Discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs should be legal in the workplace

In many countries it is illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of their religious beliefs. (1, 2, 3) First of all, I should like to make it clear that discrimination in the workplace on the basis of ethnicity or sex should be outlawed because an individual has no power to choose whether to be born black or white or male or female. However, people do have the freedom to choose their religion, or, indeed, to follow no religion at all. To illustrate my point, imagine you are walking through an airport terminal when you are approached by a pack of Christian evangelists who tell you that if you don't repent of your sins and let Jesus into your heart and give them your credit card details you are going to go to Hell in a handcart. Then, while you are still digesting these words, a bunch of Hasidic Jews come up to you and tell you that the Christians are talking out of their arses and it's the Children of Israel who are God's chosen people and that unless you convert to Judaism and join their synagogue (basic membership fee $3,000 per annum, payable cash in advance, please note a strict "no pay no pray" policy is maintained) you will be condemned to suffer in the fiery pits of the underworld for ever and a day. Now, at that moment, a group of radical Islamic clerics wade into the argument and tell you that only pious Muslims who give 2.5% of their annual income in alms and warriors who die fighting in the cause of Allah will be ushered into Paradise and all non-believers will be punished eternally. Okay, so you duly evaluate the various arguments and decide to sign up with the Jews. So, having agreed to abide by the 'ten commitments' (4) and having handed over a substantial wedge of cash and having made an appointment to get your, er...self, snipped by a knife-wielding Rabbi, you say farewell and make your way towards the departures lounge. "Oy vey!" cries one of the Hasidic recruitment officers, "Remember the Sabbath day, that you may sanctify it. (Exodus 20:8)" "You what, mate?" you reply. "You can't fly today because today is Saturday which is the Shabbat, the Jewish sabbath". (5) the Rabbi says. "Yes, I see", you say, "but I've got a vital business meeting in Tokyo first thing on Monday morning and because of the length of the flight and the time difference, if I leave tomorrow I won't arrive in time and my company will forfeit a multi-million dollar deal as a result". "Well, that can't be helped, I'm afraid" the Rabbi continues, "You'll have to call your boss and tell him you can't go because you've converted to Judaism and the Torah commands you to observe the Shabbat". So you call your boss at home and explain that you have found religion and that the holy scriptures command you to stay at home and do sod all on Saturdays and that he can stick his deal up his Gary Glitter as far as you are concerned and that there's nothing he can do about it because it is a matter of religious observance and that it's illegal to discipline employees for complying with their spiritual obligations. As a result, you get to go home and spend the weekend relaxing with your friends while your boss calls one of your non-religious colleagues and explains to him that he will have to abandon his terminally-ill wife's hospital bedside, leave his kids with his brother (who happens to live in a crack house with a convicted paedophile, an escaped mental patient and a recovering pyromaniac) and get on the next flight to Japan in order to cover for you. But would this arrangement be fair to your employer or your co-worker? I don't think so but this sort of thing happens all the time. (6) Clearly, in a secular society, laws that protect the right of employees to practice their religion should not be allowed to interfere with the commercial interests of their employers and legislation that punishes companies for discriminating against people of faith should, therefore, be repealed. Thank you. (1)http://www.adviceguide.org.uk... (2) http://ec.europa.eu... (3) http://www.eeoc.gov... (4) http://www.convertingtojudaism.com... (5) http://www.jpost.com... (6) http://www.bsos.umd.edu...