Majorities
WHEN YOU are part of a majority, it can feel comfortable, but it has its dangers – of complacency and distorted viewpoints.
For example, I’m white, as are most people in Caversham. It would be easy to think that whiteness is the norm. It would also be easy to take a few more steps and start feeling that there is something superior about being white, and the kind of mindset which justified the slave trade and apartheid could creep in.
I am male, and it is still very much a man’s world; in most places men continue to have the lion’s share of power and privilege. It could be easy to see that as the norm and even to take further steps to think that there’s something right about that. It could be easy to forget the appalling way girls and women are treated by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
I’m Christian, and Christianity is still the leading religion in the world. It would be easy to think that we Christians have all the truth, until I see friends I am making through Reading Interfaith Group – Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Sikhs. Is my devotion to the Living God stronger than theirs? I don’t believe so.
I’m also heterosexual, and we are definitely in the majority. When I first hear a female neighbour speak of her wife it surprises me, but is her love for her wife any less than my love for my wife? I have male friends whose life-long commitment to one another is of a depth and quality that is not lacking in comparison to my own marriage.
There is an ideology being pushed by the US President and his cronies. It favours white supremacy, male aggression (including support for the Tate brothers), Christianity (Trump and Putin both purport to be Christian, though their ways are light years away from the values of Jesus), and heterosexuality: diversity and inclusiveness become swear words in their vocabulary.
The majority don’t always get it right. It was on a majority vote that Jesus of Nazareth was condemned to death. With Trump, Putin and their ilk, we are faced with the cosy club of land-grabbing, bullying and corrupt world leaders, and it becomes very important to stand alongside the people of Canada, Greenland, Ukraine and elsewhere, as ‘a coalition of the willing’.
It becomes very important to examine our own background and biases.
There’s nothing wrong in being white, male, Christian and heterosexual. It’s the way I’m made, and my faith is a conviction I hold; but I need to be aware of potential dangers that come with being in a majority – and you might too.
Revd David Jenkins is a member of the Methodist Team Ministry
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