Religious guilt?

There's a concept called "white guilt" very common in recent times in American culture. In this phenomenon, white individuals may experience feelings of collective guilt or historical responsibility for past injustices committed by individuals of their same ethnic group, despite not having personally participated in those acts. It's common to talk about a privilege for being white, "white privilege," and at the same time, we see many white individuals carrying the moral burden of what their ancestors did in times of slavery and colonization.

Of course, as individuals, these white people haven't victimized other races, but by sharing the same phenotypic characteristics as their ancestors, they're affected by a sort of collective and trans-generational guilt that transcends generations. It's as if they have to pay for the "sins" committed by their grandparents or great-grandparents. Is it fair? In my opinion, it's not fair at all. I prefer that people only bear responsibility for their own actions. I don't like the idea of a person being held responsible for things others have done, no matter how inhumane those acts may have been. Imagine what would happen to the descendants of dictators, murderers, and other criminals.

Just as the concept of "white guilt" exists, something similar occurs with religions. I've perceived a sense of punishment for being religious, in my case, for being Catholic or expressing myself as Catholic. But this happens with many other religions around the world. It's incredible how less and less openly people talk about religion. It has become a taboo topic in the corporate world.

Diversity is important, but inclusion means being accepted for your differences, and being Catholic is one of my characteristics. Of course, in my conferences and workshops, I'm not trying to evangelize anyone, but avoiding the topic altogether seems negative to me. I even perceive that some people feel afraid to admit they are religious. I often hear executives say, "I'm Catholic, but not too much," as if apologizing for it. Even in this article, I feel the urge to apologize for writing about the topic. Why? Because of what I call "Catholic guilt," a kind of collective guilt that one carries when declaring themselves part of a group. It's similar to what happens with the millions of Muslims who are peaceful but are judged as if they were part of an extremist group.

Of course, there have been injustices in all religions; groups of Catholics have used guns as well as holy water. But we shouldn't judge them all equally. Did they colonize the Aztecs? Have there been pedophile priests? Is there a lot of money in the Vatican? History shows that there's some truth in all those questions, but it's also true that I didn't do any of that.

Should I stop being Mexican because there are many drug cartels? Should I stop being a man because there's a lot of macho violence? Of course not. It's much more useful to embrace the good of being Mexican and the best of being a good man. That's where I serve the most! And the same goes for trying to be a good Catholic.

Feeling guilty for expressing being Catholic, Christian, evangelical, Muslim, Mormon, or Jewish goes against diversity and inclusion. We should be proud of who we are, proud of our values and beliefs. Enough with not being able to freely express religious beliefs when in executive positions.

Is there a fear of social pressure? Fear of offending others who may have different religious or ideological views? Of course, but I declare that I'm not offended by what you believe; I'm not trying to evangelize, convert, or convince you. I simply express who I am and what I believe, and I ask to be respected for it in the same way I respect the beliefs of many others.

When we limit ourselves in who we are, we fall into self-censorship and suppress religious identity, even when the beliefs in question have no negative or harmful connotations. This has a negative impact on spiritual well-being, one of the pillars that sustains our happiness.

Just as recognition (social), connection with other human beings (community), feeling useful (career-wise), having physical and emotional health (health well-being), and financial aspects play a role in people's happiness, recognizing oneself as a spiritual person also has a positive impact on our happiness.

Just as we should be proud of our gender, sexual orientation, age, or postal code, it's important to accept that to a large extent, our happiness also depends on living our religious or spiritual beliefs. Whatever they are, even atheism, which indeed there are very good people who do not believe in God, but that doesn't make them bad at all.

We're living in a strange world. We live in times where a white majority ends up feeling guilty for things they've never done, and thousands of religious people feel guilty for things they haven't done either. This highlights the complexity of the social and psychological dynamics related to identity, guilt, and individual expression.

Live your spirituality. Perhaps that's where the void you're trying to fill with one of the other five well-being categories lies. In the book "The Well-being Bonfire," I mention the six categories to achieve happiness; one of them is spirituality, and many times, we try to fill that space with money, fame, physical health, exercise, a successful career, or many friends. But if after achieving all that, you feel that something is still missing, I recommend you take a look at your spiritual or religious beliefs. I'm sure you'll find a lot of value in them. Of course, I only speak from my experience! I'm not speaking as a psychologist, migrant, or entrepreneur. I speak as a person who has lost things, money, businesses, and people, someone who has been a millionaire and lost everything, someone who has been at the top and has been homeless (literally). From that experience, I can share with you that I have lost all my well-being categories at some point, and I find that the category that has allowed me to move forward is my faith, my religion, my category of spiritual well-being.

Should religion be discussed in the office? Should one declare the religion one practice? How can one approach spirituality without hurting susceptibilities? These are important questions to explore. After all, overall well-being is the responsibility of the company, and spirituality is an important pillar in it.

Today, Good Friday, one of the most important days of the year according to my Catholic faith, so I invite you to reflect on our spiritual well-being, our beliefs, our purpose on this earth. And if you're Christian, like me, I wish you a very reflective and spiritual Holy Week. If you don't believe in anything, I still wish you a happy week, and I hope that just as I'm not bothered by you being atheist, you won't be bothered by me living my Catholic faith openly.

Thank you for reading this far. God bless you.

Jaime, Catholic, believer, and promoter of well-being.