30+ Examples of Christian Privilege

How about this? 

“In the event of a divorce, the judge won’t immediately grant custody of your children to your ex because of your faith.”

To anyone who doesn’t believe this happens, google pagan mom loses custody. 

As an addendum to point 3, though, it’s not only that it’s easy enough to find a specific store selling Christian religious articles. It’s that you probably won’t find a Big Box store that DOESN’T carry Christian Bibles (at the very least) and other religious books (primarily of the pop Christian self-help or fiction variety). 

Your new partner’s (is that the inclusive word? boyfriend/girlfriend/partner) grandparents won’t immediately hate you on account of your religion.

 You can hang out with other members of your faith, and it isn’t automatically “a group of Christians”.

You almost never have to explain the major tenants of your faith to those you meet, much less explain away negative stereotypes.

You rarely have to teach your children about other faiths so that they get cultural and literary references.

“…you’ll start to realize how much work we have to do to make the United States a place that is truly safe and accessible for folks of all faiths.”
What about people of no faith?!

I appreciate that you’ve made a list of things you believe to be advantages of being Christian; however, I’m unsure of how accurately these can be interpreted.  For example:
1. Yes, admittedly we are “guaranteed” Christmas off, but other than Christmas (and for some jobs even that), you are never “guaranteed time off.”  Doesn’t everyone, regardless of faith, get those days off, too?  The days off are not given because we are Christian, but because of (by now) mostly tradition.  So while I cannot dismiss that Christmas is a day we celebrate, we do not get it off solely because of our faith.  Your statement seems to imply “Christians get their special days off and are guaranteed to because of their faith, while other faiths do not.”  Some people still work on Christmas, Christian or not.  No one is denied time off because of their religion, or if they are that’s against the constitution.  A better phrasing would be, *1-2 of the mandatory federal days off for the year coincide with Christian holidays, and most other religions do not have a holiday which happens to coincide, so most Christians, who work “regular” jobs, do not need to take off 2 additional days a year for holidays which they would intend to celebrate either way.”

You probably didn’t phrase it that way because it loses most of the effectiveness of “making Christians think harder about their faith.”

2 & 3. I kind of fail to understand how this is something that makes the US “unfruendly” toward other faiths.  Christian business come and go, and they can fail like any other business venture.  The fact that Christians have devoted COUNTLESS hours and funds towards support for Christian things is precisely why there is a prevalence of what we see.  If other faiths had spent as much time and effort as Christians had in America, then they would also see a prevalence of their things in the USA.  Christians are supposed to tithe 10% to the church.  Do you support local Atheist/Jewish/Agnostic/Hindu/Buddhist/Shinto shrine with that amount of money?  I live in Japan, and Fushimi Inari is an example fo the money Shinto followers spend on their religion for that temple.  Thousands of orange tori lined up back to back.  It’s astounding.  So is that found to be offensive to me?  No way!  It’s amazing that they’ve donated so much for those gates.  I don’t agree with the religion, but you can’t fault the prevalence because the people have poured their time, energy, money, and talent into it, can you?  I don’t know if it qualifies as making the US “unsafe” as you mentioned… if there was a market for Hindu or Buddhist sutras or literature, then people would buy it.  Right?

I could go down your entire list like this, I almost feel like.  Do all mothers lose their children because they’re not Christian?  No!  It may have happened, and that’s a tragedy.  I don’t agree with a ruling for that reason alone AT ALL.  But just because it happened once, doesn’t mean you can add it as a blanket statement for the entire US as if “it were guaranteed that we’d get our child simply because we’re Christian in a court of law.”  We’re not, or we’re not supposed to.  So it’s a shame, but it’s also rather saddening, to me, to think that Christians are being written about as if we want that, or as if we’re oppressing others because of it as if it were LAW.  It’s not.

Also, this blog seems to only focus on those living in America.  I’m living overseas in Japan, and I don’t feel entitled to Christian parapernalia over here.  Your argument against other religions which have not had as much time or effort coming to America, would be the same as if I started yelling at the Japanese that it’s not fair there isn’t more Christian stuff in their own country, right?  It doesn’t make sense, because most of your arguments are only a minority of the time (or part, sometimes admittedly over half).

You also write about how our faith “is accepted everywhere” and yet your blog, in itself, shows that you are saying things against my faith, and there’s a rising group of people who think just like you do.  You are passive-agressively attacking Christianity, then doing exactly what you claim we do — holding up somekind of “victim” flag when attacked back.  “I was just trying to write something peaceful”, but your intro paragraph says much to the opposite.  I’ve been accosted and ridiculed, especially in my college, for holding my faith in Christ and believing it can coexist with the beliefs of much of science.  Students regularly laughed at anyone in my group.  So to say we can go “anywhere” without ridicule is… well, ridiculous (which you said in 8).

Now I can’t say that all your points are invalid, but your blog purports that Christians “get some kind of preferencial treatment, and are holding down other groups and religions.”  Which certainly is not the case.  We tolerate, but do not agree or accept the beliefs as correct of others.  Other groups yell at us and scream that “WE MUST ACCEPT YOU!” and that is when we say no.  We are called not to force our beliefs on others, but we do offer.  We do not force people to be Christian, but when you infringe on our own rights as Christians, that is when we feel attacked.  We CANNOT accept your points of view, but we can be certainly more than willing to let you hold them even though we think they’re wrong.  Your blog does well to try and point things out, but your view of the world, and about how coexisting and living together practically can work… still needs to develop a bit more.  There will always be conflict, but your arguments need to show depth of insight for both sides, and not just your own with some “this happened once” reasons to try and make the other side “back-down.”

Sam, 

As a Christian, I have to say that I think this is a well written article that helps me to once again stop and think about the experiences of those around me.  For me this article in no way came across as an attack on Christianity, but a recognition of privilege that exists, just as many other forms of privilege exist.  It was a mixture of things that I think of regularly and some that I had not considered before, but once I read realized how true they were.  Of course, there are moments where I could site exceptions I’ve experienced to some of these privileges, but they are just that exceptions to the more general rule of the privilege I experience on a regular basis.  

What upsets me is not this article, but hearing how many angry/mean responses that you received in various forms to the article.  For me that kind of unwarranted outrage, and quite frankly the hate that is too often spewed from some Christians (or at least some who choose to claim Christianity as their religion), has no place in my faith.  Intellectual dialogue about differing points of view is important, and I understand that faith/religion/spirituality is very personal, but I believe that people can be passionate and civil at the same time.  

Thank you for the work that you are doing!

Good points.

This year I’ve been working on finding ways to talk about privilege and entitlement, and this list really nails one area of privilege solidly, and some of the comments absolutely illustrate the reluctance of the privileged to see the logic, so stuck are they on protecting the norms to which they (probably unconsciously) believe they are entitled.

Thanks for this. I’m sharing widely, but also internalising for future discussions. Together we can make things better.

I don’t know that I agree with all of these. It could be more of an exception than a rule, or it could just be specifically where I live, but I’m frequently mocked, judged, laughed at, etc. Because Christian is such a common religion, many think I’m just a follower. The less common a religion is, the more seriously people take followers of that religion. But no one is respected like an atheist. Is this just something that happens around me?

I’ve got one to add.
“People around you are likely to accept your faith as an indication that you are good and trustworthy without consideration of your actual behavior.”

How many times have we heard about friends/neighbors of convicted criminals saying something like “Oh! I can’t believe he’d do such a thing! He goes to my church every Sunday!”?

A few observations from my life as member of one of the larger Christian faiths of this privileged class.

1) Every job I have worked in high school, I was forced to work Christmas and Easter. Wow members of “minority religion” were able to get days off on short notice due to their holidays, even if all TTO was supposed to be closed for that day. This was because, the company was more worried about being sued by them for religious discrimination than by “Mainstream religion.”

2) Any day of the week, any time of the year, I can turn on the TV and find a program, actor, or comedian mocking my religion.

3) Because the items required to practice my faith have everyday non-religious uses. Candles, incense, table clothes, water and bread are all easy to come by.

4) I can’t publicly celebrate my religious holidays, without being treated like some social pariah that is trying to force his religion on other people.

5) See #4 above.

6) Due to Constant media coverage of Individuals with Anna my religion, doing certain criminal acts, despite the statistical occurrence of it being no greater than any other organization religious or otherwise, If I publicly worship I am treated like I am already guilty of those same actions. And often have to defend myself from verbal threats and abuse over it.

7) Cars have been vandalized during religious service for no other reason than they were parked at my place of worship. When worshipping during certain times of the year, we need to provide security to protect people from being attacked in the parking lot while coming or going.

8) I cannot express, wear, or display anything regarding my religion at work without being disciplined for creating a “hostile work environment.” But my office has a conference room scheduled for two hours out of every day to provide a place to pray for a different religion.

9) I wouldn’t expect a jury of my faith. And depending on the nature of the case, I can expect them to hold my religion against me.

10) Funny point on that, in the gospel, Jesus says that is a sin to do so, but most Christians don’t know that.

11) Negative references to my faith are seen dozens of times a day by everyone regardless of their faith.

12) Many political analysts say that it is impossible for members of certain Christian faiths to ever be elected to certain political offices.

13) Bush was constantly mocked for expressing his religion while in office. Obama’s faith is constantly challenged and mocked.

14) It’s just as easy to find my faith misrepresented in television, movies, books, and other media.

15) I can reasonably assume that anyone I encounter will think they have a decent understanding of my beliefs, but in truth know almost nothing and what they think they know is wrong.

16) I’m required to take annual diversity training to learn more about other religions. Members of those other religions are not required to learn anything about mine.

17) My wife cannot get work in our town, and has been denied interviews, because she won’t violate the tenants of her faith by working on the Sabbath.

18) There are careers that won’t hire some one of my faith because they think every one of my faith will do certain criminal actions.

19) True only if you think having to deal with vandalism, bomb threats, and the need for security to be accepted and safe.

20) Maybe not the “Christian friend” but often labeled as the “Jesus freak” or “bible thumping” friend.

21) But get treated with doubt, disbelief, and the exception to my faith when I stand against discrimination for other faiths, life styles, or LBGT despite that acceptance of such is the official stance of my faith.

24) I’m often expected to not only speak on behalf of all members of my faith, but also on behalf of all members of other faiths because people constantly make the false assumption that all Christian faiths are the same.

25) I could assume that. But I would be wrong.

26) If my children practice their faith in school they will be expelled, but a member of another faith won’t because it would be discrimination to do so.

Related note, every tenured professor of my department in college was either Hindi or Islam. And when they tried to hire a new professor who was of my faith, they couldn’t because he was a white male, and the University president said they could only hire a minority, so they went with a doctor from India.

27) Your friends are those you choose to associate with. This doesn’t magically change just because you belong to a different faith.

28) The local education institution of my faith was forced to close. And education institution of my wife’s faith isn’t considered a “real education” by other institutions when it comes to the sciences, because they integrate their faith.

29 & 30) Both have happened.

31) Not true at all.

32) Also not true. Even with me saying this, I expect it will happen in response to this.

33) Given all of the above, and that I’m a member of one of the larger Christian faiths, forgive me if I don’t feel all that privileged.

This is what you get in a nation founded on Christian principles…nothing wrong with it, unlike today’s liberal thinkers, the founding fathers of this nation were much less tolerant of other beliefsystems, they practiced slavery and intended nothing but to install ONE NATION UNDER GOD, not Allah, Buddah or Captain Cangaroo, so that Christians of all denominations might have a home in the world…try to advocate the above mentioned liberties in countries like Syria, Iran, or India, they will laugh you out of town…

When people ask “Are you religious?” You can just answer, “Yes.”, rather than “Yes, but…” because you don’t want them to make a false assumption about you.

You can use “God” or “god” as a word or name, and the other person will likely assume correctly which one you’re referring to, without your prefacing it with “my”, “the” or “a”, or choosing an alternate word to distinguish your deity from the one that’s commonly perceived.

People will probably not assume you’re an atheist or agnostic just because you’ve stated that you don’t share some particular belief or engage in some particular practice.

People will not assume that you have no system of values/ethics because of your choice of religion.

People will not generally assume that your faith is a phase you’re going through, or that you adopted it specifically as a rejection of, or rebellion against, another faith.

People will not usually ask “how did you get into that?!” or “what do your parents think of that?” (despite your being an adult!) when you tell them which religion you belong to.

It’s likely that people will not assume you came to your faith through coersion or brainwashing.

You can donate money to a clergy person or religious organization, and it’s likely that others won’t accuse you of being in a cult because of it.

Teenagers in your religion can easily find others of the same faith to connect with and groups to join, organized by competent adult role models, and no one will accuse those adults of corrupting the youth, or question their motivations. The same is true for teaching young children about your faith.

Accurate information is readily available about your religion, and you generally don’t have to correct other people’s misunderstandings about the basic tenets, practices, or symbols of your faith.

One who has the calling to do so can (in most denominations) take on leadership roles, work in a place of worship, or assume a monastic life as a viable choice of career vocation. Many religions do not have large enough communities to support paid clergy, or don’t have permanent buildings dedicated to their faith in most areas.

As a Mormon (and I consider us Christian, though I understand the arguments against), this was an interesting read. My faith gives me some of these privileges (common holidays, safety), but leaves me very much out of others. Tokenism, media and in-person misunderstandings and misrepresentations are all common. Fascinating.

Thank you for writing this article. Skimming through the comments reaffirmed my original suspicion that it would be a heated topic, not only because talking about any kind of privilege can make people uncomfortable and defensive, but also because religion is very personal. It can be hard to take something so personal and see it in the context of an outsider and see its effects in the world at large. It’s easy to read this list and subconsciously start ranking things as “things I do” and “things I probably do” and “things I definitely don’t do” or else “important things” and “things people should get over/things that don’t matter/things that don’t *really* happen” without realizing that the fact that any of these things happen at all, the fact that they contribute to privilege in some way, is what’s bad, not what any individual thinks they do or thinks matters more or less. The comments on this post range from supportive to defensive to dismissive to neutral, but I just wanted to add my voice to the support, because I’m glad that you tackled this issue. The more people who confront power disparity and share with others, the more privilege is weakened, and the closer we can all get to equality on issues like this.

Hog wash.! I’ll not even address the inaccurate assumptions asserted here. They indicate that we are privileged because we have two holidays – Christmas and Easter. WOW! There are several other holidays that are celebrated that have nothing to do with Christianity. Several of the exceptions are simply not true and some are afforded to other religions. I happen pastor a Baptist church where people are welcome to come and worship the Lord if they chose. Yes there are restrictions as to who may become a member but in no way suppress others to come and worship. And by the way Sam, you are welcome to come and worship with us. If you have attended most public school k-12 and schools of higher learning you will discover that Christians are not that welcome and are many times ridiculed by their teachers. I could go one but it would not serve any goal. I respect your opinion, but please be faithful in realizing that it is only an opinion.

This is so very true! And being in ministry myself and drawing from many spiritual sources I find it to be accurate that Christian privilege exists.

There’s a flip side too that in the realms where there is an effort to be spiritually inclusive “Christian” becomes a bad word, and heaven forbid you bring up Jesus or the cross as something meaningful to share in certain purposefully interfaith spaces. I have in my experience found that some people would rather do a meditation or read something Buddha wrote than risk sharing New Testament materials and upsetting anyone, even if that means being less authentic to themselves. Interfaith should mean still being different faiths but dialoguing together about what’s meaningful, not shutting up one group entirely so that everyone else can dialogue without them (though there is some need for those spaces too).

I personally find that progressiveness must mean cultural humility, religious and spiritual humility, especially for Christians in the US–not shutting up the Christians but opening up the dominant culture to recognizing the things on this list and bolstering curiosity about other faiths rather than suspicion. In return I would hope that Jesus and the cross doesn’t have to disappear, but rather other faiths are more strongly accepted and given space for visibility and given voices to prevent invisibility.

People will not automatically assume you do horrible things like sacrificing small animals / put hexes on people / worship Satan…

Hi Sam, thanks very much for this! I used some of this in my sermon on Sunday. http://youtu.be/0OlxK6nRkX4

I actually do have “Christian” friends that I tolerate. But they’re the ones that are super public about it, without being fundie (or why would I be acquaintances with them). I think that the young college world I live in is both Christian and Atheist privileged (or at the very least, “CE Christian” privileged, meaning people who are “Christian” but really only go to church on Christmas and Easter).