Читать книгу White Christian Privilege - Khyati Y. Joshi - Страница 15

In 2004, the editors of Khabar, a South Asian American monthly magazine, asked Georgia’s then-Governor Sonny Perdue about his support for displaying the Ten Commandments on government property, and how he would feel about a display of verses from the Bhagavad Gita or the Holy Quran or other religions’ scriptures. Perdue responded: “Well, I think the Ten Commandments transcends its mere religious or historical significance. It’s also principle-centered in that way.”¹ He continued: “The Ten Commandments form that Judeo-Christian effort that led to the founding of America by the pilgrims on the idea of religious freedom. That has a stronger historical significance from my perspective.” When asked specifically whether the presence of the Ten Commandments on government property would be an imposition of Christianity (and therefore unconstitutional), Purdue replied: “I don’t think it’s trying to impose Christianity. That would be wrong. That’s the reason I began my statement saying that the Ten Commandments is a principle-centered basis that guides our moral lives. I don’t view it strictly as a spiritual document that you have to adhere to, to be accepted in this country. That’s the distinction I make.”²

The Ten Commandments are literally the beginning verses of the twentieth chapter of the Book of Exodus, regarded as holy Scripture by Christians and Jews. Yet Purdue described them as “transcend[ing] … mere religious or historical significance,” and denied that the Ten Commandments are a religion-specific scripture rather than “a principle-centered basis that guides our [American] moral lives.” In so doing, he illustrated the powerful effect of Christian normativity. Christianity’s normative power in US culture reflects the assumption by Christians that their own belief system is universal, or ought to be rendered universal without question or critique. By situating his own religion as a reference point for all, Purdue rationalized government support for the promulgation of Christian teachings as non-discriminatory.

Christian privilege allows Americans to take for granted the elevation of their religion over other faiths. Yet the privilege that American Christians enjoy, notwithstanding popular but unfulfilled ideals like “freedom of religion” and “separation of church and state,” results in the oppression of members of religious minorities and atheists. Christianity’s normative power is as strong as ever. Moreover, the Christian norm often functions in tandem with the racial normativity of Whiteness to generate structures and ideas of White Christian supremacy, such that Whiteness and Christianity are read as American, while everything else appears foreign.

Norms do not usually “hit you over the head.” Their effects are subtle, influencing unexpressed distinctions between usual and unusual, local and foreign, “us” and “them.” A norm can be expressed in violence or expressions of prejudice, but more often it exists simply as one group’s ideas or characteristics coming to be understood as universal, true, and ordinary. That is what we saw in Governor Purdue’s belief that a text from the Bible could be understood not as a religious document but rather as a secular, “principle-centered basis that guides our moral lives.”

Christian privilege runs so deep that a Christian does not have to do anything to benefit from its advantages. Christian privilege is possessed by Christians, whether or not they are aware of it. No conscious thought or effort is required. Like Purdue, they can simply know that their faith and their worldview are correct. “Business as usual” maintains the privileged status of their beliefs and understandings. Indeed, Christian privilege benefits not only people who identify with Christianity or consider themselves “religious,” but even people raised as Christians who might not even label themselves that way today. They enjoy the benefits of Christian privilege, whether they want it or not and whether they know it or not.