The reading’s this week were interesting seeing that it consisted
mainly of how white Christian Americans ruined history thanks to their beliefs
and outlooks on the foreign. Blumenfeld talked about Young’s five forms of oppression:
“powerlessness, exploitation, marginalization, cultural imperialism, and
violence” (Blumenfeld, 2013). There is an apparent form of powerlessness
amongst the minorities that has carried out throughout the years in America
starting with the first settlers. I honestly find it kind of ironic since one
of reasons why the Pilgrims fled was for religious reasons, yet once they
arrived everything was either their way or the highway, and they were not giving
up easily on their beliefs. Depriving the natives of their land, committing
cultural genocide, forcefully stripping them away from their way of life…the
settlers were not willing to stop at any costs. With this pattern occurring,
the same type of system that was set up by the settlers has been passed down to
our current system where Christianity is the most influential religion enforced
throughout the country. I remember in elementary school I became aware of the different
types of religion that differed from what I was used to, and one of the first
rules my parents taught me was to not speak about religion since it could be
viewed as disrespectful and on top of that it was just a rule of thumb to not
bring it up. I was pretty confused once I learned that the pledge had the word “God”
in it, I took note of the different religious holidays that appeared on my
calendar and nothing was ever said about them in school but once Christmas time
came around the entire school was focused on the “holidays”, and the days of
the typical work week was focused around the Sabbath. When I got, older I questioned
my teachers about it once or twice but they all would tell me that the school
respects other religions even though I never saw much of an attempt at it. The different
bans the U.S. had enacted upon other countries entering the country has not
seemed to stop. I did not know that there was an Immigration Act of 1917 and
for it to have been active for 48 years is pretty wild, but it does not surprise
me either.
Being an ally to the disabled would further advance their
rights and allow others to become aware of the problems occurring. I believe myself
to be an ally, but I do realize that I need to inform myself more on what is needed
by them. I did enjoy the chart that was given; it could give those who are
completely unaware the first steps to becoming an ally. I admit that some of my
vocabulary that I used to use fell under some negative connotations but I have
become better and more aware of my word choice. It slipped right by me the
issues the elderly who are disabled have. The elderly already have enough
problems with receiving help and attention from the government and society because
they are seen as not needed, but those with disabilities are portrayed as needy
receiving little to no help, and it’s something that has to be focused on more.
Melanie—great post! I loved reading about your take on how Christianity has set a precedent for how we treat foreigners in this country today. The five forms of oppression are powerlessness, exploitation, marginalization, cultural imperialism, and violence. Unfortunately, I feel like violence is the one that we see the most today in our society. I think that violence against minority groups is something that we always talk about wanting to change, but nothing has actually happened to enforce this change. The current movement “Black Lives Matter” is a movement that is trying to bring awareness to the issue of violence against minority groups. Moreover, I think our society needs more campaigns that can address the other forms of oppression. For example, exploitation is something that is beginning to be recognized in our society. Women are exploited because they are supposed to follow the stereotype of being stay at home moms who care for children. This is something that is prevalent in all forms of media. When women do break this stereotype they are sometimes marginalized, which is another form of oppression. Women whom are in the working force are sometimes called bad mothers for not spending time with their children. Moreover, they are not given the same promotions and pay as men in the work force do.
ReplyDeleteJust like you, I am completely distraught over the influence that Christianity has always had on the world, while other religious beliefs are ignored. As a non-denominational Christian, I have never had the impression that what I feel spiritually is the only “right” way to feel. I think that spirituality is universal in that there is a higher being possessing someone’s heart and there is always one goal throughout most religions. In the professional and school realm, yes, this should be respected, but it shouldn’t have any upper hand over another religion. Christianity should not be the only religion represented in schools either. I think that if you’re going to have one, you might as well have all in consideration of the entire population. It would be best if we did not combine school and government with religion at all. The irony surrounding “Christian” teachings is immense. The themes of most religions are love and peace, while money and violence is said to be evil, yet these things are obsessed over more than the positive teachings. Saying that your reasoning for doing something is religious cannot be questioned because we don’t have the right to question a God. So, one person trying to monopolize off of other human being’s suffering was able to justify his actions through Christianity, and terrible acts multiplied on this basis throughout centuries. If everything truly occurred on the basis that it was Christian, we would live in a world of complete peace. Unfortunately, people in power enjoy manipulating people and institutions and figured out how to have more power and control using a religion as weaponry. Great job! I really enjoyed reading your thoughts and hope more people speak up about these issues, so that change can manifest.
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