#religious privilege

[atheostic]

Religious Privilege

In Italy, during the 2020 spring lockdown many schools provided Catholic teaching among the other remote learning classes, but omitted to do the same with an alternative subject for students who opted out of the Catholics class, despite having an alternative class being a legal right of students.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

[welcome-to-the-agender-agenda]

Stick with me because this might sound bigoted at first...

We should stop telling people to treat everyone the same.

Because of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, backgrounds, disabilities, sex and all sorts of other things we should not treat everyone the same.

It's actually harmful to tell people that because that way people (especially christian, white, cishet, allo men) won't understand and appreciate all the struggles that people go through day to day just by existing.

If we tell people to treat everyone the same, we're not telling them to help or to encourage or to recognise that things are difficult for different groups and that goes for everyone.

Most importantly, we're telling privileged people to treat everyone as if they also have those priveleges.

It's the wrong message to be giving out.

[katetorias]

there is something so horrible about destroying churches, or any place of worship. im not even religious. it’s about the fact that people were so devoted, put so much effort into building and decorating and just experiencing this part of their life, that they hold so important. and all that effort is taken away by a fucking bomb

I find religion beautiful, and it’s harrowing to see these things happening in PaIestine and no one cares. suddenly now no one cares about religion or the importance of religious monuments

[danielnelsen]

while i get where this comes from and it’s true to an extent, i reeeaaaally don’t like how people try to explain “trans men don’t [necessarily] have male privilege” with things like “some trans men don’t pass”.

like sure that’s the most obvious example (someone who is seen as a woman won’t have the privilege that comes with being seen a man) but you’re still acting like being a passing trans man is just a free opt-in to male privilege which is………kinda the issue.

[hussyknee]

I know some dickheads have now decided that Judaism is the "bad, violent, terrorist religion" and Islam is the "good, peaceful" one, which is only to be expected of white people, but how much of an issue is it currently? Like I've seen some USAmericans sharing how the Islamic faith shapes Gazans values and perseverance (good) except with that distinct white hippie "I'm about to imprint on this like the world's most racist duck" vibe (bad), but I didn't think they're already turning on Judaism in numbers.

Do they realize that Christianity is also the same kind of comfort to Christian minorities in Asia and Africa? That it was Buddhists that genocided the Rohingyas in Myanmar and Tamils in Sri Lanka? That Hindu fundamentalists are even now trying to ethnically cleanse Muslims in India? How Hindus and Christians are terrorized and persecuted in Pakistan? That Muslims have a history of persecuting and ethnically cleansing Jews too?

Really tired of asking y'all to be normal about people's religions man. There's no religion that's inherently violent or exceptionally peaceful. It's just like any other ideology that becomes a weapon in the hands of ethnic power. Interrogate power, not religion, and respect people's belief systems insofar as they aren't in your business.

Edit: I've amended the "long history" of Muslim persecution of Jews because it might be misleading in the current political climate. Zionism and antisemitic Arab nationalism are twin births resulting directly from Christian colonization, and Islamic empires tended to actually be more tolerant of other religions compared to Christianity, especially Judaism, which was considered a sibling religion. Antisemitism wasn't ideologically entrenched in Islamic tradition. It's simply that ethno-religious power will lead to ethno religious domination and intermittent cleansing of minorities, and Islam is no exception. Humans be humaning always.

[natjennie]

getting some responses on my post about kristen and her parents conversation, specifically the "isn't it kinda funny that helio chose you and you were the one to bring the daytime back" and I think it's really interesting how different people responded to it like. maybe it's because I live in the southern united states but. there is a lot of religion, specifically christianity, as that is the obvious analogue to the helioic faith, that is downright evil, I agree. and obviously the prevalence of it is harmful to a lot a lot a lot of people, just as it's harmful to kristen in fiction.

but you have to understand that the individual people are deluded, they genuinely believe what they're doing is right. it's really easy to be like "ugh they sicken me it makes me so mad" in a theoretical sense but. do you have drive through workers wishing you a blessed day. do you have people see your kt tape and offer to pray for your pain to go away. like. idk I just think we have to have a little bit of compassion and understanding for people that are so entrenched in their faith that they do truly believe from the bottom of their heart that what they're preaching is true. especially in a world where divine magic is real!! kristen TALKED to helio. she makes literal miracles happen on the daily. so faith in that world is gonna be heightened to a crazy degree.

obviously I condemn their human-supremacy and their cult practices etc etc etc but in that little moment I felt for the applebees. it didn't make me mad or disgusted or annoyed. it made me sad. because they saw their daughter perform a miracle of the sun and it meant nothing to her. that "that doesn't feel special at all to you?" wasn't from a place of arrogance. they weren't lauding it over kristen. they were pleading. begging her to see it from their eyes: she is the chosen one. she is a prophet of helio and has been doubting and they want what's best for her. she's their savior. she brought the sun back from the endless night. that doesn't feel special at all to you?

[noose-lion]

My villain origin story was feeling sad for Judas, Pharaoh's son, and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah.

It was seeing through the veil and unto the cruelty of God too soon, too young.

It was trying desperately to explain it away and stay faithful, because I wanted to be part of something greater.

It was mistaking the panic attack I had as I was baptized for the Holy Spirit.

It was being upset that Adam and Eve had no choice but to disobey for they were only young and human.

It was hearing the promise of hell and brimstone for things I could not control or change.

My villain origin story was never having a choice but to be too human for God's love.

[oldshrewsburyian]

All right, thoughtful friends of Tumblr, I have a question particularly for those of you who are religiously observant, and particularly for those who follow what are minority religions in the US. The question is about how to effectively use my Christian privilege, and the backstory is this. This semester, my teaching schedule conflicted with Maundy Thursday (start of the Easter Triduum, commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist, officially a Big Deal; also the start of three days of non-normal sleeping, fasting, and church-going.) So I asked my supervisors about policies for rescheduling an evening seminar. "Work it out yourself," I was told.

I was mad about this. I like to think that maybe someone following a minority religion would have received more support, if only for reasons of optics or fear of a lawsuit, but... I don't know. I rescheduled the seminar ("What do you do on Maundy Thursday?" asked a student.) Partly out of spite (!), I put on automatic replies to last from Thursday evening through Sunday, explaining that my email response time will be delayed. Because if a hand-wavy "oh, you can work it out" is the response of the higher-ups, my wild guess is that asking for reasonable religious accommodations is not an institutional norm. I still have a niggling feeling that, while I don't want to make a stink on my own account, this might be a situation that I could/should use to benefit others.

[atheostic]

Religious Privilege

In Burundi, many secondary schools are run by religious groups, predominantly the Catholic Church, under contract to the Education Ministry, according to a report by International Alert.

Some of these schools require students to be members of the church in order to be admitted.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

What are your thoughts on the He Gets Us ads that have been taking reddit like an eleventh plague upon religious trauma subs?

I'm going to be generous and assume that it's a problem in Reddit's algorithm. But then, I don't quite know how Reddit's ad system works. If it's deliberate, than it's unacceptable to be putting it into those types of subs. I'd hope people were reporting them as inappropriate. Imagine ads for Tinder in a spouse-abuse recovery sub. Or Triple Whopper ads in a bulimia recovery sub.

I'm sure there'd be endless complaints if the "there's probably no god" ad was targeted into /r/christianquestions.

They lost their shit and called it offensive when it was simply posted out in the open in public space. It's not like billboard trucks were parked right outside their churches.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jan/09/atheist-bus-campaign-asa

The advertising regulator has received almost 150 complaints that an atheist ad campaign, proclaiming "There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life", is offensive to Christians and other religions that believe in a single God.

"How dare you tell people to stop worrying and enjoy life?!? What's wrong with you, you monster?!?"

Regarding "He Gets Us":

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2023/02/13/this-billionaire-is-a-donor-behind-the-jesus-focused-super-bowl-ads/

The group behind the Jesus-focused ads is He Gets Us, a limited liability company that says it’s an initiative of The Servant Foundation, a public charity and Christian foundation based in Kansas that last year launched a $100 million effort to improve the image of Jesus, as the Washington Post reported. One of the backers of the initiative is billionaire David Green, the founder of craft store chain Hobby Lobby, who is estimated by Forbes to be worth $14.8 billion.

I mean, he can spend his money however he likes, but it's weird that Jesus needs so much human assistance. Surely if he was real, they could just put him on TV. There's plenty of networks that would pay for the privilege. Why would I want to follow a savior and god who was that helpless? If he can't even convincingly exist, what's he going to do in the war against evil? (The evil he created.)

It seems like Xians are finally acknowledging the exodus - pun intended - of "nones."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/Ad-Meter/buzz-meter/2023/02/12/he-gets-us-super-bowl-ad-commercial-jesus/11243476002/

In a September 2022 modeling, the Pew Research Center estimates that if Christians in the USA continue leaving religion at its current rate, Christians of all ages will shrink from the current 64% to “between a little more than half (54%) and just above one-third (35%) of all Americans by 2070.” The study also estimates that if current trends continue, those identifying with no religion will increase from the current 30% to “somewhere between 34% and 52% of the U.S. population.”

Also in the above USA Today article:

a group touting itself as a “movement to reintroduce people to the Jesus of the Bible and his confounding love and forgiveness.”

You know, forgiveness for things we didn't do, which nobody else did either. Except the crime of existing as a human.

The "Jesus of the Bible" is a pretty nasty piece of work. It's only with modern interpretation, editing, revision and cherry-picking that he's been refashioned into the "gentle Jesus, meek and mild" we are told about today.

The "Jesus of the Bible" is a racist, sexist, xenophobic, slavery-endorsing, anti-Semitic mobster. I suppose in a way I'm all for reintroducing people to that, so I can go:

And from the Forbes article:

The ad ended with the phrase “Jesus loved the people we hate.”

As has been made abundantly clear, "Jesus" doesn't care about humans. He doesn't care whether you hate someone or not. All he cares about is whether he hates them or not. And whether he hates you or not depends on what you give him. He loves people who idolize him, not people who are good, decent or moral.

What you want is irrelevant; he just wants you to join his enablers and flying monkeys.

Matthew 12:30

He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

Luke 11:23

He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

Jesus doesn't give a shit about you until you grovel at his feet and feed his rampant narcissism. That is, he's pathologically incapable - at least as far as fictional characters are capable of anything - of genuine, benevolent, sincere altruism.

Mark 7:25-30

For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

Matthew 15:22-28

And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

"Tell me you're a filthy dog and maybe I'll cure your daughter with my magic powers that cost me nothing to use as freely as I wish."

So, "Jesus loved the people we hate" isn't the selling point they think it is. Jesus loves Gerald Ridsdale and George Pell, for example. They'll join Hitler in heaven. On the other hand, he also hates the people we love. Such as my atheist parents; he regards them as "not with me" and therefore "against me."

Matthew 10:32-33

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

It's always about him. That's how narcissists operate.

"Jesus loved the people we hate" kind of blows the whistle on the whole "love the sinner, hate the sin" thing, though, huh? They're admitting they do hate "the sinner."

Remembering, of course, that Xian love is - like every cult - only for other Xians.

John 13:34-35

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

"My disciples" ... "love one another." There is no instruction for universal love, and obligatory love is a demonstration of not understanding love in the first place.

I'm not even sure who the ads are intended for. If you're already a Xian, why are they recruiting for a club you've already joined? And Jesus is clear: only belief is necessary for salvation.

And if you aren't already a Xian, why would these ads convince you of the existence of this storybook character in the real world? It seems to be the Xian refusal to acknowledge that people legitimately don't believe what Xians and the bible claim, and are just "angry" at or "hate" their fairytale characters.

Circling back, I hope, and am going to be charitable and give them the benefit of the doubt until I see evidence otherwise, that they're not being predators deliberately targeting the ex-religious subs, and that it's just the algorithm putting "topic = religion" together.

However, these are the same people who think that questioning whether any of it is actually true is a personal failing and moral flaw. And whine that non-believer blogs exist at all. All while $100m ad campaigns for their thing air on TV. The writing appears to be on the wall.

Next time you get a religious whiner, point out the "He Gets Us" campaign and tell them to either be consistent and condemn it, or else shut up.

[tekkenenjoyerblue]

Geese Howard for the simplified style collection‼️ maybe I should make the rest of the ‘96 boss team to go with him…

[wariocompany]

Something really irritates me about people in my notes being like "haha these are so much better than these dumb Christians" while we are watching the very real possibility of the full and complete genocide of Christians in Gaza. Like obviously it's bad all the time considering the way Christians experience discrimination in the Muslim world and by Israel all the time but .?

[captainharlock]

Yo thanks for drawing Jesus as like… a happy, kind, and healthy person. I grew up going to church every week and saw nothing but his misery and crucifixion. Every depiction of Jesus I’ve seen fills me with guilt, dread, and anxiety. But I came across your + volcanoid piece and it made me happy. The kind of happy where you can’t help but cry a little because something so simple shouldn’t have such a big impact, but it does.

Idk I’m rambling now, but that drawing you posted is low key healing my religious trauma. And I don’t fucking care if someone thinks it’s blasphemous or something. That is the Jesus I wish I had.

hii! i want you to know that i took my time trying to come up with a response to this because i just wanted it to stay in my inbox for just a little while longer... wahh. this is so touching.

i think there is absolutely a sore lack of depictions of a happy christ, and i'm really glad you've found such relief in my drawing. it makes me really really happy ;_; i don't think my any means is it a stretch to say that showing children the beaten body of a man who was gored on a cross is... not good for them. if it were up to me, yeah, all images of jesus shown to children would be of him pre-crucifixion

thank you so much for sending me this... i'm gonna be thinking for a while on it. u are the best