Workers for the U.S. federal government are
now allowed to try to
convince co-workers to join their religion and to evangelize about how their own personal religions are "correct." This is a horrendous assault on every person's right to be left in peace while at work, as well as an assault on every person's right to have their own individual spiritual (or non-spiritual) beliefs be respected.
Sign the petition to demand the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) revoke this new policy!This new policy is part of a new Trump administration memo from
July 2025 that was largely overlooked in the context of all Trump's other attacks on American democracy. The memo is supposed to ensure that federal offices are "welcoming to Americans of all faiths." But that's exactly the opposite of what's going to happen.
Instead, a policy like this will lead many people to feel significantly less welcome - including if their faith is in the minority or otherwise significantly differs from their coworkers. And what about ensuring that people of no faith are welcome? Or do they not count?
If this memo were about "welcoming" people's religions, it wouldn't specifically state that coworkers can try to convert each other. But that's exactly what the memo says. It states that employees may initiate religious conversations with coworkers, "including
attempting to persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views, provided that such efforts are not harassing in nature."
The memo goes on to say that "an employee may
engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the non-adherent should re-think his religious beliefs. However, if the nonadherent requests such attempts to stop, the employee should honor the request."
Even worse, Trump made it clear that his memo was
intended to help promote certain specific religions. It's part of his larger push to target a so-called "anti-Christian bias." Earlier this year, he even formed a task force to address this supposed bias, and created a Religious Liberty Commission. The July memo specifically highlights allowing federal workers to display
bibles, crosses, crucifixes, and mezuzahs in their office spaces.
How is this anything other than inherently harassing? How is this anything other than un-welcoming and disrespectful? Being pressured to join your coworker at their church, to pray with them, or to "re-think" your own spiritual (or non-spiritual) beliefs is actually hurting individual liberty - not promoting it.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must rescind this disrespectful and un-American policy immediately. The First Amendment establishes the separation of Church and State for a reason - and we must honor the Constitution. Sign the petition!