I'm not religious but in my experience being honest and helping others does help our careers, in addition to making us feel good about ourselves.

I'd add that good parenting can be a good substitute for religion in teaching people to be nice, respectful of others, and generous with our time and money to help the less fortunate ones.

"think about, instead, how interesting it is that the teachings of religion seem to be exactly what we need to face our most common and most difficult career issues?"

Sure is – I've always thought of religion as a tool for dealing with the largest, most complex issues in life that, without a handy tool, would be too much for our little human brains to process.

The navigation of life and the universe isn't about knowledge, it's about building models that help us conceive and interact with the environment around us and with each other. Does physics represent knowledge? Nope. Just models. What about art? More models. Ethics? More still. The answers to the questions that these fields address are ultimately unknowable, but building these models allow us to at least function in the world without becoming completely overwhelmed by it to the point where we simply stop being able to interact with it or with each other. Religion is another example of one of these models, one that creates a framework for understanding our history as well as life's big, unknowable questions.

(I'll ignore the question of whether the historical models presented by religions are literally "true", since that question is a matter of faith and that thread has the potential to get nasty)

So yes, it makes all kinds of sense that the religious framework would be applicable to the process of navigating work – that's essentially what religion was built for. Whether you personally choose to employ this model to understand your particular work situation is another question entirely – but I'm not surprised that someone would find it productive to view work through a religious lens. Interesting observation.

Beautiful post, Penelope. Made the recovering Catholic/Agnostic me want to become a Jew who is really successful at work.

I think the best way religion intersects with work (and all of life, really) is when it pushes you to ask questions about what you want out of life and what you can do to bring about the kind of world you want to be in – good deeds, caring about others, making the world a better place for people, seeking truth and justice. Be the kind of person for others that you wish others would be for you. "I believe x, so I am going to do y."

I think it intersects badly when it becomes not about you but about rules for how other people should live. "I believe x, so you have to behave in a certain way so I can live in the world that I want to live in." Then I have a hard time respecting it, in the workplace or in public life in general.

I am the office Mormon. While sometimes I'm uncool because I don't drink or whatever, many people know that I am unwavering in my principles of honesty, ethics, and what not. I think that helps.

Reading the title of this post, I didn't really think I was going to like or agree with much of it. It was a bit better than I was expecting, however. Religion is, of course, a touchy subject. I've enjoyed your Christmas rants in the past, but didn't think this one was as good.

Your main point seems to be:
"[I]f you read this blog regularly, you know that I think the purpose of work is to get you what you want out of your whole life, not just the work part." Religion can provide a sense of purpose. I also thought your point about good rhythms was spot on.

You can't really get around the point that you don't need religion to have the values you describe just by saying religion works for you. I don't think you're trying to say you need to "get religion" to be successful at work, but it could certainly be construed that way. It's not for everyone.

I couldn't agree more with the point that a lot of people try to tell you that you can do anything when, in fact, you can't. But the problems people face with choices and consequences can be found as easily on the evening news as in religious texts. Doing good deeds isn't the exclusive domain of the religious either.

It's more important to have a coherent, philosophy world view. Because religion can be filled with contradictions.

Lovely post Penelope.

For those of us who are religious, faith and its surrounding principles apply to every part of our life, including work life.

The Bible has all sorts of passages about work and toil, and how we are meant to work and glorify God through our work. Sometimes it helps me to pull out a WWJD (only in my own head!) when I'm in a frustrating work situation.

the evidence is thin that religious people are more optimistic. if you took that same survey of high-schoolers in Afghanistan, it would necessarily exclude all the girls who aren't allowed to go to school. You'd never know if the religious beliefs that forbade them to go to school correlated with their optimism levels: or not.

On the other hand, both optimism and religious belief are comforting delusions. It's not surprising to find them together.

On choices, I like Isaiah Berlin's formulation: "We are doomed to choose, and every choice may entail irreparable loss."
We're pessimists, what can I say ;-)

Au contraire @Gay B, I think the post flowed, in fact I related alot to what she said given my own religious background and how it influences my experiences in the workplace about how I ought to treat others.

No longer religious, I still really have a hard time thinking only of "self" when I make decisions about work. Growing up in church, I was explicitly taught to always think of how my actions affect others, and this, among other things, has stuck.

I thought this was one of your most compelling and well-written posts. I grew up without religion and honestly haven't given it much thought as an adult. But you just put together for me how certain things I struggle with, like establishing a work rhythm as a writer, might be connected to that lack.

I disagreed on one point; not everyone has the same amount of "luck," do they? I mean, certainly someone born healthy and middle-class, with a supportive family, is luckier than many.

Great topic, post logic is bit loose and fast. The foundation of your logic seems to be "All of adult life is about facing terrible choices." And religion is there to help us accept this certainty? And it's tied to work where you should "do good things" to get ahead?

I would posit that only those who are pessimists take this view and that religion, irrespective of how you feel about it, should be balanced in your life and not simply "tied to career success".

I would say that 95% of us work for money, especially Gen Y-ers who realize that living in your parent's basement isn't a boon to the social scene.

So yes, you should try to do 'good things' in life and work, irrespective of your religious beliefs but to believe that is a solid strategy for 'getting ahead' isn't based on the standard corporate-norm in this society. If you go into your bosses office and say "I didn't hit any of my goals this quarter, but I did a whole lot of GOOD things" they will kindly tell you that they didn't hire you to 'do good things' they hired you to fill your functional role.

So an interesting topic, but as career advice, not so good (unless you want to be very liked, but out of work)

Will, I didn't get to read this immediately because I was at shul observing Yom Kippur. While I agree that living in your parents' basement isn't socially cool, I found that my life improved substantially when I left the for-profit world and began working in the non-profit industry. You get to make a living (well…. sort of) but you get to do good, it does allow you to get what you want out of your whole life rather than just the work life.

I'm not suggesting that everyone enter the non-profit field. But even when I had a for-profit production company, I managed to go three times a week to work in the kitchen at a homeless shelter. And I do mean "work," as in mopping floors, scrubbing the stove, etc. It didn't pay anything, of course, but it made my life a little better. By the way, as a practicing Jew I worked in a shelter run by the Methodist Church. No one saw this as odd. Not them and certainly not me. I did it because it seemed like the right thing to do. And I totally considered it part of my "work." I didn't do it when it was convenient; it was simply understood around the office that Kay doesn't schedule any meetings after 4:00 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

It was part of my work. It was part of my religion. It was part of my job on this earth. I'm not trying to get all sanctimonious here. I’m certainly no Mother Theresa (my husband jokes that I’m a Jew just because I like to wear hats), but I do find that the
rhythm of religion does help with the discipline needed in work.

Yom Kippur was about forgiveness. Asking for it and giving it. It's about taking responsibility for your own actions, acknowledging your mistakes and honestly trying to do better in the future. Doesn't mattter if you're religious or not. We could all use a little more of that around the workplace.

I'd just to love to get religious in-clubbyness out of the workplace. I've been excluded from the in-club twice already for this, once for not being Catholic and then for not being Jewish. Worst of all, of course, is being female – you can't convert out of that one without costly surgery. Nothing like having a boss stagger over to you, drunk, at a company fuction and slur "we're having a debate on the role of women in the Catholic Church and the Da Vinci Code…whaddda you think?" Um, I think who cares?

Not one to question your Religious beliefs as I don't care that much about your life, BUT, I have never met a truly Religious, traditional Jew that wasn't deathly against abortion or who didn't pray for victims of abortion???

At any rate, Family is the center of happiness in life and life is the center of the family. I would never put my career above my family as the work is a means to an end to take care of my family and not vice versa. So many successful men put their work ahead of their families and I wonder how these men can be happy. Our Divsion President is a "good guy" but he's constantly crabby and worrying about everything even though he's a multi millionaire. I assure you I will be retired the second I have enough money to do so.

Now my catholic neighbors from Michigan are having a baptism for their son, who's a newborn and about the same age as my four month old daughter, and my wife and I will attend this reception as we knew how important this event was for us and would like to share in their joy as well, and I view it as a privilege we were invited. Quite the juxtaposition with the pro abortion, baby killing posts done earlier last week, our baby was the CENTER of attention at our Catholic church this last week as babies and being paretns are both celebrated in our church as the center of life. The priest asked questions about her, how old was she? Congratulations, etc, and the rest of the parisioners made faces or admired her.

I can't imagine life without my wife and child, and hopefully more babies on the way, not choices, no one in their right mind would ever choose to die by an ice pick, she's a real baby and has just recently grown out of her fourth trimester, or first three months outside of the womb.

Thanks,

In a "nothing to do with the actual post" comment–what's up with your RSS feed doing that annoying "Here's the first sentence of the post…oh, and you have to click to read more" thing? I love reading your blog and will continue to do so, but one of the things I love is that I can read it in my RSS feed reader (which makes it look more "boring" and thus more like "work" if someone walks by. If it's for ad reasons or whatnot, I understand, but let us know what the deal is. Those of us with RSS readers like them for their ease of use and having to click to go to the actual individual blog negates that.

Works fine in my RSS reader. It sounds like your RSS reader is only displaying the description field instead of the content field.

Thank you for the thoughtful post. I work two part-time jobs, one of which is for a religious organization. (I am not a member of that religion, but my work is fairly secular and technical in nature on that job.) I have noticed how well people are cared for and treated by this organization, and I think it makes a difference in day-to-day experience. On the flip side, I have also see poor organizational and management skills, along with "personalities" that would not be tolerated in a for-profit business.

I have found for myself that non-religious meditation and yoga practice has done wonders for me to lower my stress levels and increase my acceptance of others, without making me a "doormat" at work. I can see how respecting the sabbath or holy days can give people time to reflect in their lives without having their brains on auto-pilot for business work. For the non-religious, I could see how a "meditation" day or "reflection" day or even half-day per week could serve the same useful purpose.

Dee Bee

A lot of your post made sense to me. I grew up Catholic and I agree, a huge part of religion is participating in the rituals, creating a practice, and living that. I see the connection to work-life and family-life. It conditions you to do good, make hard choices, ect. Is it an absolute must? Not at all. But for whatever reason its helpful for these purposes for A LOT of people for THOUSANDS of years.

What I cannot figure out, is why, if it is SOOOOOO important that you have to write about it every year – that you literally can't take one day off from work with you kids to partake in something you find spiritually meaningful.

Seriously, one day. It makes no sense.

I know you know that the people who are talking, week after week, day after day, about the importance of doing good deeds are the religious people.

I am sorry if someone already said this but the key word here is TALKING about doing good deeds.

Yes religious people do a lot of Talking.

But KIND people actually DO the good deeds and often don't talk much about doing them.

For the record, I was raised religious- and I am a much Kinder person now that I don't think I am better than everyone because I know more bible verses than they do.

Growing up made me Kind.
Religion only made me holier than thou.

+ 1 to that.

It seems that religion has been hijacked (again).

I've never been particularly religious, and I grew up in a home that was Jewish and Catholic, so we learned about both religions and celebrated the holidays and passages of both. At that time, in America, Church and state were mostly separated (or so it seemed to me). America was proud to be a melting-pot of different nationalities, cultures and religions all co-existing because of a common belief in human rights, dignity, democracy and the constitution. It wasn't good or bad to be religious, it was just a choice.

Now religion has been co-opted by political forces and any cause looking to make their stand in win-lose or us-against-them terms. The profound meaning of religion – the do unto others as you'd have them do unto you spirit – has been lost.

Thanks for doing your part to remind us what it's really supposed to be about.

What hit me was the comment about luck being equal across all people. Certainly, this is a controversial statement for some (particularly the pessimists). I like to think about it not as luck, but that you are constantly presented with opportunities and setbacks. Its very much like weather patterns. Some years severe draught. Some years way too much rain. Then it will be blue skys and perfect for nearly 3 weeks in a row. Add them all up, and over a long period of time, everyone experienced the same thing (just at different times).

Luck then, is simply a state of mind. Want to tip the odds in your favor? Start thinking about significant negative things as being lucky breaks. The first 4 great opportunities in my career came directly from something negative happening. I am to the point now, where if something negative happens, i immediately think…"Hey, what great thing will come from this?" Perceptually, I guess i am much luckier than most.

Hey,
Lapsed Irish Catholic checking in…

So there's this guy in my office that just survived a massive heart attack. Sales rep, late 40s. A solid performer, family man, and an all-around decent guy. Not somebody I'd hang out with, but I have nothing bad to say about him…

Well now that he's "seen the light in the tunnel", he's gone OVERBOARD with the religion. Every day at noon, on comes the streaming audio with some fundamentalist preacher telling us all about the Lake of Fire and whatnot. (We have cubicles, so everyone in our area gets to enjoy the broadcast…) Nobody says anything, because we all know exactly where this is coming from, and I'm sure we all dread the sermon we'll get for being "the Satan Worshiper" that complains about "God's Holy message".

I wonder how quickly HR would be at my office if I found a similar broadcast of someone reading the Torah or Koran or Bhagavad Gita??

Q: Is there an appropriate way to put an end to this, without looking like a complete ass? Or is just tolerating it, "the right thing to do"?

-P-

Paul, you ask how to put an end to the problem of loud religious broadcasts in the workplace. Simple. You go to the person and say (kindly, gently, and without rancor of any kind), "I appreciate your desire to learn to be a better person by listening to this broadcast, but it is distracting me from my work. Would you please lower the volume so that it cannot be heard outside your cubicle?"

If the person gets nasty or if the problem continues, take it to HR. Your company is not paying this guy to listen to radio broadcasts or to proselytize the others in the workspace. While there would be no issue if it's not distracting him or others from their paid work (just as they wouldn't object to your playing jazz in your cube), if the broadcasts are distracting, then they have to go (just as your music would have to go if others were distracted).

Make it an issue of "this is keeping me from my work" and NOT "I don't like the content of the broadcasts." HR couldn't care less what your likes or dislikes are (Muzak, anyone?), but if it's affecting job performance and efficiency, then HR has a mandate to address the problem. It's also less confrontational to say "I can't work with the loud talking" than "Your holy-roller preacher stuff is annoying."

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Penelope – your post and actually your blog is a form of journaling, which can help us stay centered in life.

Sadly religion is a bad word, because people of all religions have messed up what religion was supposed to be . . . a relationship of heart, soul, mind and body with God. We've lost that aspect. As a Jew turned Christian turned pastor, there are no questions off limits, since most of life is about discovering who we really are and if we're willing to live an extraordinary life as the person God created me to be.

A great passage to follow comes from Proverbs 4:23, "Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." All of life flows through your heart, so guard it, filter out the bad, and let the good in as you seek to discover and find who God is calling you to be.

Good post!

Thanks for making me look up "telos." And for not mentioning your ladyparts for a change.

Also, I join others who prefer "spirituality" over "religion" (echoing the lists of nastinesses perpetrated by organized religions over the years.)

How's that novel coming?

Disappointed to not see more Christian comments and the post from Mike and then his cheering section and everyone else. I believe that faith can help a career and know it helps life. Also agree that many people do nuture some of the attributes you attached to religious people even though they are nonbelievers. Also agree that organized Christianity at many times has failed in its purpose and deviated from the truth and thus alienated people it meant to attract. But in the end those who think everything is nothing and it all just happened break my heart. We are created beings living on a miraculously well placed planet that was created by God but I am uncertain that my knowing this helps my career but do know that because I know this, my career is not the most important thing in my life.

The qualities you speak of, I think, transcend mere religion. They are part of the human experience that pre-dates any of the formal religions, who in large part, borrowed from these early teachings to form their own canons. So, while there are lots of people who will say that "part of being a Jew", or "part of being a Christian", or whatever, is following some set of precepts as a way of life, they are actually following a set of "life rules" that were set down before the formal religions came along and borrowed them as their own. So, while I agree that the things you speak of in the workplace are all virtuous, I don't believe that they are as tied to religion as they are tied to the human experience.

I wouldn't worry too much about being "a good Jew" as much as I'd be worried about just living a good life. Otherwise, you're tying yourself to not only the Jewish belief system, but also the politics that arise from that. And that's true of any formal religion, I think.

I am a Christian who did a lot of seeking and searching in my teens and 20s. I studied with a rabbi when considering conversion to Judaism. I studied with a priest when considering conversion to Catholicism. I've studied with various pastors while seeking a denomination that was a "fit" for me and my beliefs.

The problem that I have observed in ALL religions I have studied is that SOME people take things too far and become rabid proselytizing zealots who fail to respect individual choices. When that happens, atrocities and outrages are the result.

Jesus did not operate that way. When the rich young ruler came up and asked Jesus how to get to Heaven, Jesus told him. And then watched sadly as the young man walked away. Jesus didn't tell His followers to cram His teachings down others' throats. He DID tell them to go and teach and baptise, but He did not tell them to force their beliefs on others. In fact, He said that if they were rejected, to simply leave, shaking the dust off their feet as they went.

Jesus reacted harshly against dishonesty and cruelty, but to sinners who were open to the truth, He was gentle and compassionate, even when pointing out gross misconduct. It was the "holier-than-thou" people who condemned others for their failures (while glossing over their own issues) that raised His anger and incited Him to harsh words.

My goal, as a Christian, is to live a life of rectitude and humility, serving others as I am led, and presenting them with the example of a godly life. If they ask, I will tell them how and why I do what I do. But I'm not going to bang them over the head with the Bible and condemn them to Hell if they don't do as I do.

Unfortunately, too many Christians have lost sight of what their light is supposed to be. But then, so have many Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. Human failings corrupt the greatest spiritual teachings, reducing them to mere systems for personal aggrandizement. That doesn't mean the teachings are wrong or worthless; it means that human nature is difficult to tame.

"Sure, you need to earn a paycheck, but, people don't get promoted for doing their job. People get promoted for doing good deeds, which cynics call office politics."

Disagree: No, people get promoted for maximizing the businesses capital either by sales or cost savings. People also get promoted for the appearance of good deeds in maximizing sales or cost savings (ei the boss who take credit for his underlings' work and ideas).

Business worships capital (cash, dollar, euros) and seeks to maximize capital- no matter what the social costs – as long as the capital gaining actions are considered legal by a government. Business sometimes uses capital gaining actions even if the actions are not legal by the government but the business is able to marshall greater legal powers to cost society more capital to fight its actions than for the government to require the business to just pay a fine in capital and move on. If the fine cost to the business is much less than the profits gained, it is often considered successful.

Business and religion are not compatible concepts. Business legal does not equal business ethical all the times. Business ethical does not equal socially/religious moral all the times. Socially/religious moral does not equal business legal all of the times.

"Religion teaches us to take responsibility for being good, and honest, and rectifying things we have done wrong."

Business teaches responsibility for not being good unless it maximizes capital (i.e.: Walmart's encouragement of donations and volunteering from associates barely making living wages), to be dishonest (maximize the capital acquired from others via any method), and to hide things done wrong since this can reduce capital via lawsuits, fines, penalties: admissions of mistakes or wrongdoing can reduce/limit a person's ability to get promoted by showing that person is not maximizing capital for the business.

Penelope shalom,

Interesting post. Instead of feeling crappy and kvetching about sending your kids to school on Yom Kippur, why not do something positive? Keeping your kids home without an alternative does not make for a holy day, just an excuse to watch more television.

Hebrew school was a crappy experience for you? I have news for you. It was crappy for most of us. That does not mean you have to throw out the baby with the bath water. There are places that would fit your lifestyle and outlook. Even Madison has a Jewish community with all denomenations represented. Why not connect and network? Pick the level of observance and commmitment that fits you and where you will make a positive contribution. Also, why deprive your kids of their heritage?

Go for it!

I’ve had difficulty explaining why I read and re-read Joseph Campbell and why he's significant; I think I'll be referring to this post in the future. For those that don’t know his work, he was not a guru; he was an academic that spent his life systematically and scientifically (and joyfully) making sense of this as a Professor of Comparative Mythology. I can't do him justice, try out The Power of Myth and see how it grabs you. His work is definitely where the non-religious can find some orientation. It places this as a fundamentally human issue and where religion comes from. The modern falling away of religion has become the equivalent of throwing the baby out with the bath water. The workplace is not the only place where we may find we are the only one doing good deeds and helping people, but that would not invalidate Penelope’s point. Apparently an individual, group, or company is dysfunctional when its relationship to whatever this is that we’re talking about – is “out of accord.” You can allow yourself to leave that place for another job, not just because you will be unhappy staying, but because of the damage a place like that will do to itself and your career aspirations. Without whatever this is that we’re talking about, the danger is in starting to believe that dysfunctional is normal and acceptable and inescapable and throwing out the important stuff with the religious wrapper.

the most narrow-minded people i know are also the most religious people i know. they are so sure that gays are damned, and some seem to think democrats are, too.

my late parents were among the few true christians i have known in terms of caring and generosity and treating people right. they exposed me to vast quantities of church time. it didn't "take" — at 16 i became an atheist/agnostic (i don't bother quibbling over the precise meaning. i simply don't believe in a higher power that cares about individuals.)

according to many people i've met, this makes me a terrible person who is doomed to hell. yet, except for not going to church and believing in god, i behave very much as my parents did: one was against abortion; the other believed in choice. they both did things to help other people; so do i. they didn't lie, cheat or steal; neither do i. and (other than sending us to church as kids) they didn't force their viewpoints on others; nor do i.

my point is that i don't have to accept a religion's commandments to be a decent human being who treats others as i'd like to be treated — the basis of at least 14 of the world's major faiths, though some state it negatively.

the only way in which i found religion useful in the workplace was that it may have helped me to "suffer fools gladly" — or at least not curse them out and get fired.

Hi Penelope,

As usual a thought-provoking post; thank you.

I don't think the kind of behaviour you are talking about begins and ends with religion. I am an atheist — or at least a pretty hardcore agnostic — and I try to practice all of the above, out of a sense of wishing to be a good person and bring good stuff to the world. Partly this is because my parents encouraged me, by example, to be good and kind (they were not religious either), and partly it is because I practice a martial art with a very good, very conscientious instructor — who, as far as I know, is not religious either, but who instills in his teaching a sort of nontheistic humanism, and encourages his students to practice and absorb all of the values and behaviours you are talking about. I think it would be a mistake to refer to these values as 'religion', but I agree with you that we know them when we see them and that people who honour them are usually well-liked. (I don't think that always translates into promotion in the workplace; a lot of people I know are generous to the point of selflessness, and it buys them nothing but goodwill — but goodwill alone doesn't get them promoted.)

I guess my point is that it's possible to be a conscientious force for good without needing to subscribe to a religion, and to remind you not to be snobbish about people who aren't religious and assume that they don't have a guiding moral framework — because quite often, they do :)

Like Penelope I'm Jewish. That said, if you read a lot of the goal setting and motivational books, they are basically summarizing parts of the New Testament and stripping out the Jesus and biblical references.

Religion can be a guide in your everyday personal matters, but often the message is lost by those who use it as a platform for political views on war, abortion, or gays. It's too bad because it's a good foundation for anyone, regardless of political philosophy.

I've noticed many semi-religious Christians will refer to the Bible in dealing with their everyday personal matters, but have rarely heard a non-Orthodox Jew look up what's written in Leviticus when deciding what to do about a work situation. Hebrew school is painful and boring because most American kids can't relate to it. Judaism is a far less practical religion than Christianity.

I cannot agree with your contention that "the people who are talking, week after week, day after day, about the importance of doing good deeds are the religious people." In a recent ABC News story , a recent study by psychology researcher Felix Warneken shows the capacity for altruism emerges as early as 18 months of age.

Toddlers' endearing desire to help out actually signals fairly sophisticated brain development, and is a trait of interest to anthropologists trying to tease out the evolutionary roots of altruism and cooperation.

Psychology researcher Felix Warneken performed a series of ordinary tasks in front of toddlers, such as hanging towels with clothespins or stacking books. Sometimes he "struggled" with the tasks; sometimes he deliberately messed up.

Over and over, whether Warneken dropped clothespins or knocked over his books, each of 24 toddlers offered help within seconds but only if he appeared to need it. Video shows how one overall-clad baby glanced between Warneken's face and the dropped clothespin before quickly crawling over, grabbing the object, pushing up to his feet and eagerly handing back the pin.

Warneken never asked for the help and didn't even say "thank you," so as not to taint the research by training youngsters to expect praise if they helped. After all, altruism means helping with no expectation of anything in return.

And this is key the toddlers didn't bother to offer help when he deliberately pulled a book off the stack or threw a pin to the floor.

To be altruistic, babies must have the cognitive ability to understand other people's goals plus possess what Warneken calls "pro-social motivation," a desire to be part of their community.

"When those two things come together they obviously do so at 18 months of age and maybe earlier they are able to help," Warneken explained.

I don't believe that at 18 months of age one is quite able to discern the tenets of any religious doctrine.

One might argue that this behavior is actually learned from one's parents or it may be an evolutionary trait as displayed by animals in related studies.

Other animals are skilled at cooperating, too, but most often do so for a goal, such as banding together to chase down food or protect against predators. But primate specialists offer numerous examples of apes, in particular, displaying more humanlike helpfulness, such as the gorilla who rescued a 3-year-old boy who fell into her zoo enclosure.

But observations don't explain what motivated the animals. So Warneken put a few of our closest relatives through a similar helpfulness study.

Would 3- and 4-year-old chimpanzees find and hand over objects that a familiar human "lost"? The chimps frequently did help out if all that was required was reaching for a dropped object but not nearly as readily as the toddlers had helped, and not if the aid was more complicated, such as if it required reaching inside a box.

It's a creative study that shows chimps may display humanlike helpfulness when they can grasp the person's goal, University of California, Los Angeles, anthropologist Joan Silk wrote in an accompanying review. Just don't assume they help for the reasons of empathy that motivated the babies, she cautioned.

So the old argument of nature versus nurture emerges. To answer your question, “What’s most important to you in life?” And where do you learn to find answers to these extremely difficult questions?

Perhaps religion, or perhaps science (which is a religion for some), or perhaps we are born with the answers and we need a little form of self-discovery to find these answers. Does anyone need a religion to do this? I don't think so, but thanks for using the age-old topic of religion as a controversial topic to spark a lively debate.

If you're a Muslim in a Christian workplace, how can you satisfy your religious obligation of daily prayers?

If you're a Jew invited to the company's "pig and pork roast" picnic, should you not attend or go and not eat?

Federal law mandates that employers accommodate employee religious practices at a de minimus level — at the least cost to the employer. "The employer's only duty is to provide a reasonable accommodation without undue hardship," says Charles Craver, professor of employment law at George Washington University in Washington, DC. "Courts are very nervous about government establishing or favoring religion."

Employers are skittish, too. Employees who seek religious accommodations at work should be aware that "most companies panic about religion," says Cynthia Graves Wigglesworth, president of Conscious Pursuits, a Bellaire, Texas-based consultant on work and spirituality. "They're so scared of appearing to endorse religion, they don't even talk about it.

modernman

Your first post I read of yours that I entirely disagree with. Religion gives nothing and I'm sorry to see you unintentionally (I guess) put down and leave out the non-religious, which is the fastest growing religious group in the US. Religion doesn't teach anything, it usurps what was already in the human contract and claims it for itself. Like walking into a wedding, picking up a gift off the gift table, and saying, "Here, this ones from me." It's a cobbled together fantasy of fears, desires, stories and superstitions and I feel no need to base any part of my life on it, most importantly my work life. I guess this religious holiday of yours is just another exscuse to explain how special religious people are and how the rest of us can go suck rotten eggs…

Rob, "religion is" this-and-that is like saying "women are" followed by your stereotype of Woman And How She Is. May I venture to guess that you haven't checked out many (or any) actual religious communities as an adult? These raging generalities and defensiveness undermine your defense of the humanist perspective.

I belong to one religious community (a Unitarian Universalist congregation), and also a spiritual community of Zen Buddhist practitioners. I have not found other communities in secular society that address the big questions about the meaning of life, how to conduct oneself ethically, and how to help the world through effective group action.

You don't have to lobotomize yourself to join a religious community, and joining with others helps combat the narcissism and materialism that seem to constitute the de facto "religious" values of our consumerist society.

Hi Ellen,
Thanks for commenting, but I disagree. (I ws trying to comment on the idea that religion makes you better at doing your job, and raised your ire by accident, but here we go since you asked…)

The fact that you can't find ways to make human interactions or organize outside of a religious framework, just means you haven't been looking hard enough.

I've looked into all kinds of religions as an adult. Guess what, every one of them is dead right, and everyone who doesn't follow them is dead wrong. I don't believe in Zues or Apollo, do you? Of course not, along with all the other thousands of gods you ignore- and I just have one less god than you do.

The idea that religions answer the big questions in life is ridiculous in the extreme. Science answers questions, admits when it gets those answers wrong and adjusts accordingly. Religion is dogma, that cannot grow. It is shit that is made up by people just like you with no evidence what-so-ever. If it had evidence your religion would be accepted by science, (and it would change everything we know about the world we live in) as it is religion is just left chasing the tail of science as it makes real effort to explain away religious superstition and make the gaps where your god is hiding smaller and smaller. At least L Ron Hubard had the guts to make up his own religion. I respect that more than just followng other poeple's bullshit. Thinking is hard. And don't tell me your truth is more truthy because it was written 2000 years ago in your special word of god book, or that it's an ancient chinese secret, becasue neither of those consituet evidence based thinking.

You don't need to lobotomize yourself to join a religion, just stop thinking and replace it with faith. Materialism is a fact of life since this life is all we have and the bodies we live in until we die. Those are material things. And if you are going to talk about life after death in any form, please provide proof and show your work. Don't quote other people's made up nonsense.

I don't expect any of this would change your mind since religion and spiritiual thinking innoculates you from ever having to examine the evidence or admit that you have been duped. Which is what irritates me about religion, by the way. Along with the idea that you are not allowed to critisize it or examine it's failings. If you have an odd historical theory, it can be discussed and debated. If you have a new scientific theory, it can be studied or corroborated by independent testing. If you've made up a new sky god and a list of rules that he demands that humanity follow for their finite earthy existence or accept eternal consequences, well everyone will just have to keep quite about that and humor the shit out of you or their just being general and defensive about your baseless, factless, evidence poor, deeply felt conjecture. How rude of us all to question….

Thank you, Penelope. Great post!!!