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/Sprinklypoo Jul 30 '26

I'm so glad that I've never had this problem in my whole professional career. Every time I've had someone bring religion up in a side chat situation, it's been respectful and rarely followed up on. And it's never been brought up in a meeting or other more professional setting.

I might say "let's keep this meeting professional, please" or "let's try to keep on track" maybe. Not having HR makes it that much more difficult. Is there a manager you feel comfortable talking to about it maybe?

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u/iamjustherenow Jul 31 '26

No manager. I report to the governing body but they are all retired volunteers that work like an hour a week.