Challenging Christian Hegemony âLanguage is the perfect instrument of empire.â- Antonia De Nebrija By Be Scofield, Crossposted from Tikkun Daily. http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/02/26/challenging-christian-hegemony/ I recommend checking out the latest booklet from Paul Kivel called âThe Language of Dominant Christianityâ (available as a downloadable PDF for only $3.50 or as a book for $4.95.) It is a short (85 page) A-Z dictionary of common vocabulary words in the English language that reveal how Christianity has influenced our thinking. In addition to defining a comprehensive list of words (64 pages) Kivel provides a section on âword groupsâ and points out how certain terms are found within our criminal/legal system, notions of morality, racial understandings, educational ideals and political ideology. And in the first part Kivel provides the context of why it is important to analyze and examine the Christian roots of our language. This booklet is one part of Kivelâs latest project to name Christian dominance as one of the many systems of oppression. Kivel is a well respected violence prevention educator who wrote âUprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Social Justiceâ among many other books on oppression. If you havenât heard of him or want to know more about Paulâs work including his videos and interviews you can visit his website. And in the spirit of my post last week where I pointed out how atheists are studying to be religious leaders at Starr King I want to emphasize that there are Christians who are equally concerned about Christian hegemony and are dedicating time and resources to ending it. Paul Kivel describes Christian hegemony: From www.christianhegemony.org I define Christian hegemony as the everyday, pervasive, and systematic set of Christian values and beliefs, individuals and institutions that dominate all aspects of our society through the social, political, economic, and cultural power they wield. Nothing is unaffected by Christian hegemony (whether we are Christian or not) including our personal beliefs and values, our relationships to other people and to the natural environment, and our economic, political, education, health care, criminal/legal, housing, and other social systems. Christian hegemony as a system of domination is complex, shifting, and operates through the agency of individuals, families, church communities, denominations, parachurch organizations, civil institutions, and through decisions made by members of the ruling class and power elite. Christian hegemony benefits all Christians, all those raised Christian, and those passing as Christian. However the concentration of power, wealth, and privilege under Christian hegemony accumulates to the ruling class and the predominantly white male Christian power elite that serve its interests. All people who are not Christian, as well as most people who are, experience social, political, and economic exploitation, violence, cultural appropriation, marginalization, alienation and constant vulnerability from the dominance of Christian power and values in our society. Christian hegemony operates on several levels. At one level is the internalization of dominant western Christian beliefs and values by individuals in our society. Another level is the power that individual preachers, ministers and priests have on peopleâs lives. Particular churches and some Christian denominations wield very significant political and economic power in our country. There is a vast network of parachurch organizations, general tax-supported non-profits such as hospitals, broadcasting networks, publishing houses, lobbying groups, and organizations like Focus on the Family, Prison Fellowship, The Family, World Mission, and thousands of others which wield influence in particular spheres of U.S. society and throughout the world. Another level of Christian dominance is within the power elite, the network of 7-10,000 predominantly white Christian men who control the largest and most powerful social, political, economic, and cultural institutions in the country. And finally there is the level which provides the foundation for all the others-the long and deep legacy of Christian ideas, values, practices, policies, icons, and texts that have been produced within dominant western Christianity over the centuries. That legacy continues to shape our language, culture, beliefs, and values and to frame public and foreign policy decisions. Christian dominance has become so invisible that its manifestations appear to be secular, i.e. not religious. In this context, the phrase âsecular Christian dominanceâ might be most appropriate, Christian hegemony under the guise of secularism. Of course, there are many forms of Christian fundamentalism which are anything but secular. Often fundamentalists want to create some kind of theocratic state. But the more mainstream, everyday way that dominant Christian values and institutions influence our lives and communities is less evident, although no less significant and certainly not limited to fundamentalists. http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/02/26/challenging-christian-hegemony/
Yeah, it is SO dominant that everywhere you look people are living lives in accord with the Sermon on the Mount.
you are right. there are no contradictions in the bible. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JgDThUg50s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDdq22lGClw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYmfpkIRPhk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG60mRUOOzg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0wYL5-VqBU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0wYL5-VqBU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZEWtoXHsN8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqcW-UGAjlw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB24ilDDdqs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdrVvcvvY34 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7cBWm5mh5U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXrIO8xpNn8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2EmxXdZ6Zc
How much racism is there really, and how much would it affect Black Workers if they EVER got out of the ghetto and got jobs in the private sector? Blacks do not work in the private sector. Jessie Jackemup and the Race Industry Lawyers see to that, they sue private sector employers and thusly, private sector employers avoid that problem by never hiring ANY more black workers than they absolutely have to... then the Democrats and the Race Industry Lawyers tell the Blacks that they live in shitty violence infested neighborhoods because of racism.. what they really have done is helped the blacks in the USA to be herded onto inner city "reservations" by economic and legal forces... and the nightly news is only too happy to show the stories of violence and let the viewers draw the conclusion that racism is at the heart of the matter... and news like that reinforces the actual racism that exists, which is far less of a force in the modern US than all the ridiculous lies from the Left... Then this author writes some shit about the White male dominated world and how that is the problem... Hey author and Leftists everywhere: if you want an apology from this White Male you can suck it out of my NASDAQ, I worked hard all my life in the private sector while shit like you were ginning up more ways to tax me...
How much racism is really out there? Do you really want to know? If you do, perform an experiment. Darken your skin, have plastic surgery to make your hair and features similar to blacks, and walk a mile in their shoes... Have you watched the movie "The Watermelon Man?" The entire movie is on youtube in 10 parts. Following is part 1, you can watch all 10 parts on youtube... <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sE2CFeKYXhY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sE2CFeKYXhY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>