What I Learned About Inclusion and Why It Matters

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT INCLUSION AND WHY IT MATTERS By: Devin S. DeVore

Easter & DeVore

A CALL TO PRAYER: CREATING SPACE FOR RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION WITHIN THE LEGAL PROFESSION

During my first year in law school, my fellow law students and I were given the opportunity to be mock interviewed by local attorneys. I immediately jumped at the chance of gaining any insight to a very unpleasant, yet necessary, part of entering the legal profession upon graduation.

One of the attorneys who volunteered their time to interview students sat down with me and provided some great feedback for future interviews. Yet one of their last pieces of advice will always stick with me. Their parting words were to remove any reference pertaining to my twoyear mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“LDS Church”) from my resume.1 Why? Because “people think your religion is weird.”

While their overall advice was extremely beneficial, this specific admonition completely gutted me. Postponing my education and leaving loved ones for two years to serve others was a defining period of my life. So, to be told that this lifechanging experience must be removed because knowledge of my religious beliefs would hurt my chances of being employed was devastating. On top of that, because I was an alumnus of Brigham Young University, a private university affiliated with the LDS Church, attempts to distance myself from my religion would also have to include removing any information about my previous education. A move that would assuredly puzzle potential employers.

I ultimately chose not to follow this well-meaning attorney’s advice. If my “weird religion” would turn off potential employers, I probably would not be a good fit for them anyway. Thankfully, there were those in the legal community who gave me a chance and saw the attributes gained from my religious background not as a hinderance, but as a strength to their practice. But this experience will always remind me that diversity and inclusion do not only include race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender. They also include religious beliefs and practices that are not part of the religious mainstream.

Contrary to popular belief, religious discrimination has a long history in the American consciousness.2 Both President John F. Kennedy and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney had to assuage concerns from potential voters that their religious beliefs (Catholic and LDS, respectively) would not unduly influence their presidential roles if elected. This was despite both men being part of Christian denominations who believed the Bible (or in the case of Mitt Romney, the Bible and the Book of Mormon) to be holy scripture. Those of the Islamic faith are still viewed with suspicion, and just now, one does not need to look hard to see reprehensible expressions of antisemitism on the rise. When viewing those who subscribe to religious beliefs that differ from our own, such views often cause us to fall into the trap of defining those persons solely on their religious beliefs. We then, in turn, make assumptions purely based on what we (think) we know about their beliefs.3

Yet each person’s religious background and faith, even if different from our own, can provide insights, experiences, and attributes that can enrich the practice of law. And just like every other form of diversity, religious diversity can help the legal profession be more full, complete, and better equipped to serve each other and our community. To put it another way, an orchestra is not an orchestra if made up of nothing more than the flute section. All faiths, whether they derive from the Bible, Torah, Quran, Book of Mormon, or any other religious text, call upon their adherents to attain the highest attributes of moral conduct, both on a personal and professional level. Such aspirations should be welcomed and supported by all - no matter which religious source they derive from.

1 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is commonly referred to as the “Mormon Church,” but in recent years it has made efforts to no longer be referred to by this name. This is due to its derogatory origin in which the term was first coined by early opponents of the LDS faith and to help clear the oftenmisunderstood conception that adherents to the LDS faith do not believe or worship Jesus Christ.

2 See Tisa Wenger, religious Freedom: The ConTesTed hisTory oF an ameriCan ideal (The University of North Carolina Press, reprint ed. 2017); spenCer W. mCBride, Joseph

smiTh For presidenT: The propheT, The assassins, and The FighT For religious Freedom (Oxford University Press, 1st ed. 2021). 3 Credit to my friend and colleague Shareef Amer, a practitioner of the Islamic faith, for providing me with this very important insight.

Photo Ops Photo Ops

Fall Hike

The Professionalism Committee hosted its annual fall hike on Saturday, November 5 at Seven Islands Birding Park.