I was brought up in a split religion household, my mom being Jewish while my dad was Protestant. We never went to church or temple, but celebrated each holiday, especially the Jewish ones in terms of its meaning. My mom made an effort when I was young to come into school and teach about being Jewish because we did realize the oppression given from the Christians. In Schlosser's article she mentions how one of the Christian privileges is "I can assume that I will not have to work or go to school on my significant religious holidays". Growing up we were always able to celebrate the Christian holidays with my dad and his family without any trouble for him to get time off or for me to be out of school, even though we always took these holidays less seriously than the Jewish ones. For Hanukkah and Yom Kippur, as well as other Jewish holidays, there was always school or work, even though these are very important holidays for us. I guess that my family was just brought up to accept that is how it is in America.
The article by Blumenfeld made me extremely frustrated with society today. He mentioned so many different examples of oppression and privilege that affect everyone, from the days of the workweek, to violence against people with other religions than Christian. I have many friends that are Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish, and I know the oppression that faces them and myself on a day to day basis. For example, every time my friends that are Sikh go through the airport they get "randomly" searched. Also they have to celebrate one their holidays early, on Christmas, because that is the only time that everyone will have work and school off. I hope that with time people will realize the privilege they have if they are Christian, and make changes so each religion is treated equally.
I work at a grocery store and the only day we close is Christmas. I can't imagine the message that sends to people of other religions at my workplace. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it seems a lot of work places run like that. It's pretty frustrating.
ReplyDeleteI liked that you talked about your religious experience in a split household. I attended a catholic high school and a lot of students came from a family where one parent was jewish and struggled with their beliefs and which religion they affiliated themselves more with. I also hope in time that people will realize the changes that need to be made as all religions and spiritual beliefs should be treated and considered just as important as the next one.
ReplyDeleteYeah I totally agree with you! All beliefs need to be seen as equal. It's going to be hard for people to realize it, but maybe someday.
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