Question H

I grew up Catholic, I was baptized and received First Communion. As a child my parents made us go to church almost every weekend. However, once I got to the high school age where kids get Confirmed, I stopped going. I used to go to religious classes and I knew from an early age it wasn’t for me. I told my parents I did not have any interest in going to an organized church. It caused some tension but they realized it was a decision I myself had to make. I still identify as Catholic but I would say I’m more spiritual than religious. I had too many questions that just don’t add up to me.

However, it would be wrong to say that I do not have privilege because of my religious upbringing. One thing that I notice, especially due to the time of year just passed, is that I am not offended when I hear “Merry Christmas.” It is part of my upbringing that that is something normal to say. I have even found myself annoyed when people are politically correct about holiday terms. Yet, this is a clear example of my privilege. In Schlosser’s piece I also noticed how my religious background was supported in things like what kids do at school. I never came home from school with Christmas crafts and have my parents be angry because it was against our religion.

Even though I have friends who are of a different religious background, I never really thought of the other side of the issue. I think of it in terms of an atheist pushing their ideas upon me. Without getting into my convictions too much, I believe in something higher than us, I’m just not totally comfortable saying “Yes, I believe in a white male God” that Christians believe to be true. However, if the dominant idea was that there was nothing higher than us I think I would be offended and oppressed. Since I have never really ran into that I’m not positive how I would react but I figure I wouldn’t be too pleased. Even though Schlosser’s piece is just a list of privileges, I connected with that and made me think about my thoughts of religious representation.