> I think a good argument can be made that at work there should be a right to not contribute to discussions not related to work
I think you already have that right.
> and to not have such non-contribution held against you
That is the tricky part. How do you know if they will or will not be held against you? Maybe your skills aren't great but not bad enough to fire you but now with your non-contribution on an opinion is taken as you opposing it and your shortfall of skills is used as a platform to masquerade the real reason. Maybe the people judging you this way operate in a way that doesn't provide any clear cut evidence of their ulterior motives. Subjective areas like these have lots of shadows and shades of grey to hide things.
I think you already have that right.
> and to not have such non-contribution held against you
That is the tricky part. How do you know if they will or will not be held against you? Maybe your skills aren't great but not bad enough to fire you but now with your non-contribution on an opinion is taken as you opposing it and your shortfall of skills is used as a platform to masquerade the real reason. Maybe the people judging you this way operate in a way that doesn't provide any clear cut evidence of their ulterior motives. Subjective areas like these have lots of shadows and shades of grey to hide things.