When faith requires permission - Jeridah Andayi on America’s consent culture around belief

When former radio presenter Jeridah Andayi relocated to the United States, one of the most striking adjustments had nothing to do with weather, work culture, or pace of life. It was faith, specifically, how carefully it is handled.

“In America, you don’t pray before meetings,” Andayi notes plainly. “You just don’t.”

For someone coming from a society where prayer is often woven naturally into public and private moments, meetings, hospital visits, celebrations, the restraint can feel jarring. But Andayi is clear: this is not hostility toward religion. It is about consent.

According to Andayi, religious expression in the U.S. operates on an unspoken rule, never assume belief.

“You can’t just randomly tell people ‘God bless you,’” she explains. “What if they don’t believe in God?”

In a deeply diverse society, faith is treated as an individual matter rather than a shared default. Public spaces, workplaces, hospitals, and schools are intentionally neutral to avoid excluding anyone based on belief or non-belief.

“You tread very carefully when it comes to religious matters,” Andayi says. “Very carefully.”

Here, respect is not shown by invoking God, but by avoiding assumptions altogether.

One of the clearest examples Andayi gives is visiting someone who is sick. In many cultures, prayer is automatic. In the U.S., it is conditional.

“You don’t go visit a sick person and say, ‘Let us pray,’” she explains. “Even if you are Christian, even if you mean well.”

Instead, prayer must be requested or explicitly welcomed. “Even then, you have to ask. Would you like me to pray with you?’”

That single question changes the meaning of the act. Prayer stops being something done to someone and becomes something done with their consent.

Andayi also points to the workplace, where prayer before meetings, common elsewhere, is largely absent.

“Don’t pray before meetings,” she emphasises. “You just don’t do that.”

The reasoning is simple: offices are shared spaces. Religious expression there can unintentionally signal exclusion, even when no harm is intended.

In this environment, professionalism is tied to neutrality. Faith is not erased — it is relocated to private life.

While Andayi does not criticise this approach, she acknowledges its emotional complexity.

When faith is always filtered through caution, spontaneous expressions of care can feel restrained. Rituals that once created shared meaning are replaced with carefully neutral gestures.

Instead of “God bless you,” people say, “Have a good day.” Instead of prayer, they offer presence.