Ding ding ding ding ...... we have a winner!
This old truism seems to have been lost. Same goes for the dinner table. It's just bad manners.
But looking at it from a managers point of view those subjects can be very harmful to the group.
A while ago I had to have a quiet word with one of my employees who was loudly denouncing the war in Iraq. She was doing it in full earshot of no less then three other employees who have children in Iraq and two others who are veterans themselves.
I basically told her to shut up if she planed to continue to work with them. She shut up and things smoothed over but not one of those employees will go out of their way to make her job easier. They do what is required and no more.
And her poor judgment in running her mouth and causing that rift insures that she will never get any job that requires leadership.
You are absolutely correct. Also not with family unless you KNOW they are all of your persuasion.
I have a member of my immediate family I love dearly, who is an ivory tower moonbat. Convinced Diebols rigged the machines and all that nonsense. Spent hours studying statistics on it.
We never, ever discuss politics. My relationship with my family is more important than an argument, which is all I would get if I brought it up.
I won't sit down and eat with a liberal...