Religious activities on a resume?

[brushman]

When I was in high school and attending church I was a "childrens church teacher/leader" for a little class of elementary aged kids.

Since then I've grown skeptical of my religious beliefs, but I still have it on my resume as I can use it to demonstrate leadership and communication skills.

Right now I'm applying for undergrad research opportunities at my university. Do you think it's too "dangerous" to put this on my resume? I'm afraid I'll be discredited because of its religious nature. The problem is, I don't really have any other activities to replace it with if I removed it.

What do you guys recommend?

 

[viscousflow]

Sure, I would do it. I'm not a religious person but I would still put it if I did it. Especially since it demonstrates leadership and that you're a sociable person. From what I've learned, you should never leave anything out of your resume that shows the committee that you're a great person and you're the one for the job.

Good luck.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Dangerous? No. Relevant? Probably no as well.

 

[G01]

Do you think it's too "dangerous" to put this on my resume? I'm afraid I'll be discredited because of its religious nature. The problem is, I don't really have any other activities to replace it with if I removed it.

It's illegal to discriminate against job candidates based on religious belief, whether it be a current belief or a past one. So, it shouldn't be dangerous to leave it on there.

I'd leave it on the resume. It's not relevant to research, as Vanadium50 says, but, as you say, it may give some insight into your communication abilities, etc.

 

[graycolor]

If it was for a professional job I wouldn't. Non-professional why not. Your case I don't think it's a good idea.

 

[denks]

Why not leave the religion out and put it as a "youth leader" or some such? Get the positives without the negatives.

 

[eri]

Leave it off. It's not really relevant, and while it might be illegal to discriminate based on religion, it happens all the time. When you've got 100 candidates for an REU position, any little thing can get your application ignored. I remember a letter of recommendation a few years back that said something like 'this student isn't afraid of making frequent demonstrations of their religious beliefs under a variety of circumstances'. You can bet we didn't bother making them an offer.

 

[Mororvia]

I remember a letter of recommendation a few years back that said something like 'this student isn't afraid of making frequent demonstrations of their religious beliefs under a variety of circumstances'. You can bet we didn't bother making them an offer.

Why not? Sounds pretty discriminatory to me if that was what really made your decision for you. Also, I'm not sure why a recommendation letter would even mention such a thing anyway unless they writer found it annoying and felt like sabotaging chances.

I would put any leadership experience on your resume. But, like a previous poster mentioned, maybe just mention that it was a 'youth leader' or something. If it gets brought up in an interview it would be easier to talk about and you can elaborate if you'd like.

 

[Antiphon]

Eri has it right. In this day and age the secularists have won the day. Hide the fact that you are religiously active. You *will* be discriminated against.

 

[PhanthomJay]

Eri has it right. In this day and age the secularists have won the day. Hide the fact that you are religiously active. You *will* be discriminated against.

But the OP is not religiously active, and if he/she was, so what, nothing wrong with being religiously active (unless you handed out leaflets every day to your co-workers). The resume should include the reference to a 'children's church leader'. Including the word 'church'.

 

[atyy]

But if you've grown skeptical, then how would you defend such activities in the past? I'm not saying either's bad, but how can a skeptic be "proud of" his belief, as putting it on a resume would seem to indicate?

Anyway, even MIT has http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2005/comm-invocation.html". So putting religious activities on a resume is unlikely to be dangerous in the US.

 

[PhanthomJay]

But if you've grown skeptical, then how would you defend such activities in the past? I'm not saying either's bad, but how can a skeptic be "proud of" his belief, as putting it on a resume would seem to indicate?

Anyway, even MIT has http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2005/comm-invocation.html". So putting religious activities on a resume is unlikely to be dangerous in the US.

It is of no importance that one's belief or non belief has changed over the years. What is important is that at that time of his belief, the OP gave of himself in sharing his knowledge to help children. I'd welcome that act of giving anyday, religious or otherwise.

 

[denks]

It is of no importance that one's belief or non belief has changed over the years. What is important is that at that time of his belief, the OP gave of himself in sharing his knowledge to help children. I'd welcome that act of giving anyday, religious or otherwise.

I agree. I don't know about academia but in the past when I was involved in the hiring process I always looked favourably on people who did things in their spare time, especially community volounteer work. Having said that, if the line in the CV / application went something like "I was a childrens' church leader and I look forward to taking every opportunity to spread my faith to others" then I might take a slightly different view.

 

[PhanthomJay]

But if you've grown skeptical, then how would you defend such activities in the past? I'm not saying either's bad, but how can a skeptic be "proud of" his belief, as putting it on a resume would seem to indicate?

The skeptic is not proud of his belief, he is proud of his volunteer service to children

I don't know about academia but in the past when I was involved in the hiring process I always looked favourably on people who did things in their spare time, especially community volounteer work. Having said that, if the line in the CV / application went something like "I was a childrens' church leader and I look forward to taking every opportunity to spread my faith to others" then I might take a slightly different view.

Yes, I agree.

 

[mathwonk]

the religious part is irrelevant, and if viewed as a desire to proselytize would be a negative as just mentioned, but the teaching and volunteer part is a plus.

By the way there has never been any bias in my experience against anyone for their religious beliefs in any place where I have worked, but openly advocating for a particular set of religious beliefs there is a strict no no.

I have spent over 35 years working compatibly in an office with Hindus, conservative Protestants, Jews, atheists, Mormons, Catholics, Muslims,...but they do not talk religion at work.

I.e. workplaces are opposed to people spending their time talking about religion, but they can believe anything they want, if they spend their work time working.

 

[eri]

Why not? Sounds pretty discriminatory to me if that was what really made your decision for you. Also, I'm not sure why a recommendation letter would even mention such a thing anyway unless they writer found it annoying and felt like sabotaging chances.

Exactly - no one would have mentioned that in a letter if they didn't find it very annoying. We figured it was meant as a negative review of that particular student. Not to mention the co-adviser and I are both non-religious and tend to get into long discussions about that with people, so if that student was prone to constantly talking about their religion, we wouldn't get much science done. Science and religion simply don't mix. Leave your religion out of it. There are plenty of religious scientists out there, and I even know a few creationists in grad school trying to get a real science degree. But if they want to do well, they won't bring religion into their science.

As for discrimination, it's not like it was down to two candidates. We had a pile of 100 students to go through, and that's the case for most internships and jobs. Don't put anything polarizing in your applications. You could never prove that's why you didn't get the job, but there's a good chance it didn't help you somewhere along the way.