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BRINGING RELIGION TO THE WORKPACE

Working With a Higher Power
* The faithful find both conflicts and comfort in taking their religious beliefs to work.
By JOSEPH HANANIA, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES | Los Angeles Times Sunday October 15, 2000
Home Edition Work Place Part W Page 1 Financial Desk | 33 inches; 1153 words

When Courtney "Mac" McGregor, a bishop in the Mormon Church, worked
as a research scientist at pharmaceutical giant Hoffman-LaRoche, he faced
a painful dilemma.

For his research on rheumatoid arthritis, he needed to use a fetal
enzyme. But his church looks upon abortion as sinful in all but extreme
cases.

McGregor's conflict isn't unusual. In an evermore multi-ethnic,
multi-religious American society, religious beliefs and workplace values
can often clash. But for many, faith also provides the framework to make
better employees and managers.

For McGregor, now 59, the answer came not from consultations with
other church officials--he didn't consult any--or from conversations with
his wife, who left the decision to him. Rather, his answer came during
prayer when he realized that "I did not participate in the choice of the
abortion." Rather, his choice was whether "to throw away" the enzyme or
"get some benefit from it."

McGregor decided to work with the enzyme.

A different dilemma was faced by Mahmoud "Mike" Morad, then a real
estate consultant with an affiliate of American Express. Morad's
religion--Islam--required him to pray five times a day--twice in the
midst of his workday.

In addition to questioning the practicality of praying amid ringing
telephones and office chatter, Morad, now 44, was concerned that by
praying at work he would reveal his participation in a religion widely
associated with terrorism. He could have lost sales, setting himself back
professionally.

"At first, I was self-conscious," he said. Nevertheless, he prayed,
either in an empty room or in his car.

Initially, he hoped nobody would notice.

"Then, I became proud and hoped others would ask what I was doing. It
was an opportunity to talk about religion and values," he said. "The idea
behind prayer is learning to do things on time. To be prompt five times a
day means my commitment to God is fulfilled."

That commitment spilled over to customers and co-workers, who praised
Morad's efficiency. As for possible fallout, "People may have decided not
to do business with me because I am Muslim, but I would rather attribute
it to chemistry. If that's the reason, so be it."

Now head of his own Axis America real estate affiliate in Fullerton,
with two employees, Morad views his daily prayer rituals as a key element
in his success.

Gen. Edward Meyer, 83, now chairman of Mitretek Systems, a software
company in the Washington area, had to learn to balance the bottom line
against his values while serving as Army chief of staff. From 1979 to
1983, Meyer was ordered to close bases across the country, including Ft.
Ord near Monterey, Calif.

"I had pressure from congressmen not representing the affected areas,
and from the Department of Defense to get out as quickly as possible, to
not engage in follow-up activities," said Meyer, a Catholic who is now
involved in the Woodstock Business Conference, an organization trying to
meld business and spiritual values.

"The pressure was constant--that I would be replaced by someone else.
During certain periods, I would have been very happy to get fired."

Yet Meyer considered those follow-up activities, including job
counseling and ensuring health benefits and unemployment checks, as both
right and necessary.

"Soldiers are not checkers to be moved around a board," he said. "And
I was in a position to help keep families together, rather than follow
banal, money-grubbing instincts."

The lessons Meyer learned then are no different from those he now
applies in the civilian world, where he has had to close stores and
manufacturing plants.

"Moral values and business values can be consistent. When they are
not, I have to make a very serious consideration: Am I going to stay on
this job where I can't live with my own personal goals and objectives?,"
he said.

Past a certain point, he said, "I cannot. In my own experience, when
the bottom line is more important than anything else, there is just chaos
and suffering."

For these three men, their faith helped them make difficult decisions
and gave them greater peace of mind. They said it also makes them more
skilled at workplace relationships.

McGregor credits his faith as key to creating a more positive work
environment.

"A big complaint at LaRoche was lack of communication; people didn't
know what was going on even next door," he said. "Church work taught me
how to maximize communication, being conscious of others' backgrounds and
interests.

"I wouldn't be a boss if not for my faith," he said. "My management
skills come largely from that."

If faith has increasingly made its presence felt in the workplace,
however, it has not always been in a positive manner.

Tamar Galatzan, 30, an attorney with the Anti-Defamation League, said
that while complaints about prohibitions on religious garb in the
workplace are down, complaints about religious proselytizing are up.

The ADL recently received a complaint alleging that a software
company's new president had held a meeting at which he quoted from the
Bible and told his staff to "Think of Jesus when making sales."

Afterward, he allegedly sent a memo reinforcing his message, requiring
staffers to sign a paper stating that they believed in what he had said.

An employee who refused to sign was fired. His complaint is now being
investigated by the ADL.

The ADL also represented an employee at a fast-food franchise whose
owner allegedly inscribed Bible quotes on paychecks and gave his workers
tests on the Bible, haranguing those who failed. Alleging religious
harassment, the employee received an out-of-court settlement.

The ADL is also looking into a Colorado-based company that hired a
woman whose responsibilities included putting up annual Christmas
decorations. After a Jewish employee expressed discomfort, the woman, who
had never before met a Jew, also brought in Hanukkah decor--only to get
called in by company managers.

Hanukkah symbols, they allegedly proclaimed, were religious and should
not be imposed upon other employees; Christmas decorations, they said,
are not religious.

The trick in resolving these types of cases, Galatzan said, is "to
find the balance where individuals can appropriately practice their faith
without imposing it on another." Thus, she said, a religious photo on a
person's desk is most likely appropriate if intended for individual use,
while that same photo blown up and hung on an office wall is likely
inappropriate.

Father Oliver Williams, director of the Center for Ethics and
Religious Values in Business at the University of Notre Dame, concurs
that faith should be a source of individual strength rather than an
outward imposition, and recalled a recent graduate with a job offer from
an ad agency that did a lot of work for the cigarette industry.

Asked for his advice, Williams urged the graduate to spell out his
reservations about writing copy for tobacco ads. The agency hired him
anyhow, stipulating that he would never have to work on cigarette ads.

When faith-based individuals speak up, Williams said, creative
solutions often result.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, 50, associate dean of the Museum of Tolerance in
Los Angeles, agrees that faith can be a major source of strength. Still,
he warns, those who highlight their faith invite scrutiny not just about
their faith but about how they live their lives.

"Whether you're a boss or a mail room clerk, if your faith is
important enough to think about what you eat [as per Jewish or Muslim
requirements], or what you wear, then work has to be different, too,"
Cooper said. "You either live up to a higher standard, or you create a
lot of questions."

The easiest way to maintain faith is to stay in one's own community,
where secular and religious beliefs interlock, he said. "For me, the more
fulfilling challenge is to have enough confidence in my own identity that
I can find common ground with people of other faiths."

The challenge of the workplace, Cooper said, lies in each of us
discovering and practicing our core values amid an increasingly
materialistic world.

By learning to come from this deeper place, he said, we move beyond
superficial labels and differing religious practices, focusing instead on
"how not abuse each other."

"That's our challenge--how to create a society that honors this."

PHOTO: (3 photos) When Courtney "Mac" McGregor, top, faced a
conflict between his beliefs and his job, he found his solution in
prayer. But prayer itself--and finding room for it in his workday--was
the dilemma faced by Mahmoud "Mike" Morad, left. Tamar Galatzan, 30, an
attorney with the Anti-Defamation League, says the trick to resolving
conflicts is "to find the balance where individuals can appropriately
practice their faith without imposing it on another."
ID NUMBER: 20001015g1z5lrke
PHOTOGRAPHER: KEN HIVELY / Los Angeles Times
PHOTO: (3 photos) When Courtney "Mac" McGregor, top, faced a
conflict between his beliefs and his job, he found his solution in
prayer. But prayer itself--and finding room for it in his workday--was
the dilemma faced by Mahmoud "Mike" Morad, left. Tamar Galatzan, 30, an
attorney with the Anti-Defamation League, says the trick to resolving
conflicts is "to find the balance where individuals can appropriately
practice their faith without imposing it on another."
ID NUMBER: 20001015g1zg8qke
PHOTOGRAPHER: CON KEYES / Los Angeles Times
PHOTO: (3 photos) When Courtney "Mac" McGregor, top, faced a
conflict between his beliefs and his job, he found his solution in
prayer. But prayer itself--and finding room for it in his workday--was
the dilemma faced by Mahmoud "Mike" Morad, left. Tamar Galatzan, 30, an
attorney with the Anti-Defamation League, says the trick to resolving
conflicts is "to find the balance where individuals can appropriately
practice their faith without imposing it on another."
ID NUMBER: 20001015g20veike
PHOTOGRAPHER: IRFAN KHAN / Los Angeles Times