This article was first published in Touchstone in August 2018.
There is a lot of talk these days about privilege[1]: white privilege, male privilege etc., which got me thinking - is there a Methodist privilege?
Methodism is one of the Christian faiths and living in New Zealand/Aotearoa where Christian beliefs are the accepted social norm entitles us to holidays on the major Christian holy days. Christmas and Easter are celebrated with days off work and school. We are also not pressured to celebrate or forced to take time off to celebrate another religion’s holy days.
We can also wear symbols of our religion without being stereotyped as being dangerous. People wear crosses without any comment. If a Christian commits an act of violence, they are never asked if they had been radicalised. There is not an automatic consideration of a connection between the crime and the Christian faith? Or whether the crime was an act of terrorism?
Christianity is dominant in our society and represented on television, with some channels devoted solely to it. We have religious education in schools – but this is really just the Christian education. Would there be a parental backlash if a Muslim was teaching Islam during religious education at school? Questions about trying to radicalise young people would be asked.
Christians are never accused of trying to radicalise people – it is called evangelising. And that is a significant difference. One has a huge amount of judgment and blame attached to it and the other is all about acceptance.
As Christians we have the freedom to build and attend a place of worship without being targets of threats or violence. The same cannot be said for Muslims who attend mosques, or Jews attending Synagogue.
Our Christian faith is only one aspect of our identity and not the defining aspect. People do not consider us “their Christian friend.”
Most hotel rooms have a Bible in them and it is easy to find a Christian charity to donate to or get assistance from – even a Methodist one.
Methodism has a rich history of working with the marginalised in society and today we stand on the shoulders of our forebears and continue this work. Methodist Missions in New Zealand/Aotearoa have a strong track record of performance and innovative programmes which bring about change for families. Methodist Alliance members provide culturally specific programmes and wrap around services in their local communities. Methodist organisations ran orphanages in the past and now offer foster care and support to foster parents and children in care and at risk youth. Methodist Alliance members have a trusted reputation for being flexible in how services are delivered, strong advocates for marginalised people, and are passionate about social justice.
The Methodist Alliance is a faith funding manager for the Tindall Foundation. We are trusted with sharing the Tindall family’s love and generosity to support families and social services. It is a privilege that the Tindall Foundation trust us to do this work for them and their donation helps us undertake work that does not fit neatly into government funding priorities.
It is a privilege to be brought up in the Methodist Church and we can thank our founding fathers for our rich musical tradition. And in Aotearoa it is a privilege to have Colin Gibson writing hymns with particular kiwi flavour that builds on our rich musical tradition.
I think we do have a Methodist privilege – an invisible package of unearned benefits. It is a privilege to work for and with the people who use the power of our Methodist privilege to lift the marginalised in society and equip them with skills to enable them to flourish.
Carol Barron, Methodist Alliance National Coordinator, Carol@MethodistAlliance.org.nz
[1]If you are not sure what privilege is, watch this video which explains the life of privilege in a race for $100 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps
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