The Inclusion of Religion in Business Seminars

Religion in Business Seminars I’ve attended two business seminars during the first quarter of 2008, and, I’m very disturbed to note that majority of the speakers would mention their Christian religion openly during their business talk, which was supposed to promote entrepreneurship.

One female speaker repeatedly spoke about her faith and encouraged the predominantly female audience to always put the family first instead of business. Another one charmed the audience with his witty remarks, and then packed a religious whammy near the end with several Bible verse quotations to cap it all off.

My Religious Background I have a Catholic father and a Protestant mother, and I attended a non-denominational Protestant Church while growing up, and went to a Catholic private school for eight years. During grade school and high school, I had to explain constantly the differences between the Protestant religion and the Catholic one.

By the time I had to go to college, I dearly wanted to go to a school where I didn’t have to contend with religion classes nor have to discuss religion.

Although Ateneo and La Salle are excellent schools, I was very relieved that I had the choice of UP Diliman, where I attended classes in the College of Business Administration, and there was no religion class in sight nor was it necessary since I was taking up Business Administration and Accountancy. To my amazement, I met people who never had to take any religion class at all during their earlier school days since they studied in public schools.

UP Diliman as a Secular School When a friend of mine, who graduated from the same college but who also chose to become a Catholic nun later on, taught at the College of Business Administration, she was instructed not to mention nor to discuss religion in her classes.

Human Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

I think that for UP Diliman to choose to be secular is an excellent way of honoring this right in recognition of the myriad individuals who have their own beliefs ranging from being atheists to belonging to a particular religious group to believing in nothing.

In my experience in the UP College of Business Administration, business ethics may be discussed, but must be taken up in a neutral way that encourages all individuals to behave in a universally accepted manner that recognizes their human rights.

These are my expectations of a PROFESSIONAL business environment.

I am appalled that these business seminars that are supposed to impart entrepreneurship skills are being used as the means to propagate Christian beliefs, and effectively marginalizing certain groups in Philippine society and stemming budding female entrepreneurs because of the dictates of religion.

As speakers, shouldn’t it be incumbent on them to inform the organizers regarding their speech outline?

Or, as I have suggested, for the organizers to inform speakers regarding the conditions that must be observed during the business seminar.

Or, if the organizing group desires to merge business with religion or any of its offshoots, then please state so clearly with your group’s name and/or in the business seminar description so that people are informed and can make a personal decision, instead of being unpleasantly surprised during the seminar itself.

An excellent example is the Women to Women Mentoring seminar on 03 April 2008, which includes topics such as The Champion in Every Filipina and Setting Your Spirit Free. Since spirituality is a prevalent topic throughout the day, I have decided not to attend, and I was able to make that decision because of the availability of information.

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