By Paul Dion, STL
Most of the adults who read ParishWorld.net have jobs. Most of you pehaps have jobs in companies or enterprises that are generally quite moral. We all have heard of the immoral activities of certain companies and we tell ourselves how happy we are to be working for a "good" company.
Every now and then, though, along our career path we find ourselves working in a company where it rapidly becomes clear that lying, cheating and stealing are the rule of the day. Without painting a detailed picture of what can be immoral, let us just ennumerate a few behaviors that could be practiced in any given enterprise.
One of the most common immoral behaviors is the underpaying of employees, such as cheating on overtime laws, withholding bonuses and other abuses visited upon the lowest tier of employees. Another common practice is to have a middle manager sign contracts or agreements in place of the senior management when the executives have no intention of abiding by the agreement.
The burning question for the week is, Should a person leave this work environment for a more moral one? If leaving would seem to be the worst possible alternative, does the moral person (good Catholic) have an obligation to bring the immoral practices to the attention of upper management?
Would you have the courage of the Syro-Phoenician woman related in the Gospel story of the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)? Click here to read this Gospel passage.
Since there is no black and white answer to this question, give us your answers and we will respond with our opinion. I promise that I will not tell you what I did in circumstances like those described above. I'll leave that up to my wife!!!
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I have done that and I would do it again. Working in an amoral environment is not worth the money it pays.
ReplyDeleteI think Leo XIII spoke about this in Immortale Dei... I would say yes... as a public witness for the faith.
ReplyDelete-Laurence
i have done that many times in my life, leaving my work for moral reasons, if it is against my conscience i won't hesitate to leave, i believe that there are still may opportunities that we can earn honest paying job. at least at the end of the day we can say that we are trying to be a good christian although it a struggle on part.
ReplyDeleteI used to work for an online gambling website. I managed the computer systems for this huge company! I found myself unhappy for a long time and wanted to leave but was scared. Then I crashed my motorcycle and nearly died. It was at that time I found faith and understanding. I am now back in school to get a masters in Psychology to become a therapist and I couldn't be happier. When your not happy and carrying guilt in life... You must take a stand, and make changes to live a better life. I'm lucky to have finally found the Light that I wondered from for so long. ~Be Blessed!
ReplyDelete~Shane T Stanfield
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