Escape the Fate - Situations
possibly the best ETF song recorded
Giving away one of each unofficial Doctor Poster to 2 randomly selected people who reblog this. Thought that might be fun.
Note: Do not spam reblogs. That will disqualify you and make you disliked by normal people in general.
If you don’t want to leave it to chance you can get either poster here.
This Video makes me sick! Is this man really so desperate for votes that he is resorting to this level of idiocy!? Let me break it down for you.
He says: “I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian,”
Not ashamed to be a Christian, good for you what you should be ashamed of is giving other Christians the bad rep of being closed minded and ignorant.
He says: “but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.”
Okay so apparently church is the only place to learn things, and nothing is wrong with this country when we let people serve our country as themselves without fear of persecution for who they love. and there are private schools where children can pray and openly celebrate Christmas BUT in public schools I’m GLAD they don’t allow it. Christians have enough privilege as is in society without making children feel uncomfortable about being a different religion in a school environment where every student is supposed to feel safe. Personally, in school I never saw anyone being punished for praying, but I was asked several times to remove my pentagram necklace and even punished for reading tarot cards in high school. Seeing Christians able to practice their beliefs and never being allowed to practice my own drove me into severe depression. There are SOOO many belief systems and even lack there of that this argument in itself is just wrong. way to assume that every child is Christian and that school systems “don’t allow” them to pray in school because they hate them and not for the safety and well being of every student.
“As President, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion. And I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage.”
Obama’s what?? Oh my….this statement alone better get you thrown out of the running…..can’t even find the words for this…
“Faith made America strong. It can make her strong again.”
umm…so I don’t know what history you were taught but what made America was people of different religious (most of which came to escape religious persecution) backgrounds coming together to fight for freedom. There is NO official religion of America for a reason…..side note: who ever said America was a woman? I seriously have never heard that before…
“I’m Rick Perry and I approve this message.”
Congratulations, you just approved the most idiotic statement I’ve heard in days.
If this man wins the republican primary, there is something wrong with this world. If this man wins the presidency I will move to Europe, or become a hermit…one of the two….
When someone tells you, “you’ll never make it” thats when you stand your ground, because one day you’ll be at the top, overlooking the beauty of the world, and knowing that you never gave up.
Seasonal Food for Thought
As the Holiday season is here we are bombarded with Christmas greetings and nativity scenes. Most of us just sluff it off and let it be but do we not realize that hardly any other religious symbols are shown? Sure people are trying to be more inclusive and say happy christmahanukwanzaakah, but that term only includes Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Which is still excluding people who have other holidays during this month, for example: the Buddhist, Rohatsu and the Wiccan, Yule. As well as excluding athiests (or non-religious) and other people who have no holidays this season. This is one of the most apparent aspects of Christian privilege.
Spirituality and religion have been a part of my life since I was very young. Growing up I was forced to church and sunday school every single week, resulting in my considering myself a “loose” Christian. I had always felt like I had no choice but to be Christian, and I felt more alone and depressed in a full congregation than I ever had before. A few life changing occurances when I was about twelve years old, including the tragic death of my dad, caused me to lose the little faith I had. After that I went on a spiritual identity search: I read books upon books of different beliefs, as well as going to different churches and gatherings. At fourteen, I picked up a book about Wicca. It made more sense to me than anything ever had. I actually became a better person because of it. I followed the customs, have participated in many practices, and now four years later I consider myself a Wiccan. Becoming Wiccan has helped me to become more centered: I rarely lose my temper or become angery at all, and I no longer feel as hopeless or alone as I had.
The fact that as a kid I felt that I had no choice but to be Christian is one exhibit of how Christianity is the norm. Many people, other than myself, have faced several pieces of Christian privilege. Some of the Christian privileges include the following:
1. It is likely that state and federal holidays coincide with my religious practices, thereby having little to no impact on my job and/or education.
2.They can talk openly about their religious practices without concern for how it will be received by others.
3. They can be sure to hear music on the radio and watch specials on television that celebrate the holidays of their religion.
4. When told about the history of civilization, they can be sure people of their religion made it what it is.
5. They can worry about religious privilege without being perceived as “self-interested” or “self-seeking.”
6. They can have a “Jesus is Lord” bumper sticker or Icthus (Christian Fish) on their car and not worry about someone vandalizing their car because of it.
7. They can share their holiday greetings without being fully conscious of how it may impact those who do not celebrate the same holidays. Also, they can be sure that people are knowledgeable about the holidays of their religion and will greet them with the appropriate holiday greeting (e.g., Merry Christmas, Happy Easter, etc.).
8. They can probably assume that there is a universality of religious experience.
9. They can deny Christian Privilege by asserting that all religions are essentially the same.
10. They probably do not need to learn the religious or spiritual customs of others, and they am likely not penalized for not knowing them.
Many of us have to deal with the opposite of these privileges:
1. It is likely that state and federal holidays DON’T coincide with their religious practices, thereby having HUGE impact on their jobs and/or education, since they have to choose what is more important.
2.They CAN’T talk openly about their religious practices because of concern for how it will be received by others.
3. They CAN’T be sure to hear music on the radio or watch specials on television that celebrate the holidays of their religion.
4. When told about the history of civilization, they are NOT sure people of their religion made it what it is.
5. They CAN’T worry about religious privilege without being perceived as “self-interested” or “self-seeking.”
6. They CAN’T have a ”There is no afterlife, all we have is Here and Now” bumper sticker or Pentagram (or other spiritual/religious/anti-religious symbol) on their car and without worrying that someone vandalizing their car because of it.
7. They CAN’T share their holiday greetings without being fully conscious of how it may impact those who do not celebrate the same holidays. Also, they are NEVER sure that people are knowledgeable about the holidays of their religion and are hardly ever greeted with the appropriate holiday greeting (e.g., Happy Hanukkah, Happy Yule, Season’s greetings, etc.).
8. They CANNOT assume that there is a universality of religious experience.
9. They CAN’T deny Christian Privilege by asserting that all religions are essentially the same, because they see it from the other end and know they are no treated equally.
10. They NEED to learn the religious or spiritual customs of others, and they are likely to be penalized for not knowing them.
I have expierenced some of these un-privileges: having to choose whether or not to observe a holiday or go to class. I was put in the position that I had to either observe my belief system’s first major holiday or attend school from 9am until 8pm (college is crazy) and I had an exam that day. I obviously chose school since my education is important to me, but my best friend, whom is a Christian, does not have to make those decisions because he gets all of his major holidays off of school. Eveyone is affected by Christian privilege, whether benifiting from it or on the other side of it.
Christianity can be used in social justice movements because of the apperent promotion of love and sense of community Christians tend to have, but social justice movements can also be limited by Christianity. Some people, I have met several, shut down at the mere mention of God. One wrong phrase and the movement goes from “all inclusive” to “unless you love Jesus or are willing to pretend to, leave.” Also, since many Christians have not realized their own privilege they have not yet educated themselves on other beliefs and therefore are not able to give them the respect due. It is a very tricky situation.
The hardest part about the whole situation is the how: How can we advance a community inclusive of all faiths (and lack of faiths) on our campus, in our workplace, and in our communities in general? Spredding the word about Christian Privilege, to both Christians and non-Christians, is definately the first step (hence the blog). Accepting everyone for who they are and making an attempt to learn a little bit about their beliefs, or lack there of. I think those two steps are definitely the first two that need to be taken, after that I am not really sure what should be done, but once those two are complete what is needed next shall be made clear, of that I am certain.
