Corporate America — despite the billions of dollars its leadership pours into diversity efforts — is among the most intolerant and illiberal institutions in the nation toward those with Christian beliefs and conservative political leanings.
The events of the past two years have provided woke corporations ample opportunities to silence and purge those guilty of wrongthink. Through mandatory vaccines and compulsory racial equity struggle sessions, executives are signaling to conservative Christians that their viewpoints are not welcome.
In a series of interviews with The Daily Wire, three such individuals detailed life as a “sheep in wolves’ clothing” in corporate America.
‘A Second-Class Human’
One information technology professional who recently left asset management behemoth Vanguard told The Daily Wire that the company’s culture has “changed dramatically” over the past few years.
“Whereas the previous culture had fairly normal workplace boundaries of avoiding politics and religion in the office, the new leadership became outspoken about social issues and began to increase pressure on management to encourage conversations with their crew about politics, race, and social events,” he explained. During the protests that arose after the death of George Floyd, managers were “encouraged to hold meetings with their teams to talk through the issues openly” — although “in almost all cases the conversations and invited speakers were aligned directly to the political left.”
Meanwhile, vaccine mandates provided Vanguard with the opportunity to treat anyone pursuing a religious or medical exemption as “a second-class human.”
“At one point, the company began to make subtle changes to specific employee benefits that bound the benefit to the person’s vaccination status,” the employee claimed. “Once complaints were raised, these requirements were quietly removed. Unvaccinated employees were at one point also told they were not allowed to see other employees of the company in person even if they were not on company property.”
According to the employee, disdain toward conservatism and Christianity “began and is still fueled by management, but as a result it has trickled down over the years.” Through executives’ endorsement of diversity events — including a family-friendly drag show and a training for white male managers — Vanguard managers are pressured into compliance.
“Employees in favor of these things feel empowered to speak loudly about their beliefs now, while conservatives and Christians within the company feel they can’t speak out without repercussions,” he continued. “There are internal ‘specialty groups’ for almost every racial minority, veterans, and the LGBT community.”
The employee does not believe that change will occur unless Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley — who sat in the front row during the white male diversity training — is replaced. “There have been so many internal campaigns to ‘bring your whole self to work,’ but over the past few years it’s become clear what that really means — embrace the culture.”
‘The Odd Man Out’
A staff consultant at professional services firm Ernst & Young explained to The Daily Wire that any play at diversity is merely restricted to “surface-level” factors.
“When it comes to cultural issues, only mainstream beliefs are allowed. And by mainstream, I mean left-of-center,” he recounted. “There are all kinds of leftist talking points everywhere you look — it’s laced into the fabric of our culture.”
Among other examples, the employee referenced announcements made on “Trans Visibility Day,” an internal anti-racism website to which staffers are repeatedly pointed, and multiple events for “Pride Month” each June, as well as new benefits for abortion tourism and “gender affirmation” care.
“If you hold a conservative or biblical view on anything, you are the odd man out, and you will constantly have opposing views thrust upon you,” the employee said. “And if you were to voice that opinion, you would be opening yourself up to criticism and possibly worse.”
During an internship at a separate company in the summer before his senior year of college, the employee had faced pressure from management after he liked posts on LinkedIn critical of Black Lives Matter.
“I ended up in a very awkward one-on-one call with one of the top executives from the company,” the employee said. “He lectured me on how certain viewpoints can make other people uncomfortable, but he never told me to unlike the posts or not to engage with cultural issues at all. Indeed, many other people at that company posted about cultural issues — the difference is that they were left-of-center. I never got a return offer from the internship. I’m not sure if my worldview was the reason why, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all.”
The employee said that derision toward conservatism stems from Ernst & Young management — “especially the executives.” Although it is “possible to find individual employees that are more conservative,” doing so can be “difficult, because no one broadcasts their beliefs if they’re anything but left-of-center.”
‘Heavily Influenced By Marxist Thought’
An account manager at IBM software subsidiary Red Hat told The Daily Wire that the company culture has degraded over the past five years.
“You tend to not discuss religion or politics openly at work unless it’s with people you know you can really trust,” he commented. “The changes within the company that negatively affected the culture have to do with management saying yes to any subgroup of people who fit the modern definition of a marginalized group.”
The employee had previously helped with events for a group within Red Hat that seeks to foster community among black employees, yet decided to stop in order to avoid conflict after he realized the group’s “core beliefs” differed from his own. A lesbian coworker likewise ended her involvement with Red Hat Pride because she is “not a radical leftist” and therefore no longer aligned with their mission.
“It seems like most, if not all, are heavily influenced by Marxist thought,” the employee said of his colleagues. Because many fulfilling technical roles are self-described atheists and agnostics, much of the scorn toward opposing viewpoints originates from employees rather than managers.
The employee only sees a future in which his industry supports ideological diversity if “enough people are brave enough to stand up and say something about it.”