By Bonnie Erbe, Scripps Howard News Service, July 10, 2001
Bonnie Erbe’s 2001 column nails a real risk—workplace evangelism could turn offices into battlegrounds of belief. In 2025, with remote work and culture wars amplifying division, her warning’s still sharp: faith’s personal, not corporate. As a Classical Deist, I’d add—shoving spirituality into jobs mocks reason and nature’s order. Work’s for productivity, not preaching. My 2001 letter below backs her up—fanatics don’t speak for God, just their egos. Keep religion off the clock. —Lewis Loflin
Guess who’s knocking on the office door? God. If Americans let Him in, we might rival the Arab-Jewish religious strife. Fortune Magazine’s July 9th issue spotlights executives pushing workplace religiosity—a craze that could ruin us.
Fortune describes, “Three dozen middle-aged rebels in suits lunch in a LaSalle Bank conference room in Chicago, floating radical ideas: Work less. Slow down. Stop multitasking. Listen to your heart.” These “counterculture” types want spirituality at work—once quiet Bible groups, now organized agitators.
“Rebels”? “Radical”? Hardly. This is old, repressive stuff—echoing what the Founders fled in England. Fortune even cites a 1953 article on a similar flop. Spirituality’s personal; forcing it isn’t new—it’s atavistic. Imagine corporate America if we slowed down for God—productivity would tank.
Conferences, speeches, and books fuel this church-boardroom mashup. Evangelists cash in, blind to the chaos—competing Christians, Muslims, Hindus turning offices into revival tents. Jews, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics would chafe as proselytizers pounce. Lawsuits would soar.
Do Christians want Muslims praying to Mecca mid-shift? Jews want Buddhist incense? Catholics want Baptist conversions? Muslims want Wiccan chants? It’s a recipe for strife where none existed.
One exec asks, “Why not find God at work? We spend so much time there.” He ties work’s “creative energy” to God’s. Nice thought—until it’s unmanageable. Even devils attend church—Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Jesse Jackson prove it. We’ve got 16 hours daily, plus weekends, for worship. Work’s divisive enough without religion.
If an evangelist knocks, say, “Thanks, I’ll see you in church.”
—Bonnie Erbe, host of PBS’s “To the Contrary,” bonnieerbe@CompuServe.com
To the editor, July 20, 2001:
Bonnie Erbe’s column bugs me. Her title should be “Spirituality’s personal, so keep it out of work.” Marc Gunther’s Fortune piece was factual—why the venom? Maybe she knows fanaticism, not Christianity. “God is not the author of confusion,” after all.
Keeping spirituality out of work is nuts—everyone’s got some conviction. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching evil and good.” Erbe’s too late to stop it. Her “what-ifs” and “yes-buts” scream fear of the unknown. Relax, Bonnie—Gunther’s God-talk hasn’t sparked a revolt. God can handle soul-searching baby boomers—why can’t you?
—Billy M., M.Ed., Piney Flats, Tenn.
To the editor, August 2, 2001:
Billy M.’s attack on Erbe proves her point—religion at work stirs trouble. If his atheist boss touted “facts” on atheism, he’d flip. Erbe meant execs and rules, not lunch chats about Jesus. She’s right—proselytizing risks abuse and lawsuits. Work’s stressful enough; we’ve got 16 hours daily plus weekends for faith.
Billy downplays evangelical “fanatics.” Pat Robertson calls non-Christians “termites,” tags Methodists and others “anti-Christ.” Jerry Falwell’s “male Jew” Anti-Christ and Southern Baptist campaigns against Jews, Hindus, and Muslims aren’t biblical. Bob Jones III preaches intolerance—his “millions” of followers prove the threat. These cults hit Christians too.
Billy’s right—God can handle Himself. He doesn’t need prophets spewing hate and politics. Erbe’s spot-on—religion’s personal. Keep it that way.
—Lewis Loflin, Bristol, Va.
Acknowledgment: Written by Bonnie Erbe for Scripps Howard News Service, with reader responses by Billy M. and Lewis Loflin, hosted and updated by Lewis Loflin with thanks to Grok (xAI) for assistance.
