Response to Question H

            I have been raised as a Protestant Christian, however, I do not consider myself strongly religious.  I do know that the Christian religion is considered the “privileged” religious affiliation, by the majority. What I did not realize is how apparent that theory is in everyday life in our society.  After reading the two articles “Christian Privilege” (by Lewis Schlosser), and “Christian Privilege and the Promotion of ‘Secular’ and No-So ‘Secular’ Mainline Christianity in Public Schooling and in the Larger Society” (by Warren Blumenfeld).  Both these articles talk about Christianity being the dominant, and privileged religion, while other religious affiliations are not widely recognized.  There are so many different religious practices, and it’s crazy to think that in our society majority of people only know about a common few. 

            I found three Christian privileges that Schlosser listed very interesting because I did not recognized them as religious actions.  The first was about the music on the radio, and certain television specials dedicated to Christian holidays, such as Christmas songs played the entire month of December.  The second one was, that Christians can safely assume they will not have to work or attend school on religious holidays (other people sometimes do not have that same opportunity even if it is a significant holiday to them).  Lastly, the point about Christians not needing to recognize, or learn the customs and traditions of another religion, however, majority non-Christians know about the traditions of Christianity (in our society).

I previously considered all these ideas as social norm, and did not realize they actually are associated with the Christian religion. 

            This favoritism has been going on since the colonial times; I think that is long enough for this to go unnoticed.  I am a Christian, however, I do not want to be associated with the “privileges” that go along with it if that means ignoring other religions.  This should not be about who has privilege and who doesn’t because of what they believe in, every religion should be equally respected and acknowledge in society.  No one should feel scared that their property will be vandalized due to expressing their religious beliefs, by decorating their homes, or putting a bumper sticker on their car.  Christians can do these things without a worry, so why shouldn’t others be able to?  

            I recently went abroad and visited India, China, and Morocco.  These places  have different religious affiliation, and I was lucky to learn about the traditions of these countries.  Different cultures, traditions, and religious beliefs are fascinating and everyone should take time learn about them!  No religion should be considered “better” than another, and it is about time we started acting in that way.