How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Soul: A Survival Guide for Diversity Training

This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 46, number 1/2  (2023).

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You’ve been at your job for almost a year. You enjoy your work. You’re planting roots. Soon you’ll qualify for a pay raise and new benefits. Things are looking up. Except, at today’s business meeting, the boss announced a mandatory diversity training¹ for all employees. He made it sound harmless, perfunctory, just a hoop to jump through. No one asked questions. Everyone just nodded. Since you’re new, you held your questions. You don’t want to cause a stir. Still, something smells fishy. Maybe you’ve heard stories about DEI, SEL, CRT, or Unconscious Bias training.² Maybe you’ve been through this before, and you know what’s coming. But whatever is bothering you, there’s a decision to make. What will you do about this diversity training?

You’ve got options. But before picking one, you should know what you’re up against.

Background Check

On the surface, “diversity training” seems like a great idea. Everyone agrees that racism, sexism, and bullying are bad. But everyone has their biases, too. So, with a little coaching maybe we can get along better, become more productive, solve problems, and have a healthier workplace. Not to mention, we might avoid a harassment suit or messy discrimination case down the road. Diversity training can be incorporated into “leadership training,” “career advancement,” or “onboarding programs.” But the big takeaway is that the workplace (school or church) needs to get ready for more diversity and the challenging opportunities that it presents.

Advocates like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claim diversity training is a “business imperative,” so companies can provide “opportunities for everyone” to “help lift communities and strengthen the health, prosperity, and competitiveness of

our nation and our society.”³ In the past these programs were called “sensitivity training,” reflecting a growing awareness of sexism and harassment in the workplace. But today they’re more often about racial and LGBTQ diversity, with a progressive political spin. Some of the more gracious critics say diversity training just doesn’t work. Anthropologists Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev explain:

[D]iversity training is likely the most expensive, and least effective, diversity program around. But [corporate, church, and school representatives] persist, worried about the optics of getting rid of training, concerned about litigation, unwilling to take more difficult but consequential steps or [they’re] simply in the thrall of glossy training materials and their purveyors. That colleges and universities in the United States persist in offering training to faculty and students, and even mandate it (29% of all schools require faculty to undergo training), is particularly surprising given that the research on the poor performance of training comes out of academia.⁴

Harsher critics argue that the multi-billion-dollar diversity training industry is a trojan-virus, packaged in slick appealing buzzwords, yet filled with corruption, extortion, and radicalism.⁵

Probably Worse Than You Thought

If this article were a diplomatic venture, then one might suspend critique, say “experts disagree,” and move on. But that attitude wouldn’t faithfully capture the urgency of this issue. Increasingly, diversity training has shown itself to be a deeply corrupt and disingenuous industry smuggling neo-Marxism into the corporate world under the guise of team building and etiquette training.⁶ There is no long-term, well vetted evidence showing that diversity training achieves greater diversity, equity, or inclusion; instead, workplace relations are typically worse after diversity training.⁷

It’s not that diversity is a problem, mind you. To my knowledge, people don’t object to meaningful diversity (including ideological diversity). Nor do people object to equal human rights or broadly inclusive work environments. The objections stem from heavy-handed tactics and politically charged ideology cloaked in the buzzwords “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion.”

I tend to agree with the harsher critics of DEI, including Douglas Groothuis, Noelle Mering, Jay W. Richards, Voddie T. Baucham Jr., Heather Mac Donald, James Lindsay, Christopher Rufo, Mary Grabar, Abigail Shrier, Matt Walsh, Bethany Mandel, Karol Markowicz, and others.⁸ Diversity training broadly fails at promoting diversity, rather it reinforces stereotypes and erodes trust while fostering hypersensitivity, division, and avoidance.⁹ It could be argued that diversity training is mostly just window dressing, companies virtue-signaling to stay marketable. While there is some window dressing, there’s a lot more to the story.

What’s Behind This Diversity Training?

To understand why the diversity training industry has boomed, and with it, countless companies shoe-horning race and LGBTQ into their media marketing, one has to follow the money. Consider Nike and Bud Light. Both named Dylan Mulvaney (a grown man identifying as a “girl”¹⁰) as their brand ambassador. If you’ve seen Nike or Bud Light commercials, you know that’s a profoundly counterintuitive choice. Both companies have taken heavy fire from their customer base, seeing it as woke virtue-signaling.¹¹ These companies are not “playing to their base.” These campaigns are hurting sales among individual consumers. But those aren’t the only customers to consider.

For any given company, there is an array of corporate customers including suppliers, distributors, corporate buyers, contractual partners, investment firms like Blackrock and Vanguard, lobbying groups like Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), and any number of industrial, commercial, legal, or governmental cogs in the machine of big business. Companies have to satisfy all these customers if they hope to stay in business. And the bigger the company, the more of these customers they have to satisfy. And the more they stand to lose if, for example, HRC gives them a bad diversity score on the “corporate equality index.”¹² A failing grade from HRC can get a company blackballed across the industry, terminating contracts, freezing funds, and redirecting investments and contracts away from them.¹³ Political lobbies can leverage this diversity score, forcing companies to hire more racial and LGBTQ minorities, host diversity trainings, fire targeted employees, conduct diversity events, and jump through hoop after hoop until they’re allowed to do business again.

The rise in diversity training is a “pay to play” extortion scheme where companies must comply or be canceled. Cullen Linebarger explains, “The Human Rights Campaign [HRC], the forefront of the leftist LGBTQ mafia, is utilizing a social credit score to force companies like Nike and Anheuser-Busch to…advance their poisonous agenda.” Moreover, “the HRC publicly threatens organizations every year by sending a list of demands in person over what they want displayed in public. Clearly, Mulvaney was part of those marching orders. The HRC is backed by hedge funds such as Blackrock and Vanguard, the top shareholders of most American publicly-traded corporations. Failure to advance the woke agenda,” according to Linebarger, “would lead to these companies pulling their funds from Nike, Anheuser-Busch, and other major companies, leading to the loss of millions of dollars. All of this means that major corporations actually lose more by not embracing the woke left than from angering conservatives. So much for the ‘get woke, go broke’ slogan.”¹⁴

There’s a lot more to unpack here, but the takeaway is that diversity training is part of a larger socio-political incursion. It should not be taken lightly. From the standpoint of employers (bosses/owners), diversity training represents a concession to powerful forces injecting progressive (Leftist) politics into the workplace. From the standpoint of average employees, diversity training is ideological arm-twisting — comply or else.

How Alarmed Should We Be Here?

Clearly, we should be alarmed. But how alarmed should we be? If this is a five-alarm fire, then the only prescription is to get out now. In some cases, that’s exactly what’s happening. Many companies in progressive Portland, Oregon reached that point.¹⁵ They won’t have to conduct diversity training in their Portland stores because they abandoned those stores. For individual employees, hearing the “get out now!” alarm means leaving your job. It might even mean leaving the state. In recent years, thousands of families have migrated from the Left coast (California, Washington, Oregon) for red state bastions like Texas and Florida.¹⁶ Undoubtedly, many are evading woke job training, “groomer schools,” and progressive politics.¹⁷

But not everyone can afford to lose their job or leave town. Or your in-laws own the company. Or you run the business and hundreds of employees depend on you. Or you’ve invested so much ministry into the company that you can’t justify leaving.

Now to be clear, Christians should be faithful to God no matter the cost. Our faithfulness should never depend on the economy, the job market, or a reprimand at work. We should follow God in Christ above all else. We do, however, need room for nuance. In the real world, we don’t just need zealous faith, but calm wisdom as well. We need to see the competing needs and values tangled up in this decision. Sometimes there’s a narrow path forward that we can’t see until we’ve untangled the briars through lots of prayer and discernment.

We’re counting the cost and measuring tradeoffs. Quitting your job might be the best way to serve God faithfully, though it will delay your retirement, take a toll on your marriage, and strain your relationship with your kids. For some people, their marriage is on the rocks, and a job loss would virtually guarantee a divorce. I’m not prepared to tell that person their marriage is worth the sacrifice. For other people, they’re too eager to leave their job. For them, quitting would be self-righteous and boastful, play-acting the role of a martyr, and doing more harm than good.

There is no one-size-fits-all prescription here. Whatever is the best direction for you, make sure you can present it as a wise and righteous sacrifice to God. Yes, the diversity training industry is very alarming. Yes, the trends indicate that progressive ideologues are imposing themselves wherever they can. But heeding those alarms, you still need to discern whether your case requires you, as a Christian, to advance the line, retreat and regroup, or just hold the line.

Compliance Warning

The average employee won’t be thinking that far ahead. They won’t know how the diversity industry is rife with progressive neo-Marxism. They won’t know that diversity training activities are modeled after “struggle sessions” from the Cultural Revolution (Maoist China).¹⁸ They won’t know that the “corporate equality index” mirrors the authoritarian social credit system tyrannizing China right now.¹⁹ Most employees won’t object. They’ll “go along to get along.” Compliance is commonplace.

Christians often behave the same way, thinking they’re being meek and mild just like Jesus. Indeed, Paul says, “as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Rom. 12:18).²⁰ We Christians should be peacemakers. While that’s not exactly compliance, it can look the same. But even if you decide to partake in the training, there’s no option for mature Christians to be lazy and compliant. Whether it’s a diversity seminar, critical race class, or whatever it is, you’ll be offered a buffet of ideas, and they might even try to force-feed it to you. So, if you’re in the habit of ingesting whatever authorities feed you, then you’re likely to swallow something toxic. Passive compliance isn’t a responsible option.

Is It Really Mandatory?

Fortunately, “mandatory training” isn’t always mandatory. If it’s just suggested or if it’s only mandatory at the office, then you can decline it or possibly miss work on those days.

Undercover Operation. Even if the training is optional, however, you may still decide to attend, say for research purposes, or as an undercover whistle-blower. Expect that it won’t be 100 percent wrong or 100 percent right, either. You’ll need discernment, tact, and willpower. You’ll need to be well grounded. Most importantly, make sure to “live not by lies.”²¹ Measure your words. Guard your actions. Sign only what you agree with. Speak only truth. If you’re required to sign a position statement, then politely decline. Your Christian testimony is more valuable than any paper or screen they put in front of you. “Above all else,” Scripture warns, “guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Prov. 4:23).

Now, suppose you can’t be “out of the office” those days, you’re required to attend, and you aren’t “gifted” with the subtle skills of an undercover agent. If a diversity seminar promotes divisiveness rather than diversity or it stirs up more racism than reconciliation, then you may have valid grounds for a religious exemption. If you’re on good terms with your manager, you could request that. They might write an “exception clause” for you. If this diversity training is meant to prevent discrimination suits, then they might grant a religious exemption for fear of a lawsuit.

Your human resources department can probably help you to know your rights. If not, then call a lawyer friend, or even contact Alliance Defending Freedom (www.ADFlegal.org), the American Center for Law and Justice (www.aclj.org), or the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (www.thefire.org).

It Is Mandatory. What Now?

Avoidance, of course, isn’t always an option. Legally speaking, the company can choose the expectations and values for their employees. And there are many creative ways they can obey the law while forcing you to conform. At this point, your options are more limited. Two extremes are leave or lawyer up.

Leave. I mentioned this above. If you decline the training and they fire you, then you might qualify for severance. If you quit, however, you might lose those rights. Either way, if you leave your job, you might also lose health insurance, friends, advancement opportunities, and ministry influence in the company. Plus, you can be replaced with someone more compliant, surrendering that territory to the same forces you were protesting. Christians must count the cost. Following Jesus takes a toll. “If anyone would come after me,” Jesus said, “let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24 ESV).

Lawyer Up. Another extreme option is to “lawyer up.” Yes, Christians should be forgiving, not litigious (1 Cor. 6:7). But that’s a general principle, and it’s between church members. In corporate settings, there can be righteous lawsuits. Christians have a general duty beyond their own interests to seek justice for other people (Micah 6:8). And if your company’s diversity trainers teach people to “be less white,”²² or that “Black people can’t be racist,”²³ or “white people are demons,”²⁴ then legal action might constitute a righteous defense rising to the level of egregious offense. But be warned. This option is expensive. And you might not have a case. The diversity training industry is big, well-funded, with lots of lawyers, and even a few U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) precedents on their side (Regents v. Bakke, 1978; and Grutter v. Bollinger, 2003). However, in a recent SCOTUS case, Students v. Harvard College, 600 U.S. (2023), the Court held that college affirmative action programs violate the Equal Protections Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. As such, this legal landscape is unsettled.

Attend the Training. The moderate option is to attend. But it’s not moderate in the sense of being safe or easy. It’s moderate in the sense that it doesn’t directly escalate conflict and you might be able to “fly under the radar.” Just remember, this option can be very dangerous for your faith and your family.

You may be tempted to just attend the training because you’re a compliant person or to avoid “making a scene.” Those are not good enough reasons to subject yourself to the aggressive indoctrination typical in diversity training. Cowardice, cooperation, and compliance are terrible reasons to attend. People shouldn’t participate in DEI training unless they’re acting from courage. Additionally, a committed follower of Christ must act with wisdom, love, and a firm Christian conviction that this is the best way they can serve the company, their community, their family, their marriage, and their God.

To be safe and effective during diversity training, you would probably need the spiritual gifting equivalent of “spycraft.” You’d basically be an ideological spy, an undercover agent, as mentioned above. You need the skill and maturity to navigate through spiritually hostile territory and remain undaunted. Most people don’t have that sort of “gifting.”

Only twelve Israelite spies were originally commissioned for reconnaissance in Canaan (Num. 13–14). They were sent with God’s blessing to cross dangerous territory and spy on a foreign land filled with enemy combatants. Yet despite having God’s blessing and the support of all Israel, only two of the twelve kept the faith. Ten of them lost heart upon seeing what they were up against. That’s less than a seventeen percent success rate. Surveying the state of discipleship training in churches today, we’re not likely to do any better.

Four Strategies for Mandatory Diversity Training

If your best option is to attend the seminar, then you still have the choice of how to carry yourself during the training. What will your strategy be? James Lindsay outlines four options.²⁵

Gray Rock. “Gray rock” refers to passive resistance. You present yourself as a boring gray rock, unengaged, uncommunicative, calm, using short answers, and limiting exposure. This isn’t a “good” option, but it’s likely to fit many people’s personality and training. Not everyone can handle trolling, spying, or outright resistance. But most people can be dry and boring, if they had to.

Spying. Whistle-blowing or spying is a riskier option where you play along, cooperating as if you’re compliant but you’re really recording, gathering notes, and preparing to “blow the whistle.” I alluded to this earlier as “undercover agency.” This isn’t for everyone, but it’s an important inclusion because someone has to endure these training sessions if the world is going to know what’s in them. You still shouldn’t say or do anything against your conscience. And know that whenever people discover you’re the whistle-blower, you’ll likely lose your job, or worse.

Outright Resistance. Another risky option is to openly resist. You could refuse to attend, write a letter to the board, stage a walk-out, host a press conference, and so forth. Again, the firing risk is high. Done right, however, it can be very effective, especially if most of the company is involved. Know that the bigger the protest, the harder it will be to pull off. And as tensions escalate, you risk looking like the bad guy.

Trolling. Trolling is an accelerationist strategy, where the “troll” gives false information, like jokes, sarcasm, or memes, to illicit responses derailing the event. Quick witted class clowns have been doing this at school for ages. Some people have just the personality to pull this off. But it’s an advanced strategy. You may need to know the material better than the trainer does so you can exploit holes in their arguments and evidential gaps. You risk coming off as adolescent, insincere, and rude. For Christians, this isn’t generally a safe strategy, especially if it turns into mocking people or picking fights. Expect to lose your job with this strategy, too.

The Fifth Strategy: Christian Wisdom

As Christians, we can add a fifth option. Scripture exhorts followers of Christ to live at peace with everyone as far as we’re able, treating people with the respect and love they deserve as “image bearers” (see Gen 1:26–28; Mark 12:31; Rom 12:18). While we won’t agree with evil or lies, we can listen graciously, affirm the good, speak only when it’s helpful and only what is true.²⁶ Even if the diversity seminar is flooded with bad ideas, Christians can hold fast to the truth; steadfast against the confusing torrent.

At times, Christians may need the gray rock strategy (#1). And we should take good notes preparing to blow the-whistle if we must (#2). If the training requires agreeing with lies, foolishness, or evil, then we’ll have to decline in open resistance (#3). We may even need to point out bad logic with a pointed question or joke (#4). We can be merciless toward bad ideas, as long as we’re merciful toward people. The important thing here is to be a good example of Christ, exercising wisdom throughout. As you watch or listen to a mixture of good and bad ideas, you can chew what they feed you, so to speak, swallowing the good and spitting out the bad.²⁷

You might not have any great earthly options available. But you can always fear God and trust in Him because “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28 ESV; see Prov 3:5–8). If you measure your words, guard your heart, and keep the faith, you can stand your ground. May God bless your effort!

John Ferrer (MDiv, Southern Evangelical Seminary; ThM and PhD Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a teaching fellow with the Equal Rights Institute and ministers full-time with Crossexamined.org.

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NOTES

1. Besides diversity training, most of this article could apply to other training types that threaten freedom of religion/conscience.
2. DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. SEL: Social Emotional Learning. CRT: Critical Race Theory. Each acronym is loaded with political connotations and shouldn’t be taken at face value.
3. “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce, accessed April 2, 2023, https://www.uschamber.com/diversity.
4. Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev, “Why Doesn’t Diversity Training Work? The Challenge for Industry and Academia,” Anthropology Now 10, no. 2 (2018): 48, https://doi.org/10.1080/19428200.2018.1493182.
5. James Lindsay, “The Marxist Roots of DEI Workshop — All Sessions” (video), New Discourses, April 4, 2023, https://newdiscourses.com/2023/04/marxist-roots-of-dei-workshop-all-sessions/.
6. Lindsay, “The Marxist Roots of DEI Workshop.”
7. Poppy Noor, “So Your Company Uses Diversity Training, Does It Even Work?,” The Guardian, March 10, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/10/workplace-diversity-training-does-it-work-racial-justice.
8. Editors’ note: For background, in addition to other articles in this issue, see, e.g., Douglas R. Groothuis, Fire in the Streets (Salem Books, 2022); Noelle Mering, Awake, Not Woke (TAN Books, 2021); Voddie T. Baucham Jr., Fault Lines (Salem Books, 2022); Heather Mac Donald, The Diversity Delusion (St. Martin’s Press, 2018); James Lindsay, Race Marxism (New Discourses, 2022); Mary Grabar, Debunking The 1619 Project (Regnery History, 2021); Abigail Shrier, Irreversible Damage (Regnery Publishing, 2021); Bethany Mandel and Karol Markowicz, Stolen Youth (DW Books, 2023).
9. Dobbin and Kalev, “Why Doesn’t Diversity Training Work?”
10. Elizabeth Denton, “TikTok Star Dylan Mulvaney on ‘100 Days of Girlhood’ and Being a ‘Trailblazer,’” StyleCaster, June 22, 2022, https://stylecaster.com/beauty/dylan-mulvaney-tiktok/.
11. David Propper, “Nike Faces Online Uproar over Paid Partnership with Trans TikToker Dylan Mulvaney,” New York Post, April 6, 2023, https://nypost.com/2023/04/06/dylan-mulvaney-nike-partnership-faces-online-uproar/.
12. “Corporate Equality Index 2022,” Human Rights Campaign, https://www.hrc.org/resources/corporate-equality-index. See also Dana Kennedy, “Inside the CEI System Pushing Brands to Endorse Celebs Like Dylan Mulvaney,” New York Post, April 7, 2023, https://nypost.com/2023/04/07/inside-the-woke-scoring-system-guiding-american-companies/.
13. Cullen Linebarger, “Report Reveals the Alarming Reason Why Bud Light and Nike are Shoving ‘Transgender’ Dylan Mulvaney in America’s Face,” Gateway Pundit, April 9, 2023, https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/report-reveals-the-alarming-reason-why-bud-light-and-nike-are-shoving-transgender-dylan-mulvaney-in-americas-face/.
14. Linebarger, “Report Reveals the Alarming Reason.”
15. Karen Townsend, “Exodus from Portland Continues as Popular Chain Restaurant Announces Closures,” Hot Air, March 27, 2023, https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2023/03/27/exodus-from-portland-continues-as-popular-chain-restaurant-announces-closures-n539671.
16. Deane Biermeier and Samantha Allen, “10 States People Are Fleeing and 10 States People Are Moving To,” Forbes, January 23, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/features/states-move-to-from/.
17. James Lindsay, “Groomer Schools” (video), New Discourses, November 3, 2022, https://newdiscourses.com/2022/11/groomer-schools/.
18. James Lindsay, “Surviving a Modern Struggle Session” (video), New Discourses, December 27, 2022, https://newdiscourses.com/2022/12/surviving-a-modern-struggle-session/.
19. Kennedy, “Inside the CEI System Pushing Brands to Endorse Celebs.” See also John Feng, “How China’s Social Credit System Works,” Newsweek, December 12, 2022, https://www.newsweek.com/china-social-credit-system-worksexplained-1768726.
20. Unless noted otherwise, Scripture quotations are taken from NIV.
21. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “Live Not by Lies” [Essay], February 12, 1974; Rod Dreher, Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents (New York: Sentinel, 2020).
22. Lia Eustachewich, “Coca-Cola Slammed for Diversity Training That Urged Workers to Be ‘Less White,’” New York Post, February 23, 2021, https://nypost.com/2021/02/23/coca-cola-diversity-training-urged-workers-to-be-less-white/.
23. Hannah Grossman, “‘Woke’ Department of Defense Equity Chief Writes Anti-White Posts: ‘Exhausted with These White Folx,’” Fox News, September 13, 2022, https://www.foxnews.com/media/woke-department-defense-equitychief-writes-anti-white-posts-exhausted-white-folx.
24. “Ashleigh Shackelford’s Presentation to White People,” VdubBoogie, YouTube, October 9, 2017, video, 0:55, https://www.youtube.com/live/C2tQathSxpg.
25.  James Lindsay, “Fighting DEI Training,” New Discourses, March 9, 2023, https://newdiscourses.com/2023/03/fighting-dei-training/.
26. Neil Shenvi, “DEI Done Right: Disentangling Christian Community from Critical Theory,” Neil Shenvi—Apologetics, April 7, 2022, https://shenviapologetics.com/dei-done-right-disentangling-christian-community-from-critical-theory/.
27. See Hillary Ferrer, Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2019), 47–62.