A friend of mine started http://hootcourse.com/ which attempts to integrate the communication tools students are using with their courses.
The instructors and students using it thus far seem to enjoy it. Though it's not a replacement for products like Blackboard since it's not really a repository for content, it does replace their poor communication tools well.
The best course of action for this company would have been to just say no we're not going to hire you.
How is that beneficial for the employer or the potential employee?
> Because having long hair in no way affects a candidate's ability to do this (or virtually any) job
But it does affect how the company is perceived, and that's not a result of the company but the people who use it. I don't have a problem with dreadlocks, but I honestly understand why someone might be a little weary of hiring someone to come into their home and move all their stuff if they look radically different to them.
> then maybe they should be allowed to require men to be clean-shaven;
Yes.
> maybe they should be allowed to require women to wear skirts;
Yes. You should be able to define the uniform you wish your employees to wear.
> maybe they should be allowed to prefer men for certain positions
Yes. You should also be allowed to prefer women for certain positions.
Here's what I don't get.
One, you don't have to be hired. You're not entitled to every job you apply for. You're also not entitled to the job you have.
Two, certain requirements, such as shaving or your hair style are things that you can change. Perhaps that conflicts with your religion, but that's something you have to deal with. That's your decision. You can still be a Rastafarian and not have dreadlocks, be Muslim and not wear a hijab, and be a Christian and work on Sunday. At what point do you stop accommodating irrationally held religious beliefs and start treating people as if they are adults responsible for their own decisions?
Three, employers are responsible for who they hire. If they don't feel comfortable having that person represent their company, they should be able to not hire them. These laws remove some of that responsibility, but still place all the blame for the actions of that individual with the company.
Am I the only one who thinks this situation is a good example where discrimination laws are not serving their intended purpose?
A company should be able to set a policy regarding grooming and/or dress.
The part that I find shittiest about this situation is that the company would have been better just rejecting him outright. Instead they said they would hire him if he agreed to cut his hair to their wishes. Now there's a lawsuit.
How is that beneficial for anyone? Why can't two individuals have an honest negotiation about what it is they want from each other?
> Sorry, you don't get to not hire someone because they wear dreads.
Why not? Why is that something you shouldn't be able to do with your own business.
His belief that the Allies would go through so much trouble to stop a group of people who had killed relatively few people over a 30 year period is what makes him dumb.
What troop movements was he observing? What logistics was he disrupting? How effective could he possibly be gathering intelligence if he couldn't even report his findings to his superiors? Even if the war was still going, his contribution to the war effort was minimal compared to the effort the Allies appeared to be putting forth to "capture" him.
My early childhood religion always taught me that man was special, so I think there would be an impact if we were to find intelligent life elsewhere. In fact, I feel like that idea that man is so special is used as an argument against evolution. They use the 'disgust' of hearing that humans could be related to modern day apes, and thus is not so special.
As you said, religion would have to adapt, but that is an impact. I'm more curious what path they would take. As you said, they could deny them full privileges of being sentient...that is they are less than human. Or they could accept them as being on the same level, but that would require a small alteration to their beliefs.
The instructors and students using it thus far seem to enjoy it. Though it's not a replacement for products like Blackboard since it's not really a repository for content, it does replace their poor communication tools well.