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Diskeeper Accused of Scientology Indoctrination
touretzky writes "Two ex-employees have sued Diskeeper Corporation in Los Angeles Superior Court after being fired, alleging that the company makes Scientology training a mandatory condition of employment (complaint, PDF). Diskeeper founder and CEO Craig Jensen is a high-level, publicly avowed Scientologist who has given millions to his Church. Diskeeper's surprising response to the lawsuit (PDF) appears to be that religious instruction in a place of employment is protected by the First Amendment." The blogger at RealityBasedCommunity.net believes that the legal mechanism that Diskeeper is using to advance this argument ("motion to strike") is inappropriate and will be disallowed, but that the company will eventually be permitted to present its novel legal theory.
Nothing wrong with religious discrimination. Do you really want to waste time interviewing obvious idiots (or at least people who don't care to investigate the claims of their religion)? Do you really want to consider hiring people who believe it is okay to lie, cheat, and steal?
Obviously, this is a very backward case, but not because it's religious discrimination.
Luke-Jr
When referring to Scientology as a "church", please put quotes around the word "church".... because, well... it's not.
Is there a difference between the COS and American megachurches and the like? As far as I can tell, they're both in it for the money, they both pray on the hopes and fears of disadvantaged people, and they both play up superstitious nonsense.
I was with you right up until you mentioned throwing something at your former boss. You might think you were canned because you didn't subscribe to his religion, but I don't buy it. You were probably canned for being a bitch.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
made it my personal crusade to steer every customer away from my earlier employer
Hmm... Not just a bitch, but a vindictive bitch. Thanks for posting that, hopefully it will come up if any prospective employer in your future googles for your name.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Or, you could see that there are a lot of problems with racism in hiring and in the workplace and you think that it is not a good idea. Try to be on the receiving end of bigotry for once, and you might have some idea of what I am talking about. It's not that one believes that one group is superior and that the others therefore need protection. It is that one sees one group of people not even considering people from another group simply because they are from that other group. You see this a good bit, for example, in academia, particularly in the sciences and in engineering. There are plenty of white professors who only have white people working for them, or Chinese professors who only have other Chinese (not even any other East Asian, but only Chinese) working for them. You see this in the South (Southeast U.S., that is) where so many companies at best grudgingly hire non-WASPs (just enough to keep the EEOC off their backs), but still treat them like shit.
In short, go fuck yourself. You have no clue what you are talking about.
Similar to the upcoming US election results
As much as I dislike scientology, if Diskkeeper is a private company, they can hire whomever they want using whatever methods they want. Your freedom to associate and do business with whom you wish is one of the most fundamental rights not listed in the Bill of Rights. If I own my own company and want to hire only people who can recite the Jabberwocky from memory, or are missing one finger, or are/aren't black/white/Chinese/family members, I can. If you are operating independently, the law cannot force you to conduct business with someone whom you don't wish to conduct business. Things like the Equal Opportunity Employer requirements only apply if the company is accepting government contracts, or if they're voluntarily following EEOC guidelines.
Too bad Scientology is not bound by the Third Geneva Convention with respect to its prisoners of war, um... "followers".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Geneva_Convention
Pretending this is my office full of bitter coworkers..
fear of women in the workplace and general misogyny
Project much?
It would be misogynistic to accept this "Tisha" person's gender as an excuse for her childishness.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Personally, I consider the money not mine after I purchase something in exchange for it. I don't really care what the new owner of the money does with it. It's theirs.
That being said, I find it disturbing that people are willing to use religious beliefs as qualifiers for commerce. The Zionist have done that and look how far it got them, the holocaust and the current middle east problems can be blames on using religious beliefs as a means to qualify commerce opportunities.
I believe it is a matter of freedom. The owners of the company have the freedom to run the company however they want. If they want to employ only secular people, that is their freedom. If they only want to employ Christians or Scientology or people with blond hair, it is their freedom to do so. We don't have a right to take these freedoms away from people. Or we shouldn't. I think it is ridiculous to think that anyone should hold that kind of grude over the freedoms we all share.