(NAME-MCE) My Solution to the Problem

[Bill Howe]

What do you say to those that claim this is akin to throwing out the
baby with the bathwater? Can we not have an interfaith society where
one does not feel they must keep their faith in the closet? Is it not
possible to enjoy the celebration of all faiths? Some of my best
friends are Yankees fans. I don't root for their team but we share a
love of the sport.

On 4/14/09, Blumenfeld, Warren [C I] <wblumen at iastate.edu> wrote:
> Dear Bill,
>
> Since you asked about my solution to the problem of religous imposition, I
> suggest that we continue to ensure that we as a nation respect religion by
> keeping it within the private sphere, where everyone continues to have the
> freedom to worship or not as they see fit. But I would propose to keep
> religion out of the public/governmental spheres. Take it off of our
> currency, delete it from the pledge of allegiance, take it from our public
> and governmental celebrations and official functions like the presidential
> inauguration, congressional gatherings, judicial hearings; and keep it out
> of the commerical sphere--shopping malls, public street decorations, etc.
> The commercialization of religion not only cheapens religion, but it also
> imposes religion on others.
>
> Most of the religious hegemony evident in this country is Christian
> hegemony. The concept of "hegemony" (Gramsci, 1971) describes the ways in
> which the dominant group, in this case Christians in general and
> predominantly Protestants, successfully disseminate dominant social
> realities and social visions in a manner accepted as common sense, as
> "normal," as universal. The dominant group (in this instance, Christians)
> reiterates its values and practices while marginalizing and subordinating
> those who do not adhere to Christian faith traditions.
>
> Based on Peggy McIntosh's (1988) pioneering investigations of white and male
> privilege, we can, by analogy, understand Christian privilege as
> constituting a seemingly invisible, unearned, and largely unacknowledged
> array of benefits accorded to Christians, with which they often
> unconsciously walk through life as if effortlessly carrying a knapsack
> tossed over their shoulders. This system of benefits confers dominance on
> Christians while subordinating members of other faith communities as well as
> non-believers. These systemic inequities are pervasive throughout the
> society. They are encoded into the individual's consciousness and woven into
> the fabric of our social institutions, resulting in a stratified social
> order privileging dominant ("agent") groups while restricting and
> disempowering subordinate ("target") groups.
>
> As there is a spectrum of Christian denominations and traditions, so too is
> there a hierarchy or continuum of Christian privilege based on 1) historical
> factors, 2) numbers of practitioners, and 3) degrees of social power. In
> this regard, in a United States context, though the gap in privilege between
> Christian denominations is apparently shrinking, white Protestant
> denominations may still have some greater degrees of Christian privilege,
> relative to some minority Christian denominations, for example, African
> American, Latino/a, and Asian churches, Eastern and Greek Orthodox, Amish,
> Mennonites, Quakers, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, adherents
> to Christian Science, and to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
> Saints, and still in some quarters, to Catholics.
>
> Religion and spirituality are private matters between individuals and
> families. Religion and religious practices should not be imposed upon those
> who do not as members of dominant groups may believe. We truly need to
> separate religion from government, and religion from the public square.
>
> Best,
> Warren Blumenfeld
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:11:24 -0400
> From: "Bill Howe" <bill at billhowe.org>
> Subject: Re: (NAME-MCE) U.S. & Christian Privilege
> To: "'NAME-MCE - National Association for Multicultural Education
>         EmailDiscussion Group'" <name-mce at nameorg.org>
> Message-ID: <4E24C406F7F843CEA4C229249A750557 at multicul6c1705>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="us-ascii"
>
> Warren:
>
> What is your "solution" to this "problem"?
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org [mailto:name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org] On
> Behalf Of Blumenfeld, Warren [C I]
> Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 12:28 PM
> To: Blumenfeld, Warren [C I]; name-mce at nameorg.org
> Subject: (NAME-MCE) U.S. & Christian Privilege
>
>
>
> U.S. & Christian Privilege
>
> by Warren J. Blumenfeld
>
>
>
> As spring peers forth from the soil and tree limbs, the annual Easter egg
> roll, sponsored by the President of the United States and the First Lady,
> thrills elementary and pre-school age children each year, a tradition
> dating
> back to 1879. Introduced by a beautiful rendition by Fergie of the Star
> Spangled Banner, this year, Barack and Michelle Obama invited 35,000
> children representing 42 states. Also, in school classrooms throughout the
> country, students and their teachers dip hardboiled eggs into brightly
> colored dyes, and display Easter eggs of pink, yellow, blue, green, red,
> and
> lavender. An excitement wafts through the classroom as students imagine
> sharing their treasures with parents or caregivers, as teachers reward the
> good work of their charges with delicious gleaming chocolate bunnies.
>
>
>
> Many people (most likely the majority) consider these events, played out in
> Washington, DC and in some schools in the United States, as normal,
> appropriate, and joyous seasonal activities. Upon critical reflection,
> however, others experience them as some of the many examples of
> institutional (governmental and educational) (re)enforcements of dominant
> Christian standards and what is referred to as "Christian privilege,"
> though
> presented in presumably secularized forms. They represent some of the ways
> in which the dominant group (in this instance, Christians) reiterates its
> values and practices while marginalizing and subordinating those who do not
> adhere to Christian faith traditions. I ask then, is this country one that
> truly separates religion from government? If not, how do we make it so?
>
>
>
> Warren J. Blumenfeld is co-editor of Investigating Christian Privilege and
> Religious Oppression in the United States, 2009, Sense Publishers
>
>
>
> Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld
> Department of Curriculum & Instruction
> Iowa State University
> Ames, IA 50011-3192
> Office Phone: (515) 294-5931
> Office Fax:     (515) 294-6206
> Home Phone: (515) 232-8230
>
>
>
>

-- 
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Bill Howe
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