I don’t know how many of you heard about this.
In the past, we called privilege by the word “blessing.”
- It’s a blessing to be raised in an intact family.
- It’s a blessing to have believing parents.
- It’s a blessing to have parents who save and scrape in order to send me to a private school.
- It’s a blessing to be raised in a community with like-minded families.
I could go on.
But now, they are relabeling that as privilege. These are things for others to be resentful of. And for those of us who have received unmerited blessings to be ashamed of.
And, right on cue, here comes higher education to pile on the guilt.
There’s a new privilege for malcontents to obsess over: Christian privilege. The phenomenon must be real because George Washington University is holding a programabout it:
How do Christians in the USA experience life in an easier way than non-Christians? Even with the separation of Church and State, are there places where Christians have built-in advantages over non-Christians? How do we celebrate Christian identities and acknowledge that Christians receive unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country? Let’s reflect upon ways we can live up to our personal and national values that make room for all religious and secular identities on an equal playing field. All are welcome!
Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to describe what is meant by privilege overall and white privilege specifically.
Participants will be able to describe the role of denial when it comes to white privilege.
Participants will be able to differentiate between equality and equity.
Participants will be able to list at least three examples of Christian privilege.
Participants will be able to list at least three ways to be an ally with a non-Christian person.Looking at a fewsitesthatdiscuss“Christian privilege,” the closest thing to an example I’ve been able to find is thatChristians get to take a few religious holidays. As a non-Christian, this never bothered me because I got to take them too.
Sure, Christians get a double benefit. They don’t have to work or go to school, plus they are able to celebrate a holiday. But you have to be awfully small-minded to view this as consequential enough to constitute a “privilege.”
When I was kid, the only privilege I thought Christians had in relation to Jews was that they didn’t have to attend Hebrew school. As an adult, I realized that the rigorous training many young Jews receive in preparation for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah is actually an advantage (which is what I think leftists often mean when they talk of privilege). It gives Jews a flying start in acquiring the kind of academic discipline they need as they enter the key years of their pre-college education.
In that sense, I suppose Jews are “privileged,” but the advantage is earned.