Dealing with Christian Privilege

[Esiris]

I don't have a problem with Christianity, or Christians- but I'm developing a lot of resentment towards Christian Privilege because of school.

In English I'm told by my groupmates that I don't deserve the same rights they have because of my gender and orientation.

I'm on the college's Diversity Committee, I ask for a representative for Religious Diversity on the upcoming Diversity Panel and Campus Discussion, everyone is like "Yeah! We should have a Christian Minister come and talk about Diversity and Acceptance!"
I said "Why don't we get someone who isn't Christian to represent religious diversity?" I got shouted down.

In Art Club, our Club President lectures about how God has blessed us, and so we should be sure our club wins the food drive! My response is "Not everyone is that well off." She insisted we all were and we should donate $35 a piece.
"Look lady- I go to the food bank, I can't afford to donate to it."- basically being forced to expose my lack of privilege in front of strangers because she wouldn't take my word for it, using her religion as a soapbox in a club that has nothing to do with Christianity.

It's making me want to drop out of the clubs. scream

How do people deal with the abuse of Christian privilege when it's targeting you?  

[Doctrix]

I think that the problem here is less that you're dealing with Christian privilage and more that you're a minority dealing with young people.

Young people who, when in a group of peers, decided to bully you based on gender and orientation simply because they were different

Young people who want a Christian Minister to talk about diversity because they are worried that somebody different from them wouldn't make sense and they wouldn't be able to understand.

Young peope who have never had to worry about where their next meal is coming from and think that the poor people they're helping are smudge-faced ragged kids like on TV, not the strong student next to them.

If I were you, I'd try to stop the resentment and feeling of isolation from creeping in not by focusing on differences like Christian privilage, but trying to find common ground. You'll have to be the better person here. Treat Christian bullys like you would any other bully. Agree to having the Christian Minister come, but talk to him before hand about your problems so that he can address your peers in their language and help them understand. Point out that you know real people that could be helped be helped by the food drive and instead of donating money offer to help them volunteer to directly give food to your food bank or cook a meal for your neighbors and family.

It is tough being a minority, but even tougher being a kid. Good luck.  

[Esiris]

Doctrix

I think that the problem here is less that you're dealing with Christian privilage and more that you're a minority dealing with young people.

Young people who, when in a group of peers, decided to bully you based on gender and orientation simply because they were different

They said it's because it's a sin- that's pretty much Christian Privilege.

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Young people who want a Christian Minister to talk about diversity because they are worried that somebody different from them wouldn't make sense and they wouldn't be able to understand.

Isn't that the essence of Christian Privilege? That they don't want to consider another view point because it wouldn't make sense to their world view so because they're a majority they don't have to?

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Young peope who have never had to worry about where their next meal is coming from and think that the poor people they're helping are smudge-faced ragged kids like on TV, not the strong student next to them.

I think the Christian Privilege in that instance was the assumption that we all have the same religion so setting the discussion in terms of God's Blessing is normal.

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If I were you, I'd try to stop the resentment and feeling of isolation from creeping in not by focusing on differences like Christian privilage, but trying to find common ground.

I think I have ever right to resent the treatment I receieve and to be upset about it- I don't like my status as a minority being a tool to discount my perspective and I'm justified in being angry about it.

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You'll have to be the better person here. Treat Christian bullys like you would any other bully.

I don't think this is about being the better person any more than sitting in the Birmingham Jail was about King being better than the ministers he wrote his letters to- there's privilege and it can be oppressive. Our campus stresses diversity and inclusiveness- but in practice it doesn't happen. Racial, religious and LGBT minorities are discriminated against- not by the faculty, but by other students.

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Agree to having the Christian Minister come, but talk to him before hand about your problems so that he can address your peers in their language and help them understand.

I don't really want to- I don't think it's appropriate for a Cis-Hetero speaker to talk about the importance of equal rights for LGBT people when there are plenty of LGBT people out there who want to do it- just because someone who is Cis and Hetero will make the people listening more comfortable in their bias and privilege- I feel the same about having a Christian mouthpiece for Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Pagan students.

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It is tough being a minority, but even tougher being a kid. Good luck.

I'm an adult on a commuter campus. sweatdrop  

[Doctrix]

Esiris

I'm an adult on a commuter campus. sweatdrop

Oh, wow, maturity of your fellow students fail. xp I'm so sorry.

I'm not saying you don't have a right to be angry. You do. But if what you do with your anger is further devisive, it can't be constructive or healthy for you.

This is a facinating topic with no easy answers. I'd love to write a book on the topic, but I'd have to have the knowledge and research to back it up. I'm interested to read other perspectives in this thread.  

[Esiris]

Doctrix

Oh, wow, maturity of your fellow students fail. xp I'm so sorry.

I'm not saying you don't have a right to be angry. You do. But if what you do with your anger is further devisive, it can't be constructive or healthy for you.

I agree there's a constructive and healthy way to deal with this- but I don't think that being divisive is always a bad thing- it can create change.

Thoreau said "Action from principle, the perception and the performance of right, changes things and relations; it is essentially revolutionary, and does not consist wholly with anything which was. It not only divides States and churches, it divides families; ay, it divides the individual, separating the diabolical in him from the divine."

Plato idolized Socrates and in the Apology compared him to a gadfly stinging the idleness of men's minds, and King talked about tension being useful from his jail cell. (Blame my English prof- this is the paper she's having me write this weekend sweatdrop )

That was why I was looking for how people handle privilege- in this case Christian privilege, being used as a tool to hurt others.  

[TeaDidikai]

If you're being harassed, talk to your dean.
If you just don't like what they have to say, tell them so and explain why.  

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

Its actually interesting how you started this and today was our international dinner on campus. They started out welcoming everyone and yadda yadda then right before they were letting people go get their food the one student senator said "And now (insert other senator's name) will bless the food."

Me and my friend looked at each other after the prayer. I told him, "Why did they do that when this is an international dinner and everyone here is not Christian?"
Unless for some odd reason that's one of the stipulations now in order to be an international student at our college.

But I think people tend to forget that there are people that can't afford much that do still attend college. I was in a General Meeting a couple weeks ago while I waited for my sister to come pick me up after she went to the gym and one of the student sentaors brought up that there was a committee to discuss ways to bring down book prices in our book store since they're so high. The other officer in the club I'm in that was there spoke up saying "They should do ebooks" and how people should go out and buy a Kindle.
I ended up somewhat fighting him on that one. He knew for part of the semester I had no internet, no reliable transportation to a library, and no money so how would ebooks have helped people in that type of situation. But the senators praised him for the idea and just looked at me like I was crazy.  

[Randi The Rogue]

If they're being judgmental just quote the bible to them. Pulling that off usually shuts 'em up.

E.G Matthew 7:1-2:
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you."  

[Esiris]

Randi The Rogue

If they're being judgmental just quote the bible to them. Pulling that off usually shuts 'em up.

E.G Matthew 7:1-2:
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you."

That really doesn't work in these cases- they just say that being judged is ok because they're not choosing to sin like I am. :rolls:
And I don't think quoting the Bible will do anything to lessen their Christian Privilege- so it doesn't really answer my question. sweatdrop

I have lots of ways of dealing with jerks- I'm looking for ways to deal with their religious privilege.  

[Randi The Rogue]

Esiris

That really doesn't work in these cases- they just say that being judged is ok because they're not choosing to sin like I am. :rolls:

... So they're basically ignoring rules from their own religious text? Geez. Personally, I wouldn't keep putting myself through this but I would see it as less giving up and more shunning them because they're all a bunch of jerks. Could you, perchance, start your own group instead of being a part of theirs?  

[Esiris]

Randi The Rogue

Could you, perchance, start your own group instead of being a part of theirs?

Nope, the college has standards for clubs and no faculty will devote their time to hosting an identical club just because one student is uncomfortable.  

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

Just thinking about it, but ask them to point out in the Bible where it says that you are a sin.
I have a friend that says that the only sin committed it when a person breaks The Ten Commandments.

And I'm pretty sure that verse does still apply to what they're doing to you no matter what they say.  

[Esiris]

X-Yami-no-Ko-X

Just thinking about it, but ask them to point out in the Bible where it says that you are a sin.
I have a friend that says that the only sin committed it when a person breaks The Ten Commandments.

And I'm pretty sure that verse does still apply to what they're doing to you no matter what they say.

That doesn't really deal with their privilege though. sweatdrop  

[maenad nuri]

I think a lot of it does have to do with a lot of the students being young and this being the first time they've had to deal with this. Keep pushing when these things happen, because eventually, something has to break through to them.

Facing privilege is a long, hard process. Maybe suggest a project that deals with layered of interconnected privilege? That way they get introducted to the concept without them thinking it's about you.  

[Esiris]

maenad nuri

I think a lot of it does have to do with a lot of the students being young and this being the first time they've had to deal with this. Keep pushing when these things happen, because eventually, something has to break through to them.

Facing privilege is a long, hard process. Maybe suggest a project that deals with layered of interconnected privilege? That way they get introducted to the concept without them thinking it's about you.

That's a great idea!