Facilitating the removal of children from Christian homes as well as overthrowing the American government are just some of the concerns about atheists, liberals, LGBT individuals and Muslims Dr. Don Boys shared in the lecture bowl September 3rd 2013. The UND Baptist Campus Ministry invited the Christian polemic to campus to give a talk on issues he finds important to contemporary Christians — defining “true” Christianity, denying a number a scientific disciplines, attacking “new” atheists, and reminding the audience that his appearances on the “Sally Jesse Raphael Show” denouncing the social and moral ills of homosexuality are still relevant.

Though he made many blatantly offensive comments, as well as directly stated or implied his professional competency in the fields of psychology, biology, and geologic sciences (of which he has none), I would like to use this space to write about the supposedly unrelentingly hostile war on Christianity in America he talked at length about. I believe that this fury and resentment many conservative, Christian Americans have is not because another group has a different interpretation of the Bible about homosexuality or that another court has found it unconstitutional to incorporate Christianity into our secular government’s courthouses. I argue, rather, that their ire is from the realization that the unchecked privileges Christians have enjoyed in America are finally being challenged. Through a lens used to study contemporary forms of discrimination and privilege, researcher and psychologist Dr. Lewis Schlosser in 2000 outlined 28 everyday benefits that larger Christian denominations (e.g., Protestants and Catholics) enjoy in America (e.g., being able to turn on the radio and easily finding music consistent with your faith, going to a grocery store and finding few or no religious conflicts with the foods available, having positive references to your faith seen dozens of times a day by everyone on TV and on magazines regardless of their faith, and being able to have a WWJD or Ichthys bumper sticker on one’s car without having it defaced). Blumfeld and Fairchild, researchers at Iowa State University, say these types of invisible, unfair and essentially unacknowledged benefits bestow dominance on Christians while subordinating other religious and non-religious groups.

Models of identity development and multicultural awareness might suggest that those who feel at war may be instead reacting to feelings of guilt, anger and defensiveness. This realization threatens their self-image as egalitarian, moral human beings, and more significant, suggest that their “unawareness” allows for the maintenance of inequities. Symbolic American concepts held close to their hearts such as “America as a melting pot” or our American society as a meritocracy are being put under scrutiny.

Therefore as Don Boys challenged “New” Atheists to “Put up or Shut up” I challenge Christians to acknowledge and reflect on perhaps the most important privilege of all—that you can dismiss the idea that identifying with your faith bears certain privileges. Do not ignore privileges under the portents of defending your faith against the professed attacks of others. It is the responsibility of Christian groups and individuals to recognize their power in society and the accompanying privileges received as the dominant religious group in society in order for everyone to move towards acceptance and equality for all.

Louis Pagano

counseling psychology major