The following is a response to the SLC Community Question, “What role
do you feel religion plays in Sarah Lawrence’s secular environment?”
It is not well received when majority groups speak up about feeling left out. Who are Christians to talk about being persecuted? “Persecuted” is probably too strong a word, but I do believe it’s true that the Christian religion has been in the spotlight long enough that it’s now being overlooked. Not that anyone has forgotten about Christianity, but “Christian” is a word that is synonymous for “evangelical,” and has picked up other inaccurate connotations such as “right-wing” or “conservative.” These connections, which have been honed by media rhetoric, are not altogether incorrect. However, narrow a religion that is, in reality, diverse.
After 9/11, there was an effort to protect the Islamic religion from slander for its rare and unfortunate militant extremist groups; people consciously made a distinction: “Not all Muslims are violent; it is really a peaceful religion.” The same consciousness of diversity within a religion needs to be remembered about Christianity. I sat in my English seminar this past fall listening to my teacher repeatedly refer to Christianity as Catholicism as if Catholicism was a synonym for Christianity rather than a division of it. As a Protestant who feels that the differences are important, I took notice.
In the same way that the states between New York and California are commonly grouped at Sarah Lawrence and referred to as “Middle America,” I feel that Christians too have been lumped together on our campus. It is not that Sarah Lawrence displays favoritism, providing amenities for one religion over another, but as one Catholic student, Danielle DiPalermo, put it, “for a school that’s supposed to be so open and supportive of different things, I myself don’t feel that support.” We have felt this, not only in the lack of distinction between sects of Christianity, but also by some of our teachers (of all people). It’s not what’s being said by non-believing students, exactly, “it’s the way they say it; they’re saying you’re naïve for believing in God,” as DiPalermo explained.
This insensitivity has caused me to refrain from letting other SLC students know that I am Christian. I fear being labeled as a kind of Christian that I am not, but hurriedly qualifying my religion by rattling off my personal beliefs for others’ reassurance is an unhealthy and dangerous response to criticism. Although I am sensitive to the differences between my church and Methodists, Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, or what have you, distancing myself from another Christian (maybe a fellow Presbyterian, even) who may not share my views will only tear apart our diverse union. As Christians, we have our differences. They should be recognized, but not exaggerated out of a fear of being stereotyped.
I feel that this is an important message for the Sarah Lawrence community because, despite our outward impression of being an inquisitive campus, I have often felt a sweeping exclusion of things we assume we know well enough and can therefore dismiss. A banner flew my first year on campus that boasted a “nonwhite, non-privileged” club. This message, instead of empowering minority groups and equalizing the playing field, only perpetuates a different version of the same problems that society has always faced. This is what I am afraid is happening to Christians. People get comfortable with whatever group holds a majority position, and eventually that group becomes so common that it is underappreciated, ignored, and winds up disrespected. It is a dangerous process, and I don’t want to see this happening on a campus that is supposed to be conscientious.