The Basics of Christian Privilege

As the PEW research center finds, 87% of Christians, no matter country they live in, find themselves being a part of the majority religion in their society. Anybody whose willing to drive two blocks down their neighborhood could confirm that America is no different. 

Most Christians  don't think twice about how their Religion effects how people treat them -- that's because being a Christian is relatively normal in our society. Meanwhile, thousands of others are discriminated for their beliefs: the Jewish, the Muslim, even Atheists. Too often, having one of these faiths is seen as a cultural or moral blemish. The reality of the world that we live in a culture not of Christian persecution, but Christian privilege.

Last week, we witnessed the death of three innocent Chapel Hill students who were killed because they were Muslim. The news doesn't cover things like this often, but let it be known that -especially to Muslims- hate crimes like these are far from being rare occurrences. In fact, According to the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division's most recent report,  16.9%  of hate crimes are motivated by racial bias.

But bias isn't just defined by violence. It's the little things. 

Last month, Buzzfeed released a video of what happened when four women decided to wear a hijab for a day. 

None of these four women were attacked, but they did experience bias. People stared, some were excessively nice to them; one of the women wearing a hijab was even told that she "[didn't] have to wear that in America." Overall, they were treated differently. 

Granted, bias against Islam is a form of both religious and cultural bias, but that's not the point. The point is, as a Christian, I don't have to worry about my safety if I choose to wear a cross. I don't have to worry about being called a terrorist or old fashioned. As a Christian, I live in a world without fear of violence or ridicule, while people of other religions do every single day. 

Christian privilege is yet another form of privilege because most people bias against those of other religions, and here in America, there is an overwhelming majority of Christians who, like anybody else, are prone to inherently judge those of different faiths. Just like we can't persecute those of different races, genders, and abilities, we can't persecute people because of their race. Most of all, those who are a part of the majority, just like those who are able-bodied, male, or white, Christians need to openly admit the privilege that they have in this culture and help lessen the burden of fellow humans who are victimized because of their differences.