I was fired for blowing the whistle on cult's status in Google unit, says contractor A former Google video producer has sued the internet giant alleging he was unfairly fired for blowing the whistle on a religious sect that had all but taken over his business unit. The lawsuit demands a jury trial and financial restitution for "religious discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation and related causes of …
Its more than that. The whole cult is very much of a certain mindset. Californian/silicon valley. From the link to the NY post in the article:
"preaching that one should immerse oneself in the finer things in life, abolish negative thinking"
Very contemporary American self-help ish.
"Athletic activity, humor, eyeglasses, mixed-breed pets and using the word “I” were all verboten. Women, deemed spiritually inferior, allegedly were forbidden from getting pregnant. "
A bunch of stuff male nerds are scared of!
From their own website: https://livingpresence.com/the-tradition-of-schools/
Going on about esoteric ideas, secrets, and how everyone else is is corrupt is a red flag. It is part of how cults cut people off from outside influence.
"The school was founded upon the basic Fourth Way principle that the work takes place in the normal circumstances of life and does not require special conditions, such as joining a monastery or ashram. Making this work a “way of life” means learning to bring the practice of being present to every waking moment, not just to special occasions, "
Implying no one else has come up with this idea. Most religions and quite a few non-religious ways of living have come up with this idea.
"There is a fee to join the Fellowship, paid on a month-to-month basis. "
The only other "religion" I know of that requires fees is Scientology. Some communities (some evangelical Christians, some Muslim communities. probably others) require income related donations . In some cases it is a sign of an exploitative cult, in others there is transparency and accountability (e.g. people actually know the money goes to the poor or whatever it is supposed to).
I sympathize with Google. I have no doubt that Advanced Systems Group (ASG) was responsible for religious discrimination (clearly) and wrongful termination (I assume they were the ones that terminated him). But all Google can do is look into it and take action against ASG. I assume Google was added to the lawsuit on the deep pockets principal.
Oh sure, Google who watches everyone has no responsibility for what goes on under its roof. So if a religious sect is taking over its departments that's just fine and not their concern. LOL! Someone tried this at Motorola when I was there, HR told them to cut it out or leave. They were contractors too. HR was in charge of how people behaved in their office.
Google has more than 100.000 employees across 10s of countries. "Taking over" would be a bit of an overstatement for 20 people.
And what does this mean? Grouping people together because of their religion of the basis of all religious discrimination. Even if 20 of them were hired, that doesn't say anything about a cult.
Google, like other tech companies, has a hiring process where the interviews are done by people that aren't in the exact same team (or location). That method is used precisely for such reasons: to avoid people giving a hiring body to their friends.
This sounds more like an individual that actually tried to create a culture of discrimination and hostility against his colleagues based on their religion.
And no, I'm not one of them. I don't even know what they preach.
"My personal religious beliefs are a deeply held private matter," Lubbers told the Times. "In all my years in tech, they have never played a role in hiring. I have always performed my role by bringing in the right talent for the situation — bringing in the right vendors for the jobs."
So was one of the qualifications, "Must be a member of my cult?" No problem with networking at your church when you're looking for a job, but a hiring manager should not limit his search to his church, nor should he try and run off anyone who doesn't go to his church.
that has a constitution that deliberately separates Religion and State, the two seem awfully mixed up.
The various cults (inc MAGA) are doing their best to eliminate this separation and that anyone who is not a fundamentalist white Christian will be persona-non-grata after 2024.
It is sad to see what was once a very forward-thinking country becoming more and more like that described in 'A Handmaid's Tale'.
There will be more cults exposed and no one will do anything about it. The corruption in the SCOTUS is pretty clear isn't it Ginny Thomas?
The USA that we once knew will soon be a distant memory.
Important to note that this cult is the "Fellowship of Friends" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellowship_of_Friends) and bears no relation to the "Society of Friends" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quakers) who are a Christian organisation with honesty, equality and non-violence as part of their core beliefs. The Quakers were awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1947: https://www.afsc.org/story/accepting-1947-nobel-peace-prize-behalf-all-quakers :
"In 1947, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and British Friends Service Council accepted one of the most prestigious awards in the world—the Nobel Peace Prize—on behalf of Quakers worldwide. The prize recognized 300 years of Quaker efforts to heal rifts and oppose war. In particular, it named the work done by the two recipient Quaker organizations during and after the two world wars to feed starving children and help Europe rebuild itself."
I visited Friends House in London once and was hoping to actually hold the Nobel Prize, but it was in an enormous safe and the tour guide had forgotten the key :o(
https://www.friendshouse.co.uk
As a member of the Religious Society of Friends, I must point out that our organization has nothing-at-all to do with the fanatics calling themselves "The Fellowship of Friends."
Enough said. No comparative diatribe required.
https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/religious-society-of-friends-quakers/
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