Christian Privilege...
Dani told me to post something - so she'd have something to read - and I never got to say what *I* thought about the Christian privilege shit storm without censoring myself (because I'm all senior staff-y, and thus attempt to be tactful and non-offensive at all times).
So, for those on my F-List not in the know, here's what happened:
Jamal posted a note on Facebook titled "Christian Privilege" and tagged a bunch of us on it. Here is what it said -
"I have recently discovered that there are a decent amount of people who cannot understand the way in which our society privileges Christians. In the same way that white people are put over minorities, the same way that men are put over women, married put over single people. Christians are privileged over non Christians. Before ou go doubting me ask yourself these 6 questions.
1. When was the last you got out of school for ramadan?
2. Why was it an issue that Obama may have been muslim?
3. Do you go to school/ or work on Sundays?
4. Have you ever had to prove to a teacher that you were absent because you were celebrating Easter?
5. Has Budda ever been the reason for any season?
6. How many times has someone thanked Allah at an awards show and gotten a standing ovation?"
This became an intense issue amongst the RA staff - we have a lot of people who are hardcore Christians and they felt attacked. There were also a bunch of RAs who aren't Christian (not even nominally so) who felt empowered by this note to speak their mind. Which isn't a bad thing, and the purpose of the note was to spark conversation, but the whole thing turned kind of ugly.
What're other people's thoughts?
The main thing that bothered me about the comments left on this note on Facebook were the ones that were excuses. Yes, I KNOW that the country was founded by white, Christian men. In fact, I probably know more about it than you do - but that is not an explanation, that is an EXCUSE. The problem is not how the system got that way, the problem is that the system iS that way. America was founded by white, RACIST, Christian men. The system was built to be racist. Does that make being racist alright?
I think a lot of people felt like the oppression of religious minorities was justified - "because they're all just wrong." And that bothers me. People used to say that about white privilege too; in fact, I'm sure there are people out there who STILL say that about white privilege, but that doesn't make it okay.
Another thing that pissed me off was the person that said "I'm persecuted for being a Christian."
Yeah. Okay. Sure sweetie.
Now, there may be instances where that is true. And I will believe her if she says that she has felt persecuted, because I wasn't there and cannot judge that for her. But that, to me, is like me going around saying I'm persecuted for being white. Maybe I am, in some rare places or circumstances, but that is not the rule in America. Christian persecution is NOT the rule in America and never has been (however, I will make an exception for Catholics and Mormons - there were, historically, periods of time when those groups were oppressed).
Also, people who use statistics in their argument (whether for or against Christian privilege), PLEASE CHECK THESE STATS OUT! There were stats all over the place that were incorrect, and appeared to have been conjectured out of thin air. Most recent research into witch burnings suggests that 40,000-100,000 died during the "great hunt" - that is not the same as "milliions". I highly doubt that 77% of the country identifies as Christian, as it was a Christian website you drew this stat from, and am curious as to what their sample was. However, I could not find evidence either way. Jews make up less than .1% of the world population, it's true. But we make up approximately 2% of the US population - the highest percentage of any country outside of Israel (76%).
People always want to play oppression olympics, and I'm getting tired of it. We can go around and around all day about who has been oppressed more, and no one is going to win because even winning is depressing.
I do believe in Christian privilege. I've seen it with my own eyes. Our system is built to favor Christians (this includes nominal Christians; ie. people who don't attend church but celebrate Christmas and/or Easter), of any denomination at this point, over non-Christians. Sunday is the Christian day of rest - it's also the day that everyone is the most likely to have off. Team sports games take place on Saturdays in most places - because weekend stuff can't be on Sundays. Winter Break and Spring Break are stuck, temporally, with their corresponding major Christian holidays: Christmas and Easter.
Our country is currently engaged in the systematic oppression of religious minority groups. Our country has, in the past been an ASSISTANT to systematic religion-based annihilation. These are truths. I do not blame people who are Christian - they didn't build the system, it was left for them. Christians have every right to believe whatever they want to, as do all other religious groups. But in a country supposedly built on the concept of "Separation of Church and State", this level of favoritism shouldn't exist.
So, for those on my F-List not in the know, here's what happened:
Jamal posted a note on Facebook titled "Christian Privilege" and tagged a bunch of us on it. Here is what it said -
"I have recently discovered that there are a decent amount of people who cannot understand the way in which our society privileges Christians. In the same way that white people are put over minorities, the same way that men are put over women, married put over single people. Christians are privileged over non Christians. Before ou go doubting me ask yourself these 6 questions.
1. When was the last you got out of school for ramadan?
2. Why was it an issue that Obama may have been muslim?
3. Do you go to school/ or work on Sundays?
4. Have you ever had to prove to a teacher that you were absent because you were celebrating Easter?
5. Has Budda ever been the reason for any season?
6. How many times has someone thanked Allah at an awards show and gotten a standing ovation?"
This became an intense issue amongst the RA staff - we have a lot of people who are hardcore Christians and they felt attacked. There were also a bunch of RAs who aren't Christian (not even nominally so) who felt empowered by this note to speak their mind. Which isn't a bad thing, and the purpose of the note was to spark conversation, but the whole thing turned kind of ugly.
What're other people's thoughts?
The main thing that bothered me about the comments left on this note on Facebook were the ones that were excuses. Yes, I KNOW that the country was founded by white, Christian men. In fact, I probably know more about it than you do - but that is not an explanation, that is an EXCUSE. The problem is not how the system got that way, the problem is that the system iS that way. America was founded by white, RACIST, Christian men. The system was built to be racist. Does that make being racist alright?
I think a lot of people felt like the oppression of religious minorities was justified - "because they're all just wrong." And that bothers me. People used to say that about white privilege too; in fact, I'm sure there are people out there who STILL say that about white privilege, but that doesn't make it okay.
Another thing that pissed me off was the person that said "I'm persecuted for being a Christian."
Yeah. Okay. Sure sweetie.
Now, there may be instances where that is true. And I will believe her if she says that she has felt persecuted, because I wasn't there and cannot judge that for her. But that, to me, is like me going around saying I'm persecuted for being white. Maybe I am, in some rare places or circumstances, but that is not the rule in America. Christian persecution is NOT the rule in America and never has been (however, I will make an exception for Catholics and Mormons - there were, historically, periods of time when those groups were oppressed).
Also, people who use statistics in their argument (whether for or against Christian privilege), PLEASE CHECK THESE STATS OUT! There were stats all over the place that were incorrect, and appeared to have been conjectured out of thin air. Most recent research into witch burnings suggests that 40,000-100,000 died during the "great hunt" - that is not the same as "milliions". I highly doubt that 77% of the country identifies as Christian, as it was a Christian website you drew this stat from, and am curious as to what their sample was. However, I could not find evidence either way. Jews make up less than .1% of the world population, it's true. But we make up approximately 2% of the US population - the highest percentage of any country outside of Israel (76%).
People always want to play oppression olympics, and I'm getting tired of it. We can go around and around all day about who has been oppressed more, and no one is going to win because even winning is depressing.
I do believe in Christian privilege. I've seen it with my own eyes. Our system is built to favor Christians (this includes nominal Christians; ie. people who don't attend church but celebrate Christmas and/or Easter), of any denomination at this point, over non-Christians. Sunday is the Christian day of rest - it's also the day that everyone is the most likely to have off. Team sports games take place on Saturdays in most places - because weekend stuff can't be on Sundays. Winter Break and Spring Break are stuck, temporally, with their corresponding major Christian holidays: Christmas and Easter.
Our country is currently engaged in the systematic oppression of religious minority groups. Our country has, in the past been an ASSISTANT to systematic religion-based annihilation. These are truths. I do not blame people who are Christian - they didn't build the system, it was left for them. Christians have every right to believe whatever they want to, as do all other religious groups. But in a country supposedly built on the concept of "Separation of Church and State", this level of favoritism shouldn't exist.