Date an Outsider

As part of the Change Program and re-evaluating our official stances on everything, I would like to suggest a minor change.

In secular society, many workplaces have what they call a "no inter-office relationship" policy. This means that no dating, non-sexual affection, or sex, is allowed between co-workers. There are many reasons for this--favoritism between a leader / team member in a relationship, debilitating office gossip that tends to follow inter-office romance, tension that occurs when one partner wants to end it before the other--even cases of sexual harassment.

But the main reason inter-office relationships are frowned on is that it creates in the workplace an unfavorable climate towards ...working. Workplace decisions should not be clouded by the possibly career-impacting influence that stems from an emotionally charged atmosphere. So "fishing off the company pier" is looked on negatively, and "getting your honey where you get your money" is discouraged.

In the Family we now have a longer term vision, and just like we're learning the hard way about higher education, secular employment and schooling, etc, I wonder if we either should now or will eventually have to come to grips with the inter-office dating that runs rampant through our workplaces.

People, we should only allow sex / dating / relationships with outsiders! This would mean, conversely, no sex / dating / relationships whatsoever with other Family members (with the possible complication / exception of marriage).

If you are allowed to date your witnessing partner, you can't help but eventually consider it. Soon, your work time and energies, instead of going toward the Offensive begin to be taken up by small emotional conflicts and quickies. You start holding hands when you're out, and eventually you're thinking more about what your partner is wearing / thinking, instead of feeding the sheep sitting before you.

All of this is augmented considerably if he or she is the only person you can feasibly date in your entire city or area.

Very few people, devout Christians or not, are mature enough to separate their professional and personal lives when the two come into such close contact. Human nature craves too much that interaction with your significant or not-so-significant other. The lines gray between work and play, and when there is an area witnessing offensive, manpower flocks to it, abandoning their own works. --But not for the witnessing as much as the sex. And then entire stable missionary works can be upset by the accidental babies that occur in opposite ends of the continent.

And life becomes difficult when you have to continue living with or having contact with someone after it's over. If one of you doesn't move far away or stop frequenting the same places, then there is a mountain of working out to be done, usually during work hours. Either way, the Offensive takes the hit. Although we're all very dedicated people and experts in many spiritual areas, I don't know if you can expect us to be relationship experts too.

If you want to be successful in your work life and communal life, support the Date-an-Outsider project--and keep your personal life where it belongs.

Trust me, i know.


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