Category Archives: Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion

Cultural Encounters of a Growing Kind — Christopher Bear Beam

One of the richest adventures I’ve had in my adult life was the cultural encounters working as a resident chaplain in an urban setting.  I worked for two years for a major hospital system in Houston, Texas.  This hospital system had a mission statement of serving its diverse community and offering appropriate pastoral care.  What I came to understand from this work experience was the incredible ethnic diversity as well as the religious diversity represented by patients in the hospital.  I learned this as I made my rounds through the ER, ICU, Ambulatory Care, and other surgical units.

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Be Grateful for Religious Diversity — by Michelle Findlay

The night atmosphere is alive with colour and sound. Vibrant costumes adorn humble people as they dance to ward of evil spirits. Bright fires cast a warm glow; the balmy warmth of incense caresses the air. Our spirits soar. This is a traditional Buddhist festival in Nepal. Contrast this with another scenario I experienced:  Before we alight the bus in Beijing we are told not to ask questions. We are told not to mention anything political. We giggle and laugh, every one of us thinks it’s a joke. But our guide tells us again firmly, he is 100% serious. We could get arrested and thrown in prison and that is no laughing matter.

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Simple Diversity and Inclusion Actions – by Simma Lieberman

Here are three no-cost, very simple diversity management practices you can begin today. You may think that these are so obvious, you don’t need to be told, but I want you to be aware of whether or not you practice these with people who are very different than you, or who you don’t know. It’s easy to greet the same people every day, however, I’m suggesting you move out of your comfort zone. You’ll rapidly notice your comfort zone expanding as well as employee participation and creativity.

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Male and Female in God’s Name – by Micki Peluso

Religion has long institutionalized the subservience of women. Today’s woman fights for tangible equity as a way of claiming equality, but will never fully succeed until the root of the problem, religion, either alters its interpretation, or is no longer considered a reputable source of societal authority. Because religion structures the family, hence society, the elimination of sexism must proceed concurrently with the eradication of archaic attitudes within the churches, and servile innuendoes within the home.

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Failing and Abusing Children – by Micki Peluso

The problem lies mostly with the boys, but girls, too, are aggressive, prone to bad language and general destructive behavior. Bullying smaller children, fighting among themselves and surliness toward adults is common to both sexes.Yet to all appearances, these children seem normal. Some are deceptively lovable, polite and well-mannered. They smile easily and give the appearance of friendly, gregarious young children of ages from eight to twelve-years-old. Whatever their outward aspect, they are also emotionally distraught, street savvy, proficient liars, thieves and con artists.

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Bullyproof your Workplace – by Terry Howard

We’re all fed up with the reported incidents of bullying that have been dominating the headlines lately. And we have every right to be.  I just hope that we’ve reserved a portion of our dismay for the workplace bullies who may lurk in our midst wreaking havoc on folks in the next cubicle, lab or conference room, or yelling, screaming and cussing on the other end of the phone, or from another culture. And well we should because bullying is anathema to who we say we are from the duality of respectful and ethical behavior.

Still not convinced?

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Inclusion: Controversial, Emotional, but Not Optional — by Deborah Levine

Inclusion is not new

Six years ago, I described how Inclusion-related policies and legal regulations have long been part of economic and social change, and, at times, part of emotional and combustible debate.  Inclusion took 50 years of wrangling after the first Women’s Suffrage conference in the mid-1800s to achieve a constitutional amendment granting women the vote.  It took another 50 years for the Civil Rights Movement to seriously impact the workplace and establishment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  Now, with COVID-19 and serious calls for racial justice, we are seeing another major societal and economic transformation that questions how we can achieve an inclusive diversity.

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