When I used to read Rod Dreher’s blog, he would often talk about something called “ketman,” which is defined as “the act of paying lip service to Islam while concealing secret opposition.” However, to relate to my post from last week, Rod would also say that in many cases, “ketman” would be more like paying lip service to work requirements such as DEI training, and perhaps even the content of one’s work, that may go against their belief systems.
At work, I very often have to edit and proofread documents on topics such as substance use among LGB people or guides for health care providers on administering pre-exposure prophylaxis to people who may be in danger of getting HIV. To some, this would be an outrage and a reason to quit my job because my religion condemns homosexual acts.
I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have a job I enjoy when many despise their jobs and have to (probably not literally) drag themselves to work every day. However, my job may involve “ketman.” What I haven’t been able to figure out is whether editing documents on such topics will send me to hell or whether it is one of those pervasive societal sins in which we are all complicit or involved in some sense.
Nothing I have worked on has overtly stated that being LGB is superior to being straight or that it is encouraged to engage in homosexual acts because one can simply take medication and eliminate the possibility of HIV. Much of this work is funded by the federal government, and any kind of editorializing is not allowed in the documents. All of this, to me, is a result of people’s choices on a higher level than I have influence over. What my job entails is grammar, spelling, punctuation, and making sure timelines don’t go off the rails.
The data presented in the reports I work on are supposed to be applied in a practical way to determine where services are needed, which programs are working, and what further data need to be collected. All of this is ultimately to help people… in the world’s way of helping them, which often means meeting them where they are and not necessarily attempting to change behavior. God’s way of helping those people would obviously be different and, honestly, would involve what the world would consider “stigmatizing” because people are very often offended when they are overtly told they are sinners.
All this is to say that I don’t know that “ketman” would really apply. Because of my beliefs, I may be opposed to the behaviors of some of the populations that are the subject of the documents I edit, but I cannot do anything about that, at least not from where I sit. I also can’t do anything about how the government chooses to help people, other than to vote. And pray. God will judge it all in the end.