidiary of a now-infamous international financial institution, and the receptionist was also the pastor of a small Christian church. She got in quite a huff when she was informed that ending company calls with "Have a blessed day" was not acceptable. I had to agree with the company's side, my own religious views or lack thereof notwithstanding. However, I do agree that taking offense at a chaplain "taking God stuff seriously" when he was *asked* for an inspirational talk, is pretty DARN silly.