In case you did not notice, last Monday (25 October) was the Bible Society’s ‘Take Your Bible to Work Day’, when Christians were asked to take a Bible to their place of employment as a statement of personal faith.
The day was conceived by the Society following a number of high-profile cases in which Christians found themselves in trouble for encouraging people to think about faith in God or for offering to pray with people in the workplace.
Ann Holt, the Society’s Director of Programmes, was quoted as saying: ‘while we recognise the plural nature of our culture, we are inviting people to take their Bible to work because we believe it is their right to do so in a free society. We believe the Bible’s message provides a framework for living the whole of life, and is not simply a resource for personal piety or a support for those who like religion.’
In connection with the day, the Society commissioned Christian Research and ICM to undertake an online survey among a representative sample of adult Britons. Fieldwork dates and sample size have not yet been reported by the Society.
According to the poll, while most Christians said they would feel fine in having their Bible at work, 43% would feel uncomfortable about actually getting it out to read during breaks and at lunchtimes, and almost a third were worried what work colleagues might think.
In fact, the survey found that only 14% of all workers expressed concern about Christian colleagues reading their Bible at work. Even 75% of atheists questioned said they would not consider it to be a problem. As many as half the workers claimed they would be happy to talk about the Bible with Christian workmates.
This post has been extracted from the limited information contained in the Society’s press release, available at:
http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/news/89/284/Take-Your-Bible-to-Work-Day/
