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My last post on this thread. I am linking an article by Warren J. Blumenfeld, whose writings are cited several times in the Wikipedia link posted by the OP. He actually does compare Christians and Muslims so if the wiki is relevant to this thread so is Blumenfeld’s argument, as he is cited several times. He makes a nuanced argument that actually makes a very different statement than what the thread seems to presume.
He names extremists groups that are named terrorists . I am deleting political references.
Christian Privilage is a concept, not a reality. If Blumenfeld is being cited to support this concept, I find it very puzzling because that is not what he is talking about.
If this is not on topic, the Moderators may delete my post.
Regardless of what little details you find to post from some single writer, Christian Privilege is clearly demonstrated in the cited articles. It has absolutely nothing to do with terrorists or Muslims, unless you want to start a new discussion about "Religious Majority Privilege Around The World." The Privilege has to do with how Christians assume certain things about life in America. Maybe you don't see it significantly in your community, but the vast majority of Americans see it once they are shown what it is.
Regardless of what little details you find to post from some single writer, Christian Privilege is clearly demonstrated in the cited articles. It has absolutely nothing to do with terrorists or Muslims, unless you want to start a new discussion about "Religious Majority Privilege Around The World." The Privilege has to do with how Christians assume certain things about life in America. Maybe you don't see it significantly in your community, but the vast majority of Americans see it once they are shown what it is.
Have you taken a look at the comments about the article in the discussion page? I no longer wish to participate in this thread. I just wish to note that the Wiki is useful but it is still only an opinion. I accept Christian Hegemony in the US but calling it a privilage is unsupported because the term is not even clearly defined as to what it is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Christian_privilege
Have you taken a look at the comments about the article in the discussion page? I no longer wish to participate in this thread. I just wish to note that the Wiki is useful but it is still only an opinion. I accept Christian Hegemony in the US but calling it a privilage is unsupported because the term is not even clearly defined as to what it is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Christian_privilege
I'm truly sorry you are unable to understand something that is so obvious.
It is not about feeling privileged, it is about being privileged.
Clearly you do not understand what privilege is, until you need to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cb2008
I am disputing your premise that such as Christian Privilege exists. Any documented incidents of harm? How would it be measured? Any peer reviewed researched papers? what is your evidence? It is an opinion and as such mine is as good as yours. it does not exist.
Not to me. Lots of people will do work (or marry or associate with others) based on whether they share a religious belief. Unfortunately, too many people. Lots of people tend to be "tribal" that way.
Arabs (who can be Muslim, Christian, Druze, Baha’i, and even Jewish) are Semites. Muslims can be of any ethnic or national background. Despite the semantics, anti-Semitic really only means anti-Jewish.
Bringing things back on topic, Arabs of all religious backgrounds face discrimination in the United States, but Arab Christians have had an easier time assimilating than Arab Muslims thanks to Christian privilege. Many Lebanese and Syrian Christians that immigrated in the earlier 20th century married European-American Christians.
Thanks for the clarification apparently needed by some...
Tends to make one realize how people can be treated based on such beliefs while others who are more inclined to keep their beliefs to themselves don't have the same issues. At least as far as what they choose to wear for example. Everyone has a right to "wear their religion on their sleeve" (or on their head) of course, or "advertise" what they believe one way or another. Those who want to make it clear what they believe based on what they wear, for example, are just more likely to experience some level of harassment from people who are ignorant, bigoted or anti-a-religion that way.
A problem an atheist like me doesn't much worry about in any case, because no one can know what I believe based on my appearance, and most people don't seem to have it out for atheists like some seem to have it out for people of different faiths.
When someone admits the existence of “Christian hegemony” but refuses to acknowledge the concept of “Christian privilege,” they are clearly intellectually capable of understanding the latter concept but simply refuse to for reasons ultimately known only to them.
I am responding to this post because I am unsure how my post was received. This current post is not directed toward you, Mordant, but I would like to make another attempt to address the OP especially after reading some more responses. Not sure if anyone is interested in the etymology of the word privilege. At my house, eyes start to roll when a single word becomes my main focus. LOL.
It appears the word privilege is compound-like, at some point combining words that meant private and law. Private has a sense of not of the state or the public - individual. So when a person acts according to their preference, then they are acting privately. The state has no say. An example that was brought up earlier was the Christian contractor who no longer responded to the Jewish client once it was found out that they didn't share the same faith. It is to be inferred (hope I have the right word) that discrimination based on religion was applied here, but it was not something made explicitly clear. That is key. Anyone can be a contractor. So the right to provide and refuse service belongs to the public, but the reasons for providing or refusing services can belong to privacy. And I think most people, religious or not, would like to ensure that they are not forced to provide services.
It is this application of law and privacy, which sound more like rights, that allows the term privilege to be applied liberally. One example that was brought up in one of the articles was the Starbucks red cup. It is safe to assume that it was meant to be inclusive, but other private minds did not agree to be a part of that group, which lead to claims of being left out. They wouldn't be wrong, but in our current state, the most they could do is boycott the business. They could also speak their private thoughts publicly. The troublesome part is not people exercising their rights. Instead, it is the reasons for exercising them in the first place - a very specific private thought. Their religion. In some instances, their Christian stance is nothing more than a message sent to a company like Starbucks. Okay, that's not accurate. Those who are not of the same mind may come out and chastise them into silence. On the other hand, the same reason in other contexts can be against the law.
The same cannot be said of other private reasons that afford privileges to certain groups. For example, maybe I only want to do business with people with a certain credit rating. On a personal level, it might say something about me. On a public level, it is not against the law to only provide service based on that criteria.
So this thread is pretty open-ended. I think it is safe to say that Christian privilege does exist as well as other religious privileges. Its influence may be felt more strongly because it is a majority religion and people have a right to preferences.
For the most part, I don't think 'christian privilege' is about legality. I say "for the most part" because there are times it can spill over into legal issues...but then I think it becomes something that is not just 'privilege', but becomes legal versus illegal entitlement.
American public schools are, perhaps, one of the best laboratories to examine various '_________ privilege'. And I put the _____________ in instead of 'christian' because schools have demonstrated -- in the past, at least -- various groups that had 'privilege' over other groups.
When I was in elementary school...about in the third grade, which would have made it around 1955...the school decided that children of certain religions could be dismissed 90 minutes early on Wednesday afternoons to attend an hour-long 'church school', but only if the kids were Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal Church. If children were Catholic...tough luck...stay and do an extra 90 minutes of math. Same with Jewish children (after all, there were only two...ahem), children who went to the Church Of God, and any other church, other than the four mentioned. All sorts of excuses were given -- other churches were too far (the catholic church was an additional 2 minute walk beyond the Presbyterian church), other churches required crossing major streets (a lie, since only the Episcopal church was on the same block as the school, and the other 3 acceptable churches required walks that crossed the only two major routes in the village (state routes 21 and 31, and btw, no crossing guard).
And then there's the holiday situation discussed earlier. So many christian parents complained that our school system (where I was an administrator) restricted the scheduling of tests and MAJOR activities during Jewish holidays because, according to them, chritians didn't have any such privileges...despite the fact that christmas vacation, apparently by sheer coincidence, just happened to occur during Winter Break and Spring Break just happened to occur during Spring Break (including Good Friday); my goodness...what a coincidence! I once had a group of Jewish parents come to the school to thank me for being the first principal they had dealt with that actually honored the school system's rule regarding Jewish holidays. I also made special arrangements for our Muslim students during Ramadan.
We have seen, in this nation, what certain types of 'privilege' have led to. Slavery. The Civil War. Jim Crow. Anti-Semitism. The murder of Mormons in several locations. Laws to prohibit atheists from running for public office. And on and on.
When someone admits the existence of “Christian hegemony” but refuses to acknowledge the concept of “Christian privilege,” they are clearly intellectually capable of understanding the latter concept but simply refuse to for reasons ultimately known only to them.
I know. When I read that it made me -- literally -- laugh out loud.
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