(December 8, 2009 at 5:20 pm)Rhizomorph13 Wrote: rjh4,
You are correct; independent contractors are not protected by title VII of the civil rights act and I could find nothing that points to the protection of independent contractors under state law, there are precedents relating to racial discrimination but not religious discrimination. This furthers the case for Dotard to lie to people if they ask the question. So I have a couple questions:
1. Should people have the right to ask about the religion of people who do work for them?
2. Should people avoid using non-christian labor?
Rhizo
Don't get me wrong. I understand Dotard's position. I further want to note that I think it is entirely possible for a person to lie about being an atheist and still give honest estimates for work (it is just inconsistent....although I personally would rather have a person be inconsistent this way than for a person to tell the truth about their position regarding God and then lie to me about the work needed).
Anyway...regarding the questions.
1. I guess my answer to this one would depend on the context. If one asks out of personal interest and for personal discussion and the person being asked wants to respond, I don't see a problem with that. On the other hand, if there is any motive at all for then discriminating depending on the answer, I think that is problematic.
2. I see no need to actively avoid non-Christian labor or actively seek Christian labor. As for me personally, I am fairly handy around the house so I don't call many people in for things. But I have in the past. I generally try to get those who will do a good job at a decent price. I have never asked about their religion, except maybe once because the person had a fish sign on the truck.
I actually had a guy come in an pour a patio and build a couple of sets of stairs from the patio to the house. I had a couple of minor issues with the work, one of which was an extremely flexible piece of wood he used on one of the steps. You felt like you were bouncing when you stepped on it. He told me to mark the pieces I thought were a problem and he would replace them. I did only to find that on the worst piece, he merely turned it over and nailed it back in. Later, I was visiting different churches in the area as I was searching for a new church. Who do I see one morning, this same guy. He was a deacon at the church (I did not know this when I hired him). While the church may have been just fine, the fact that this guy was there put me off from ever going back.
