You seem to be operating under the absolutist assumption that all people who discuss politics at work have some kind of malicious intent to entrap or brainwash

You seem to be operating under the absolutist assumption that all people who discuss politics at work have some kind of malicious intent to entrap or brainwash their colleagues. That is not the case. All that the OC pointed out is that there are situations at work - and diversity and inclusion programs are one - where the discussion of issues deemed to be "politics" can be in the interests of improving the workplace. Obviously if an employee is disruptive, that is a problem. Your hypothetical preacher is disruptive. Your hypothetical diversity advocate who bullies their colleagues is also disruptive. But both of these are straw people. Bullying is clearly not appropriate at the workplace. That is separate to the issue of discussing politics. I would be very surprised if the "indifferent majority" feels that inclusion programs containing some political discussion is tantamount to workplace bullying. If that were the case, it would be observable in the metrics. At least engagement and likely also productivity would take a hit if the majority of employees felt bullied. I am quite sure HR and People Ops professionals would adjust their programs if they were received that poorly. I think the reality is that the majority of people truly are indifferent. That is, they don't care about diversity and inclusion one way or the other. They do the trainings. They hear that certain groups feel oppressed in society. They stop describing situations as "gay" or "retarded". They let women speak first sometimes. Then they get on with their day because really what difference does it make? It's just work. Please understand that I do know there are people who are very offended or unhappy with the idea of politics in the workplace. I read HN. I can see lots of them like to comment here. These people's feelings are important to consider too, and HR professionals do exactly that when thinking about how to implement their initiatives. It's a delicate balance, and whatever they do may upset someone. But trust that they are working in good faith, and they are doing their best to try serve the interests of all employees. That is their job, after all.