My husband was "forced to resign" today from an NRA call center for being an atheist.

reply to post by ProjectBlue


Let me explain this to you real quick.
Dem's want the NRA to cease and desist.

Republicans are God fearing/ God loving and Gun Fearing/ Gun Loving
NRA is not a public or state run organization. Being a private organization, they can require their representatives to have similar beliefs, No laws broken.

About right or wrong:
I support freedom of religion, so I think it is wrong to terminate an individual based on belief, but look who he was working for. You should not be surprised in any way. Your husband does not live his life based on fear, so he won't need a gun in hand to feel safe. He does not fit the NRA mold. I'm just fine with them acting like a religious organization, since they are so repub.

My Grandfather, Uncle's and Father, all gun freaks. All NRA. Grandpa was in the Democrat Club (and a Lion?..BTW), but he just loved guns. Sort of a guy thing, more than fear. He did not dig the NRA thought process, but stayed as a member. He did not need to tell the NRA that he was in the Dem club, to use them.

Long and short of this: If you want to fit in society as an atheist, then you need to lie, and pretend you believe in god.
If you want it publicly known that you don't agree with the majority, you can expect this negative treatment from certain groups. It ain't right, but it is the way. Time to move along.

I'm agnostic, BTW

Your husband sounds like a truther, didn't try to hide his beliefs in any way. Call centers want salesmen that will be effective talking to their clients. A good jockey that knows how to ride their horse. There was just a mismatch in this case so your husband got thrown.

Sorry...I'm not from the US.


Question:

NRA is National Rifle Association ???? What the f****? Rifle...as in gun? Association? And what is their agenda if I may ask? Rifles for everyone?

Land of the free and the armed. Jesus. Help me jesus. Make this ugly dream go away. Sometimes I feel as if some joker alien dropped me off at this god forsaken nuthouse.

reply to post by Pilot


My heart goes out to you.

I endured the last 10 of 16 years with a bunch of bible thumpers and really had to almost safety pin my mouth shut.

Very hard to keep quiet when you are needled every day on Jesus this and Jesus that.

People coming up to the door of your home - I just had some Jehovah Witnesses ring my front door bell and quickly and politely told them "no thank you, have a nice day" to show that while I did not believe in their religion I was still a decent kind human.

Again at work, it's really best to keep conversation light and professional. Never divulge too much of your personal beliefs because in today's work place any and all personal information can and will be used against you.

Now, it might depend on where you work and the type of company.

I worked for a fortune 500, the third larges TPA Firm in the world, in the Midwest, which is a very conservative area of America - the heartland.

Made good money but took psychological abuse for over ten of my sixteen years there.

Your co-workers are not really your friends - they, when your backs are to the wall and lots start to be chosen will betray you to survive, that, at least, was my experience (and that is all I can come to the table with). To survive in the workplace is human nature.

Jobs being at a premium - let this be a gentle warning and I mean it to be helpful - keep your personal life personal.

Have your professional public life and then have your personal, home life private.

The work place has changed.

Thirty years back, you could go to the bar after work with a bunch of work buddies, have a few drinks and discuss really meaningful stuff.

Now days, that is no longer wise to do..................managers in order for the few to control the many pit everyone against each other (again not always but in my case, this was my work experience).

I began in factories and worked my way by going back to school and taking computer and business math, accounting and other classes and worked my way up to office work just before our government allowed companies to by and large give away most of our factory jobs to foreigners off shore.

Working in the office was rather like serving in King Henry's VIII's court.

You did your job, was loyal to the king (queen in my case) and kept your mouth shut for fear of being snitched on and having your head lobbed off.

No difference, just now it's a "slow psychological death" vs a "fast physical death".

The people you work with talk, they gossip, they are nosy and it is best to (like invasion of the body snatchers) let the pod people think you are one of them IF you require money for a mortgage and car payment.

I'm glad my job was outsourced.

We have less money, my husband thank goodness has a good job, but I no longer have to deal with people who are closed minded, proud hearted know it alls.

It's nice, even having less money and "stuff" the freedom to finally be myself, to not have to hide my true feelings, is nice.

It's a shame people cannot live and let live, honor another person's core beliefs that differ from theirs.

People like to say they are "accepting" of other beliefs but in actuality I have witnessed that most people put up a wall, they are prejudice against those that do not believe as they do (not all but far too many).

Now the NRA contacted me by phone yesterday afternoon for support - with this opening post, I will not contribute my support. So any NRA People out there, people that work for NRA, you have just screwed yourselves out of my support.

America is suppose to be a land of religious freedom - HA, BS it is.

We humans bad mouth anyone that tries to think outside the little box TPTB have put us in and until enough of us wake up, we will all remain in that little box.

A prisoner that does not realize they are imprisoned will never try to escape.

A slave that does not realize they are enslaved will never try to rebel.

One last bit of advice, don't put a bunch of bumper stickers on your car - the less people know about your internal ideas the better, the safer you are.

These are dark times we live in.

My husband makes really good money because he has learned the fine art of keeping his mouth shut and his eyes and ears open - he is liked by one and all because he doesn't offend people, he is friendly and helpful yet keeps his professional and personal life separated.

reply to post by ProjectBlue


Why does everyone want to sue somebody. Almost every post here says you can sue the crap out of them. I hate when people sue people unless there is a bodily injury that causes you to not be able to work. Was the NRA wrong I'm half and half on that, the way they went about it was completely wrong but there company there rules. Everyone on ATS talks about freedom, then they all post things that show they don't really want freedom they just need to sound important like they know something so they personally feel important. Let's all stand up and take responsibility for ourselves. Struggling can't buy food it's about to be warm start a garden and learn how to can food, clothes are dingy wash them who cares if there old do they still cover your body you don't always have to wear new clothes. I'm ranting cause this topic has just showed me how FAKE most ATSers are they want someone to take care of them rather than taking care of there self.

My husband is a raging atheist... Im sure some of you know the type. He is also a part of the NRA as a member and has some dealing with local organization. Never a problem. NEVER. EVER. To say the "NRA is".. is incorrect. Maybe the call center.. maybe the idiot office person. NOT the NRA, they re very well versed in law and wouldnt make this kind of seriously amateurish mistake concerning law.

Please disregard the groupthinkish SUE EM ALL 'n' get PAID people... and contact the NRA and let them know how their call center is running things if your story is even remotely true.

As an FYI...Im not a part of the NRA.. I really dont need to be in or feel part of a group larger than myself to uphold and support the 2nd.. wouldnt you like to be a fly on the wall in my house?

reply to post by MarioOnTheFly


I spoke with a woman yesterday for 45 minutes on the NRA's "agenda"................the United States Government is hell bent on disarming every single gun owner in America.

Right as we discuss this, Congress, the Senate and Obama are diligently trying to disarm every gun owner in America.

I have a gun, it is legally registered and I take regular lessons from a qualified ex Marine on how to use said gun. I don't want to ever have to use it.

But, I am a older woman and not very big (a little over 5' 2").

We in America have the right to bear arms but that right is slowly, quietly being stripped from us just like many of our other rights.

Now a gun is no match against a army or swat / police team but if someone breaks into your home - it's a good deterrent if you no longer have the option or time for dialing 911 for the police.

I would never harm anyone except in self defense and then I would be very traumatized over that.

reply to post by ofhumandescent


In a modern, 21st century, democratic society I am just appalled that something like your religion would be such a problem..

Is it the USA or Saudi Arabia?

If you posted this under the atheism area of Reddit you would get some serious support...

Of course I would consult a lawyer and/or local ACLU for guidance before saying much more online.

A few comments.

I have some problems with this story. Some of this has been mentioned in other posts, some not.

1. Easter is this week, not last week. So why would they be asking, "what did you do for Easter?", when it hasn't happened yet? (Maybe they asked, "what are you doing for easter?".)

2. As mentioned this is probably not an "NRA call center", but a third party vendor center. My company has both internal customer service centers, manned by actual corporate employees, and external vendors. If it's third party, my guess is you would not come under any requirements to join the NRA or to have a particular religious belief. As a private organization the NRA can do that for it's actual employees (sort of), but not contractors (although I have never heard of it). Even if they did require those contract companies employees who handle the NRA account to "join the NRA", the contract company should move any employees who don't wish to join to a different contract. My company does not require anything like that of our contract vendor employees. Not that they use our products or anything, just that they meet our performance standards. It was mentioned there were several other divisions or sections of the center? Why risk a lawsuit when you could just move the employee?

3. I am currently a corporate trainer and train employees in both our company's internal centers and employees of vendor centers. As such I am REQUIRED to abide by all Civil Liberties Laws and HR regulations, or I could lose my job. I interact with all sorts of people with all sorts of beliefs and have never encountered a problem nor pushed an employee to belief one way or another. In addition it is HIGHLY discouraged by our HR and legal teams to go in to discussions of politics, religion, etc.. I am not saying it doesn't happen, but I am real careful if discussions go that way, even during breaks or just between other employees. To many issues can arise if someone becomes "offended". So at the very least this trainer was HIGHLY UNPROFESSIONAL, if not down right breaking their companies own policies. You probably have grounds to file a lawsuit against the vendor. But not probably not the NRA. In fact, I would contact the NRA and inform them of what is going on. At best they look for another vendor, at worst they blow you off and/or say, "yeah, that's how we roll!". As someone above mentioned, I would be VERY surprised if the NRA, as law savy as they are, and with the image of, "protecting freedom", would require this. Yes they are very conservative.

Finally, and this is just personal experience. I find that when employees say, "I was fired for this" or " I was fired for that", it turns out to be something all together different. Not saying this is the case here, but this story just seems a bit "off" to me.

Originally posted by mikellmikell
Well dump his butt and get a man with a real job unless you like your life, but what do I know. It's not about the NRA it's about working in a call center. Is he working his way through high school. One of you can do better. the best rise to the top. I really don't maen to be rude our company has several hundread people that work in their call center but it's not a career it's extra income when your bored.

Yes I'm a NRA lifer but come on call centers are not carrer paths unless well you have other talents????

edit on 2-4-2012 by mikellmikell because: JUST CRAZY JUST CRAZY

WOW, Just WOW... I can't believe you are trying to turn this back on a guy who is trying to get something somewhere to provide for his family when the real reason you won't even face is the fact that your precious little NRA group, and that call center are actually a bunch of judgmental thugs, who don't have the decency to accept others for who they are. You disgust me as a human being.........

reply to post by ProjectBlue

Later in the day, while they were on break, the old woman asked everyone to say what they did for Easter, and they all when around the room and told their stories. When it came to my husbands turn, he simply said "I didn't really do anything." and the old woman walked up to him, put her face in his face and said "Now, why is that?". My husband replied and said "Well, I am non-religious, and I don't really celebrate religious holidays." The old woman's face turned very red and she stormed out of the room.

I don't understand this part. Easter is this coming Sunday? How could this conversation have happened and if it was last year's holiday, why would they be talking about a holiday that long ago?

I'm lost.

reply to post by stumason


Just read the many replies here on ATS.

While on a technically legal level we do have "freedom of religion" here in America, in the work place, you must not only be good at your job (I had a accuracy rate of 98%) but you must also please your boss and get along with your co-workers so as to not make your manager's job harder.

If on a psychological level, your fellow peers don't like or accept you, you may end up pushed out. Most people are not fired for incompetence, most are fired because they did not understand and please the people with the real power.

I've read about 100 books on office politics, want a list let me know..................I survived in a very cut throat company for 16 years not only because I was smart and good at my job but I kept my mouth shut - I was a purple horse among a bunch of brown ones (Aquarius).

In Japan they have a saying, "The nail that sticks up the highest gets pounded the hardest".

Conform or at least appear to conform and you will survive.

People while they try to be tolerant, do not like people that hold different core beliefs than themselves (for the most part, not everyone).

Religion, sexual preference, political views are what I consider "core beliefs" and very hard, next to impossible to change in most adults.

Again, people like to believe they are tolerant but here in America, maybe because it was founded by the Catholic Spanish and Puritans, is really less tolerant when it comes to thinking differently then the herd.

That is slowly changing but not completely yet.

A couple of my Celtic and Native American friends never gave in to the White man's religion - they kept their spiritual heritage alive buried secretly deep within their hearts.

My main code of ethics is "Harm none, play nice, be kind"..........now if you come at me with the intent to kill me or my family I will have to defend us. - I pray this never happens but I have never in my 59 years gone out of my way to bully, harm or over power another person.

Look at how far America has come since 2001..................we now allow our children to be groped and touched by strangers, even in places we previously told them were off limits.

We allow strangers to scan our bodies like cattle into a data base.

Cameras all over the friggin place, I have even seen some in public bathrooms.

There is no privacy, we are now reduced to cattle.

And TPTB intend to mark, monitor and now make sure we are defenseless.

They are smart, they don't do it all at once, that would send up warning signals even to the dumbest sleeper. They strip our freedoms away little by little, in secrecy.

They (whoever the heck they are) incite fear of a created enemy, by staging events to traumatize us and then use that "crisis" to initiate yet the taking away of yet more of our basic freedoms.

And we keep complying, so we get exactly what we deserve.

Look at the many replies here on ATS, half the people looking to "deny ignorance" aren't even aware of how deeply twisted and connected the rabbit hole goes.

Welcome to Wonderland Alice.

Whats the problem, seems like you are being a little over sensitive to me.
They didnt want him, stop acting the victim.


That sounds very harsh but the reality is this world isnt fair, its not fair for me as a Christian either.
Atheist hate my opinion and beliefs and have said the same thing to me I said to you. I am just parroting what I have been told.

Is the NRA a Christian organisation, do people in the US have a right to choose their employees?
Sorry but as you probably know the country you live in is compromised and people are scared. So they should be.
The amendment about guns is on the agenda.

The general thinking kid that he would be a spy....lots of folks from the Brady/klinton camp send spies to the centers and even deeper to get ammunition to use in the debate....he blew it

Of love to know who the old lady was...she's a jewel..smelled him
Right out on one day

Originally posted by borntowatch
do people in the US have a right to choose their employees?

Yep. They sure do. But the selection process has to be based on bona-fide job requirements. Legally.

Being affiliated with a particular religious persuasion ain't part of legal (bona-fide) job requirements unless you're trying to work at a religious establishment.

Talk to the ACLU. Sounds like that resignation letter was signed under duress. If they did it to him, they probably did it to other people too. May be a class-action lawsuit in the making.

Time.

Originally posted by SrWingCommander
A few comments.

I have some problems with this story. Some of this has been mentioned in other posts, some not.

1. Easter is this week, not last week. So why would they be asking, "what did you do for Easter?", when it hasn't happened yet? (Maybe they asked, "what are you doing for easter?".)

2. As mentioned this is probably not an "NRA call center", but a third party vendor center. My company has both internal customer service centers, manned by actual corporate employees, and external vendors. If it's third party, my guess is you would not come under any requirements to join the NRA or to have a particular religious belief. As a private organization the NRA can do that for it's actual employees (sort of), but not contractors (although I have never heard of it). Even if they did require those contract companies employees who handle the NRA account to "join the NRA", the contract company should move any employees who don't wish to join to a different contract. My company does not require anything like that of our contract vendor employees. Not that they use our products or anything, just that they meet our performance standards. It was mentioned there were several other divisions or sections of the center? Why risk a lawsuit when you could just move the employee?

3. I am currently a corporate trainer and train employees in both our company's internal centers and employees of vendor centers. As such I am REQUIRED to abide by all Civil Liberties Laws and HR regulations, or I could lose my job. I interact with all sorts of people with all sorts of beliefs and have never encountered a problem nor pushed an employee to belief one way or another. In addition it is HIGHLY discouraged by our HR and legal teams to go in to discussions of politics, religion, etc.. I am not saying it doesn't happen, but I am real careful if discussions go that way, even during breaks or just between other employees. To many issues can arise if someone becomes "offended". So at the very least this trainer was HIGHLY UNPROFESSIONAL, if not down right breaking their companies own policies. You probably have grounds to file a lawsuit against the vendor. But not probably not the NRA. In fact, I would contact the NRA and inform them of what is going on. At best they look for another vendor, at worst they blow you off and/or say, "yeah, that's how we roll!". As someone above mentioned, I would be VERY surprise if the NRA, as law savy as they are, and with the image of, "protecting freedom", would require this. Yes they are very conservative.

Finally, and this is just personal experience. I find that when employees say, "I was fired for this" or " I was fired for that", it turns out to be something all together different. Not saying this is the case here, but this story just seems a bit "off" to me.

edit on 3-4-2012 by SrWingCommander because: grammer

I agree with SWC, and I will call blatent Buzz$hit.

I am an Atheist, I have been a big outspoken atheist since I was hired by s school district to oversee their 50 facilities. I regularly start debates with my 10 co-workers, who all are devoted LDS, and all were missionaries. Their ages range from 30-65. Upper management knows about my stance on my beliefs and know I will not waver.

With the way laws are set up, if your husband actually went through this scenario and signed a resignation document then your husband is most likely one of the stupidest people on the face of the Earth, for not knowing his rights. Or he is just a plain coward and should not be allowed to produce any offspring because he is too lazy to learn/know the laws.

Yeah that may be harsh, but I am harsh here because I think this is just some made up Liberal story to try and garnish any type of criticism of conservative beliefs in the 2nd Amendment.

Liberalism is a disease.

Come on Easter last week? Dam I feel like I am stuck in the Twilight Zone with how everything is upside down.
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength

reply to post by ProjectBlue


Atheism is just silly. Haven't you heard of intelligent design? God layed the foundation for which consciousness could evolve. There have been three major epochs of evolution that are all reflected in our biology today ( plant, mineral, animal)

Originally posted by Bullypulpit
The general thinking kid that he would be a spy....lots of folks from the Brady/klinton camp send spies to the centers and even deeper to get ammunition to use in the debate....he blew it

That's possible as well. But I am still not sure I buy that if it's a third party center. The NRA could terminate the contract and say, "hey that't wasn't us, it was this contractor saying this or that".

But yes I could see the Brady camp doing that.