The Trump administration will allow federal workers to promote their religious beliefs to colleagues, display religious items at work and pray together or individually, according to a memorandum issued Monday by the Office of Personnel Management. The guidance, from OPM Director Scott Kupor, declares that federal agencies “should allow personal religious expression by Federal employees to the greatest extent possible unless such expression would impose an undue hardship on business operations.”
This means that a federal worker, according to the memorandum, “may engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the non-adherent should re-think his religious beliefs,” but “if the nonadherent requests such attempts to stop, the employee should honor the request.” The memorandum lays out the caveat: “provided that such efforts are not harassing in nature.”Federal workers will also be able to invite each other to religious services or pray in groups at the office when not on duty. Other examples of permitted religious activities listed by OPM state that a park ranger leading a tour through a national park is allowed to pray with a tour group or a doctor working at a Veterans Affairs hospital may pray over a patient. Workers may also display religious items on their desks.
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