<p>If it could get you a job at a church?</p>
<p>You tend to ask these ethically-shady questions a lot, galoisien.</p>
<p>Well I was a former Christian, but it’d be kind of funny to play the devout mentor while atheist. </p>
<p>I was kind of worried whether this would undermine my atheist principles.</p>
<p>Do your atheist principles include being a lying jerk? If they do, then go ahead.</p>
<p>No. I don’t even like to go to church with people because I think its rude/disrespectful to be some where in which I will be putting down everything the preacher says.</p>
<p>I certainly wouldn’t lie about anything in general to get a job. I’d want to get a job based on my actual qualifications, abilities, and beliefs of which I’m confident of, not made up ones. =)</p>
<p>Wow. That’s kind of horrible. </p>
<p>Can’t you get a job that doesn’t involve deceiving people?</p>
<p>Well I don’t think they would ask me, “are you a Christian?” in any sort of interview. I would only have to act Christian, and that’s easy cuz that’s what I’ve been doing for 18 out of my 19 years. In my time as a Christian I was fairly well-read on theology, St. Aquinas, Descartes etc. so certainly I would have the intellectual qualifications.</p>
<p>Depending on what kind of church job it is, they might ask you some very specific questions about your faith and how it would impact the work you would do.</p>
<p>Well I could just turn back my spiritual clock to shortly before I entered college, before Dawkins, accelerated chemistry and APDA, and pretend I’m still at that spiritual stage of life. :)</p>
<p>I mean, I’m only fiercely atheist among my friends, I still pretend to be Christian among relatives so since religion is a sham anyway I’m not worried about leading people off the straight and narrow because the straight and narrow doesn’t exist. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, I’m more concerned that if I /teach/ the straight and narrow in exchange for subsistence / work experience I would be helping to strengthen an anti-intellectual virus that I will wish to actively fight later in life. But then again, how much further damage would I do?</p>
<p>I would suggest looking for another job.
Pretending to be of a faith you’re not is both unfair to you and the church you intend to work at. You shouldn’t have to adopt or feign adopting views that you’re clearly against nor would the church probably want someone staunchly against what they stand for mentoring others.</p>
<p>I’m sure you can find a job elsewhere.</p>
<p>Err, did you come up with this question because you are seriously considering such a job or just because you got inspired to pose a totally theoretical question because of a recent thread that came up in college admissions?
You know the thread that was asking whether the student should lie about his religion to get into a catholic college.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/747106-lying-about-your-religion.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/747106-lying-about-your-religion.html</a></p>
<p>Just thought it was an interesting coincidence :)</p>
<p>I assume the call back for the position back in June didn’t pan out. On your previous thread, you asked something to the effect, “Is this cover letter too aggressive?”</p>
<p>It’s half-hypothetical, I was just looking at it and I was, “hmm, I wouldn’t have minded this a year ago”. </p>
<p>It’s half-serious, because it depends how badly I need extra hours.</p>
<p>It depends on what the job is whether you would need to be a Christian or not. (don’t lie in any circumstance, but it may not matter). At our Presbyterian church our choir director is Jewish. We don’t care what our paid nursery workers are (being devout and wanting to be in worship probably wouldn’t work so well) but we care that they are certified day care providers. Our church secretary is much more fundamentalist than our congregation which is okay as long as she respects the boundaries (she once put notice of an anti-abortion rally in the church announcements and several people complained as many in our congregation are pro-choice).</p>
<p>Don’t lie, but depending on the position they may not care if you are Christian or not.</p>
<p>Go ahead and lie about it, you cant get through life telling the truth all the time</p>
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<p>Is religion the thing that’s a sham, or you? Have the courage of your convictions, already.</p>
<p>Does the position require you to advocate or teach explicitly Christian teachings, such as to children in a day camp setting? If so, then it’s just wrong of you to pretend to be something you’re not. Stop trying to play too-clever-by-half and come up with all kinds of intellectual arguments one way or the other – just do the right thing, already.</p>
<p>As bright as you are, would it have ever occurred to you to have said or asked during the interview – “I’m not Christian, would this be a problem in carrying out the duties of this job?” Surely someone as brilliant about all kinds of things the way you are could figure out such a question.</p>
<p>Well, maybe atheism’s a sham, too.</p>
<p>lol? If you don’t believe in God then there AREN’T any principals</p>
<p>Dawkins LOL. Thats like saying I used to be liberal until I read Anne Coulter; or Michael Moore going the other way. Oh to be 19 again.</p>
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<p>misconception.</p>
<p>I do believe in absolute morality, actually, but that doesn’t imply religion. </p>
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<p>The difference is that Dawkins is a useful member of society and is a scientist who works via the *scientific method<a href=“the%20only%20useful%20method%20of%20inquiry”>/i</a>. i.e. he’s not a wacko unenlightened pundit. His ideas are responsible for a third of the content found in an undergraduate’s evolutionary bio textbook. (Maynard Smith’s game theory being a second third.)</p>
<p>Ann Coulter is responsible for unentertaining radio talk shows. What does she publish her papers on again?? Oh right she isn’t a PROFESSOR at OXFORD.</p>