Good afternoon all !
Earlier in this blog we have mentioned the cultural differences between countries and how we deal with them.
However, even if we could beat and overcome some behavioral distinctions, religion could be a stand-alone category.
Practicing our religion as expats is an interactive situation. It depends on our beliefs and our "devotion level" and of course it depends on our new homeland's official religion and its tolerance of letting other individuals to freely express and practice their religion or conviction.
There are countries, supporting the right of secularism, giving the chance to every individual to practice their religion without any kind of discrimination. In some other countries, with really strict religion rules, expats and in general citizens with other beliefs do not have the right to practice their faith openly. Furthermore, items and articles belonging to other religions are prohibited.
Moreover, those governments do not let clergy of other religions into the countries for conducting religious services (that means no Christian baptisms, weddings, etc by official clergy). Celebrations such as Christmas, Diwali and Onam are marketed by some retail outlets offering specials and selling decoration and foods for these occasions.
In order to handle this delicate situation, as we know, communities do gather in private homes for worship.
Again, the solution is one : To be prepared and make our research. Since we are the "newcomers", since religion rights and equality are not a precondition to all nations, we should take those issues into consideration or we could find ourselves in serious trouble. If we consider that expressing our religion rights weighs too much to our decision, we have always the option very simply and honestly to reject a job. Otherwise, we should respect our new homeland's rules. If a country is a tolerant one, that's great ! If not, we should try to get in contact with the local expat community in order to see in which way we could practice our religion in a discrete and respectful way.
