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Im agnostic, but it doesnt bother me that most people I encounter are Christian. I dont consider myself "unprivileged" because of it. Most countries have a main religion, or least they used to, so why shouldn't the US?
Do Hindu nations worry about their Hindu privilege? Do Muslim nations fret about their Muslim privilege? Should they?
It feels like every shred of culture and past historical norm is trying to be wiped out in the US. I realize we're called a "melting pot," but I do often wonder if other countries are ashamed of their culture and their various majority groups the way many Americans seem to be.
The way I look at it is that I have a great deal of privilege -- white privilege, middle class privilege, heterosexual privilege, are just 3 that come to mind. This doesn't mean I'm ashamed of being white, middle class or heterosexual. It just means I recognize that things are structurally easier for me in regards to those aspects of my identity, and it might be harder for others, and I might want to consider how unconscious privilege may hinder others. Nothing more than that.
I think I should go on being white, middle class and heterosexual, and I think Christians should go on being Christians. That is not the point of discussing privilege.
Of course White, Christian, middle class and/or heterosexual "norms" or "culture" might have to change its attitudes to make more room for, say, Black, Hispanic, Muslim, atheist, lower class and/or homosexual "norms" or "culture" to flourish. Some people cannot handle that. Hilarity ensues.
The problem is people wrongly conflate their accustomed norms and cultural trappings and beliefs and assumptions and a few other things with their identity, and then to accommodate other people easily becomes regarded as an existential threat when it needn't be. People feel like they are being annihilated, or at least they act like it.
I see it as social triangulation. Are you in-group or out-group? Are you a compatriot or a mark? Are you safe or unsafe? If 99% of the time the answer is the name of a church, then they probably don't worry much about the other 1% being offended.
Here's a parallel outside of religion. Ironically, by the lights of most Europeans, Americans are terribly boorish in that the first question out of their mouth tends to be, "so what do you do for a living"? I never considered this boorish or an attempt to shame anyone should they have a "lowly" job or something, it is just what I was socialized to do. But since most of the world finds that an impertinent question, I do it much less than I used to, and I never lead with it anymore. It's just a function of believing people when they tell you it makes them uncomfortable, and being respectful. Though to be honest I still think that the malfunction with it is less a matter of real faux-pas, than it is just what people are socialized to expect. In the US in "polite company" one never discusses religion or sex, and in the rest of the world, I guess they don't discuss work either. Probably because they don't look at work like we do, as some all-consuming source of identity and accomplishment. It is a necessary evil so they can get on with their actual life. We could learn something form that, lol.
I have a Brit coworker who said he was put off when he first joined us (around 30 years ago) and at our first holiday party, he was put out by the personal questions Americans ask, like where did you go to school and what did you do for a living.
In some parts of the world, these questions are designed to make a judgment about you. Think about the 1980s U2 song, "Where the Streets Have No Name". The song was written because in Belfast, "What street do you live on?" lets the questioner know if you are Catholic or Protestant with all that means in that place.
Similarly, where did you go to school, where are you from, etc., might mean a class judgment.
I have a Brit coworker who said he was put off when he first joined us (around 30 years ago) and at our first holiday party, he was put out by the personal questions Americans ask, like where did you go to school and what did you do for a living.
In some parts of the world, these questions are designed to make a judgment about you. Think about the 1980s U2 song, "Where the Streets Have No Name". The song was written because in Belfast, "What street do you live on?" lets the questioner know if you are Catholic or Protestant with all that means in that place.
Similarly, where did you go to school, where are you from, etc., might mean a class judgment.
Well it might, but in the US generally it doesn't as such, or at least I've never asked it for classist reasons. It is just a conversation starter to me. Nor do I regard where I work or where I went to school as "personal". It is public information, not a federal secret. Maybe I'd be interested in your work and like to ask you about it. Maybe you'd find my work interesting.
Still, in much of the world, these questions are considered impertinent and I will admit there was a awkward moment at my 10th high school reunion. By then I was already an independent software consultant and I asked the former basketball star of the school what he was doing these days and the answer was that he was a custodian for the state highway system, basically cleaning toilets in rest areas for a living. I didn't judge that at all, but I think he felt sheepish about it. So in certain situations maybe even in the US it's better not to go to those places. Or as I said, at least I no longer lead with it.
On the flip side of things I was at a social function once in this college town and had a delightful conversation with some random guy and only found out later that he was a nuclear physicist, a rather eminent one in fact. I have tremendous respect for anyone like that. He could have been anything or at any social level. He didn't even use big words.
I think the best evidence of Christian Privilege particularly in our part of the country is the inevitable "Have you found a church home" that you get from anybody you meet after you move to a new town.
Atheists don't get to go around saying "Have you figured out that God is just a figment of your imagination yet?"
It would be rude to do so. And any Christian would tell you that as would probably 99% of atheists.
But Christians don't see it as being rude when they ask about the "church home thing" even though it is really uncomfortable to deal with for non- believers. The funny thing is that Christians see it as a nice thing to do.
I got that a lot when I moved to Colorado Springs, a fairly religious place. Even the clerk in the grocery store one day just because she noticed I had a new store member card!
Im agnostic, but it doesnt bother me that most people I encounter are Christian. I dont consider myself "unprivileged" because of it. Most countries have a main religion, or least they used to, so why shouldn't the US?
Do Hindu nations worry about their Hindu privilege? Do Muslim nations fret about their Muslim privilege? Should they?
It feels like every shred of culture and past historical norm is trying to be wiped out in the US. I realize we're called a "melting pot," but I do often wonder if other countries are ashamed of their culture and their various majority groups the way many Americans seem to be.
When someone asks you, do you tell them you're agnostic?
When someone asks you, do you tell them you're agnostic?
My actual answer is, "I'm a humble agnostic." Then, if they seem curious, I explain that I am humble enough to know I don't have all the answers, and I don't believe anyone on earth possibly can.
Im agnostic, but it doesnt bother me that most people I encounter are Christian. I dont consider myself "unprivileged" because of it. Most countries have a main religion, or least they used to, so why shouldn't the US?
Do Hindu nations worry about their Hindu privilege? Do Muslim nations fret about their Muslim privilege? Should they?
It feels like every shred of culture and past historical norm is trying to be wiped out in the US. I realize we're called a "melting pot," but I do often wonder if other countries are ashamed of their culture and their various majority groups the way many Americans seem to be.
There are two kinds of people in in majority cultures, the ones who believe they are indeed privileged and consider it is only natural, and the other who worry how that undermines the culture, causes divisions, and is politically harmful. Hindus in India do in fact worry about Hindu privilege that has turned into ugly nationalism, and has caused hate, violence, and oppression towards minorities. The test for a healthy democracy is how safe do minorities feel, and how confident that their voice counts.
That said, as a Hindu in America, I do not feel marginalized by a Christian majority.
My actual answer is, "I'm a humble agnostic." Then, if they seem curious, I explain that I am humble enough to know I don't have all the answers, and I don't believe anyone on earth possibly can.
Frankly I see more Islamophobia in these forum among atheists, and outside by big voices such as Bill Maher, and some of his guests. Where I live in the Northeast, very rarely. But then I am not Muslim so I cannot really speak for how they feel.
Frankly I see more Islamophobia in these forum among atheists, and outside by big voices such as Bill Maher, and some of his guests. Where I live in the Northeast, very rarely. But then I am not Muslim so I cannot really speak for how they feel.
Could you point to some specific posts that are Islamophobic?
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