(NAME-MCE) Christian Privilege

[Cathryn Teasley]

Dear Warren, Lisa and others,

In Spain, where I am an educator, laïcité (a term promoted during the 
French Revolution, it refers to the complete separation of religious 
influences --iconography, messages, decisions, conditions, actions, etc.-- 
from public spheres of decision-making and collective belonging, such as 
the state) has been rediscovered and reactivated following 40 years of 
"national Catholicism" in Spain, which was enforced in public schooling and 
government during the Franco dictatorship. Following that regime, with 
Spain's transition to democracy in the late 1970s (well, to a parliamentary 
monarchy, which defines the current Spanish State), various pedagogical and 
social movements have been struggling to rid Spanish government of all 
remaining religious influences, which are many. Laïcité has been 
"rediscovered" here in the sense that it was originally pursued during the 
progressive years of the Second Republic (1931-1936), but prematurely 
abandoned with the initation of the Franco regime in 1939, following the 
civil war.

To this day, Catholic symbolism, influences and privileges permeate the 
Spanish public sphere. For instance, one may still come across crucifixes 
in public school classrooms even though such manifestations are 
un-Constitutional. And State ties with the Vatican are present both 
formally, through special accords, policies and diplomatic relations, and 
informally, through the ritual Catholic influences in governmental 
ceremonies and acts, as well as through a lack of enforcement of 
secularization where required. Another example is the important treaty that 
was hastily signed by Spain and the Vatican just before the new democratic 
Constitution went into effect in 1978. This treaty preserves Church 
privileges in the public education system. As a result, the subject of 
Catholic Religion must still be offered as an elective during school hours 
and on equal terms with other subjects. Moreover, those who teach this 
subject are chosen and placed by the Church, not the State (and many are 
priests). Apart from that particular accord, the State funds private 
Catholic schools that conform with State student enrollment requirements 
and that do not charge any tuition fees. Beyond schooling, income tax forms 
include a voluntary box which may be marked by citizens to allow the 
goverment to donate 0.7% of that person's income tax to the Church. The 
presence of Bishops and other Clergy members in the media is another issue; 
and the list goes on. Curiously, however, while this formal mixing of 
church and state remains, the popular practice of Catholicism has fallen 
drastically in Spain. Most Spaniards no longer attend mass, especially the 
younger generations, although the occasional ritual use of the Church for 
important ceremonies still predominates, such as Church baptisms, weddings 
or burials.

But enough about Spain! It merely served to demonstrate religious 
privilege, even as it is ever more divorced from popular sentiment. Where 
the US is conerned, "God" should not appear on our coins and bills, nor in 
our representatives' official discourses and State documents. Swearing on 
the Bible should not be used in our courts. Reserving public school time 
for prayer and curricular contents derived from religious beliefs goes 
against the Constitution and the separation of church and state. There is 
time for all that outside of publicly regulated learning hours. And here 
I'm only addressing the most blantant examples. Luckily, Warren, Lisa and 
their colleagues are doing the very necessary work to uncover the more 
subtle manifestations of this persistent Christian bias and privilege in US 
public life.

For those of you who may be interested, here's the web page of one of the 
growing laïcité movements I mentioned (a European collective with a Spanish 
branch). It's got a strong following in Facebook! It opens with a photo of 
Spanish President Zapatero (a member of the Socialist Party), being sworn 
into office over a Bible and before a crucifix:
http://www.laicismo.org/index.php?wh= .

Saludos,
Cathryn



At 11:20 15/04/2009 -0600, you wrote:



>As a contributor to Dr. Blumenfeld's Investigating Christian Privilege, I 
>get the sense that this topic isn't being taken seriously by some on the 
>listserve.  My assumption is that most reading these series of e-mails 
>take White Privilege and Male Privilege, VERY seriously, as they 
>should.  Why not Christian Privilege?
>
>
>
>Lisa Weinbaum
>
>Las Cruces, NM (AKA "City of the Crosses, where the triumvirate of crosses 
>adorn government buildings, rendering religious minorities and the 
>non-religious, at best, invisible, at worst, abnormal)