IS HATING CHRISTIANS THE NEW ACCEPTED BIGOTRY?
Posted in Uncategorized on February 7th, 2006
I know a thing or two about prejudice and bigotry. Anyone who lived through the 60’s and 70’s saw their share. I’ve seen women treated as possessions only to slowly break through to find themselves in top positions in hundreds of companies. I’ve seen blacks treated as lesser citizens and fight their way towards equality. I’ve also seen what it’s like to be on the other side, to hear slurs and threats based only on the color of your skin. It is the darkest side of humanity, that need to put someone else down to make ourselves feel superior. It has always been with us and most likely always will. Bigotry, it seems, is much like matter, it is never truly destroyed, it just changes form.
When I was young, nobody thought anything of using the words; fag, hymie, nigger, honky, bitch, wetback, or any other hateful word. We knew they were unfair and stereotyping, but since society accepted them, so did we. The years that followed made us more aware of our bigotry, but since advocates only target their own specific problems, anyone left became fair game. Disrespect for weight problems, old age, religious beliefs, and anyone else we could get away with attacking replaced the prejudices of old.
An easy example showed itself to me one day at the beach. An overweight kid of about 10 years old was being tormented by two approximately 16 year old girls. The lifeguard was on duty within easy listening range. The girls repeatedly made jokes about his weight problem until the poor kid left in tears, the lifeguard joining them in their laughter. Soon afterwards, a young black kid arrived and began swimming with his friend. The girls, encouraged by their earlier success, muttered a racial epitaph to each other. The lifeguard immediately came down from his perch and ordered the two to leave, even though the kid could not hear their taunts. Why such a difference? Because instead of being taught to be kind to everyone, our youth are simply being taught who is off limits. The teachers in our schools and Universities, while very sensitive to minorities such as blacks or homosexuals, have no problem lumping white males, Christians, Republicans and wealthy people into one group, all guilty on some level for the actions of a few. I find this behavior to be very hypocritical.
At the major University where I work (the reason for my pseudonym, H.C.) this behavior is rampant. I assume this is true at most Universities from what I hear. During diversity training class, I once heard the chair of one of our departments utter, “Black people are constantly judged by the color of their skin, that’s something white people can’t understand.” Note that at the same time she’s making that statement, she puts “white people” in a group defined by their skin color. Hmmm. See how even people acutely aware of stereotyping, miss it when it’s a group their not used to defending.
No group in our University is more openly hated though, than Christians. I once watched as a Christian group had set up an information table (a practice common among our advocates) in the hall of one of our buildings. It had 2 basic messages; 1) that sex is dangerous to your health, especially homosexual sex, (these statements were backed up by Center for Disease Control statistics), and 2) that Jesus loves you and can help. No hateful statements were to be found anywhere on their table, nor were any of them anything but kind in their attempt to get their message out. Soon after setting up through, students began gathering, some yelling that they were “homophobes” and “right wing wacko’s”. Then our student groups arrived, the Students for Social Change and the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, and Transgender Center teamed up in an effort to keep other students from seeing their literature. They formed a wall around the table. When some students forced their way through, they took all their literature, tore-up their signs and tipped over their table. No intervention was done by the University. I offered to get safety (our police) to make a complaint, but the group said they’d just as soon forget it. I felt they feared more harassment by the students. I took this issue to several of our top administrators who wrote it off as a small event. I doubt they would react the same if it were a more liberal group being attacked.
It doesn’t stop there for the newest bigots in our society. Their rants and raves appear everywhere, uncondemned except by the people they target. Student newspapers tear into them in ways they could never get away with if their target were blacks, women, or homosexuals. Professors openly attack them in their classrooms, supported by liberal administrators. “Right-wing” is the label stamped on anyone with religious beliefs no matter how moderate. Stereotyping is allowed and encouraged in their efforts to promote their secularism. The end result is people coming out of our school systems so closed minded about religious points of view they won’t even give them a chance.
By now you are probably thinking “wow, I never thought H.C. was so religious.” Well, my friends, I belong to no religious group, I haven’t set foot in a church except for funerals or weddings in 20 years. I doubt I even qualify as a Christian, though I do respect Jesus for the philosopher he was, and do believe in God. After all, your science can answer how, when, and where, but falls way short on why. What I do believe in is respect for other people’s opinions. I believe people should be judged individually for their own actions, not thrown into a group and condemned for others misdeeds. Bigotry is hateful. It serves no good purpose. I’ve seen it and done it in the past and am ashamed to have been part of it. My hope is that one day we’ll all be so enlightened that we’ll condemn anyone involved in bigotry, not because of the group they attack, but because of the hate they spread. H.C.