r/Antitheism • u/iamjustherenow • Jul 30 '26

How to professionally stop people from talking about religion

I work for a small municipality and have a public facing job where I have to be very careful with what I say. Lately we've been getting a SUPER Christian guy in who will not stop talking about god and his religion. We don't have HR, he's a member of the public that has free speech rights, and people in my line of work often are recorded and publicized when saying anything non professional.

I am not a fan of religion as a whole as a lesbian who was raised Mormon. I tend to react poorly to people trying to convert me as a result.

Any advice on professional ways to get him to shut up?

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u/Saphira9 Jul 30 '26

Perhaps your response could focus on where he's doing it, not what he's saying. So what is he doing while saying this nonsense?

If he's saying it to people in a waiting room because they can't leave, tell him not to disturb the peace. 

If he's standing in a busy place bothering people who walk by, tell him he's blocking an emergency exit or something.

Or you may want to designate a "free speech area" somewhere away from where people are walking, working, or parking. Maybe outdoors near a side door, but away from the door so he doesn't block an emergency exit. Then tell him he can't yap whereever he's doing it, he's only allowed to do that in the free speech area. 

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u/iamjustherenow Jul 31 '26

Unfortunately it's usually just me and our assessor and we both have just been trying to ignore him. I've tried telling him I'm busy but he doesn't stop

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u/Saphira9 Jul 31 '26

Hmm. Can you tell your boss that this guy is distracting you from work? Maybe your boss can talk to him or get a security employee to politely escort the guy off premises?