I work for a major auto company as an electrician. A year and a half ago my employer announced that a one-day mandatory “diversity” class would be scheduled for all employees – no exceptions.  Any refusal would result in disciplinary action or possible termination. The facility I worked at had approximately five hundred employees. Many of my coworkers were outraged at what they considered an invasion of their privacy. Most had convictions that were biblically based; others just wanted to be left alone to think and believe as they pleased. The “training,” we were told, was company wide.

Our supervisors would notify us a week in advance as to the day we were scheduled to show up. It would take a period of approximately one month before all nearly five hundred employees completed their full day of “diversity” training. Many in the first wave of employees were angry after receiving the sacrament of “diversity”. Some ridiculed the training as perverted and weird. The most passionate objections came from those who took exception to that portion of the “training” that taught acceptance for what they considered an immoral lifestyle, a homosexual lifestyle.

I knew this was a violation of our rights as a free people and so decided that I would not attend. As luck would have it, I was not scheduled to go until the third week. I immediately notified my supervisor that I was not going to attend. My supervisor gave me a warning telling me to go on my scheduled date. I responded by repeating my decision and told him I would be presenting him and our Human Resources Department with a letter stating my position for refusing to attend. What follows is the letter I presented:

Dear Tina,

I must inform you that I will not be able to attend the Ford Motor Co. diversity training program. Since the sexual orientation material contained in the program condones behavior in an active homosexual lifestyle, it will not be possible for me to attend.

My objection to the indoctrination that the material presents is based on the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Catechism, sec. 2 chapter. 2 Art. 6 No. 2357 (140) on page 566 states, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”(141) “They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.” (Emphasis mine)

Ford’s diversity training, in its current form, would be for me an indoctrination to a view that neither I nor the teaching authority of the Catholic Church agrees with.  In addition, to force me to attend would be a violation of my free exercise of the rights in the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution. One cannot be forced to participate in training programs which assault his protected religious beliefs. I’m sure your experience in this field enables you to understand the diverse moral perspectives in today’s world.

I respect all people but I do not agree with or approve of all behavior. You have my permission to show this letter to your superiors in order to justify the attendance records you are responsible for. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

William Price

Soon thereafter my personnel department notified me of a hearing they had scheduled for my refusal to attend their mandatory training. Many in my facility were waiting to see what my punishment would be for non-compliance. But when I appeared for the hearing I was told that no disciplinary action would be given, but the personnel manager stated that he intended to write me up for refusing a job assignment.

I replied that I never have turned down a job assignment and if any penalty was imputed for such an erroneous offense I would make a claim for damages in a civil complaint against the company. I was then told not to discuss this with anyone else. My answer was, I have a guaranteed first amendment right to free speech and will discuss it with anyone I choose.

The personnel manager then asked me to leave, but, before I made it to the door, he announced, “Your union bargained for that “diversity” program”. I told him it didn’t change anything for me and I was not surprised to hear that about “my union”. I also told him that the company hierarchy must have liked the idea, since they were being scheduled for “diversity” training, too.

I wanted to share this with my fellow Catholics. We do not have to tolerate the unholy sacrament of diversity. As far as I know, I am the only employee in my facility or any other that confronted Ford Motor Company’s Diversity Program on the authority of the Catholic Church. Interestingly enough Ford, even after my letter had been sent to their world headquarters, decided not to even attempt to challenge the teaching authority of the Catholic Church. I was not harassed any further.