An ability to understand religious sensitivities is not usually high on the list of criteria when assessing the skills of the modern CEO. Religion rarely enters the world of business … at least it rarely does in Europe. In the US things are different. A former colleague of mine – after a typically effusive and somewhat scatological speech to his new agency team in New York – was surprised to receive a note from one member of staff complaining ‘I am a born again Christian and object to your use of profanity.’ He also discovered that a knowledge of the timings of various Jewish festivals is also a prerequisite for any New York agency manager.
Religious crowds are almost by definition passionate, volatile, and occasionally intolerant. They don’t do compromise or the middle way, which is why Sony’s decision to delay the launch of the Little Big Planet video game, for fear of upsetting Muslim sensitivities, is understandable. But it also sets a dangerous precedent. This year has already seen Heinz pulling an advert featuring a gay kiss, following protests by the US-based evangelical Christian group.
There is nothing more addictive for members of a pressure group than to see the power they can exert over the behaviour of businesses or governments. And the problem is that businesses don’t really know how to respond to religious protests … they struggle to understand all of the theological issues and sensitivities.
Most governments rely on religious experts to shape policy decisions so that they avoid upsetting religious groups and minimise the impact of religious activists. The UK government has recently set up a council of young Muslims to advise ministers on ’key issues including extremism, discrimination, citizenship and how they see Islam fitting into British society’. Maybe it is time that this approach was copied in the corporate world, with companies appointing religious affairs advisers or even sending their PR teams to theological college – now there’s an interesting consultancy opportunity for a budding religious entrepreneur.