“How do Christians in the USA experience life in an easier way than non-Christians?” Students at George Washington University can learn about this and other related questions in a workshop entitled “Christian Privilege: But our founding fathers were all Christians, right?”
The website for the event offers the following introduction to the topic. “Even with the separation of Church and State, are there places where Christians have built-in advantages over non-Christians? How do we celebrate Christian identities and acknowledge that Christians receive unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country? Let’s reflect upon ways we can live up to our personal and national values that make room for all religious and secular identities on an equal playing field.”
Timothy Kane, the interim associate director for diversity initiatives at George Washington, will lead the event. Kane holds a degree in divinity and theology and has served in his current role since 2011. His biographical page on the University’s website describes him as “a proud gay member of the LGBT community at GW.” His role is to ensure that “all types of diversity are celebrated at GW.”
Christian students who attend Kane’s workshop will wonder if they are being celebrated or vilified. In the learning objectives, Kane says “Participants will be able to describe what is meant by privilege overall and white privilege specifically” and “Participants will be able to describe the role of denial when it comes to white privilege.” In addition, they “will be able to list at least three examples of Christian privilege.”
The workshop is part of the training curriculum offered by the University’s Multicultural Student Center. Other workshops cover heterosexual privilege, cisgender privilege, able-bodied privilege, unconscious bias, and study habits.
The College Fix attempted to contact Kane, but he has not responded to their requests.
Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
Publication date: April 3, 2018
