Hostile Environment

Understanding and Responding to Anti-Christian Bias

George Yancey

• Publisher: IVP
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780830897698
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religious Intolerance, Persecution & Conflict

"The only good Christian is a dead Christian." In our heated cultural environment, comments like this are increasingly common. Sometimes Christians are too quick to claim that they are being persecuted. But Christians aren't just being paranoid or alarmist. Anti-Christian hostility is real. Sociologist George Yancey explores the phenomenon of Christianophobia, an intense animosity against Christians and the Christian faith. Among some circles, opposition to Christianity manifests much like other historic prejudices like anti-Semitism or racial discrimination. While Christianophobia in the United States does not typically rise to the violent levels of religious persecution in other parts of the world, Christians are often still treated in ways that perpetuate negative stereotypes and contribute to culture war acrimony. Yancey unpacks the underlying perspectives and root causes of Christianophobia, and he considers to what extent Christians have themselves contributed to anti-Christian hostility. At times, criticisms of Christians are justified, but Christians can confront untruths without capitulation. In this truthful yet hope-filled treatise, Yancey shows how Christians can respond more constructively, defusing tensions and working toward the common good.

1

Introduction

I remember vividly a disturbing conversation that I once had with a good Christian friend who taught in a high school. He told me that he mentioned one day in class that some Christians around the world were being killed for their faith. To his amazement, some students approved of these murders. In their minds, it was time for Christians to face the same death that Christians had inflicted on others.

I was struck by the ahistorical nature of this line of thought. Although Christians in the United States do not face jail or death for their faith, there is a long history of Christians around the world being punished for their faith. I also wondered how so much hatred had developed against Christians. This conversation took place almost two decades ago, and I see little evidence that this type of hatred has abated.

In fact, my recent research has confirmed that such hatred is still very powerful.1 David Williamson and I conducted a survey of culturally progressive activists using open-ended questions. The survey questions elicited a variety of hostile statements aimed at conservative Christians. One statement in particular (from a male, age 36-45) caught my attention: “The only good Christian is a dead Christian”.

This statement echoed a quotation from American history. In 1869, during the middle of the Indian Wars on the Great Plains, a Comanche chief named Tosawi told General Philip Sheridan, “Me Tosawi; me good Injun.” Sheridan is reported to have replied, “The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.”2 The accuracy of this statement has been disputed, but the sentiment is clear: when one is in a war, one should offer no mercy to the enemy. The respondent made it clear that he sees Christians as the enemy and believes that no mercy should be given to them.

That response should have shocked me. It didn’t. I had already read a lot of hateful anti-Christian comments. Because of their anonymity, the respondents of the survey felt free to state their opinions bluntly. Those interested in exploring the remarks in more depth can examine our academic treatment of the subject,3 but suffice it to say that such remarks remind us that some people harbor a high level of irrational hatred toward Christians. We do not know how many people hold similar opinions, but we do know that many of them have social power.

As a Christian, I was tempted to become angry at those who spew such venom. I might also have matched the hatred of my friend’s students with hatred of my own, but I know that this is not the right way to respond. There is a contrary temptation to shy away from confronting such unfair attacks. After all, are we not told to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39)? By one interpretation of this advice, I should merely smile and forgive others when they make hateful comments. Perhaps if I do not say anything and avoid unpleasant people, then life will be easier. Yet I know that this is simplistic and not the proper answer to such attitudes. What is a Christian response to hatred directed at us? Do we ignore that hatred to suffer in silence, or do we confront it? Do we actively confront it, and if we do, then how should we do so? I wish I could tell you that I have perfect answers to such questions. The reality is that I struggle to identify the proper responses.

Over the past few years I have done research into Christianophobia, defined as an unreasonable hatred or anger toward Christians. My research indicates that these negative emotions are generally directed at Christians with a conservative theological or political perspective.4 This research has helped me to understand some of the sources of that hatred—not justify that hatred but understand it. Diving into the data about Christianophobia forced me, as a believer, to consider how I should respond to such rancor. This book allows me to share some of my insights regarding how best to respond to those who dislike or fear Christians.

My Background

I have not spent my entire academic career analyzing anti-Christian animosity. During my early years as a Christian scholar, I studied racial issues, especially as they pertain to Christians. Being an African American Christian, I naturally had an interest in these issues.

When I was in graduate school, I experienced racism at the hands of the mother of a woman I dated. The reactions of many of my Christian friends were anything but supportive, leading me to question the role Christians play in perpetrating racism in our society. I wrote about racism within the church and became very interested in how Christians can work toward establishing multiracial congregations. While I did research racial issues apart from the church, my main focus was helping Christians deal with the racialized nature of our society. I hoped my work would help to promote racial reconciliation.

A few years ago I felt a call to change the direction of my research. There are a variety of issues that led to this shift, but one was my observation of anti-Christian perspectives. I noticed these attitudes in the reporting of local and national events, though that alone would not have motivated me to study anti-Christian animosity. I also saw evidence of anti-Christian attitudes in how some academics reacted to my faith. For example, when I was an adjunct professor, I was assigned to four classes in a semester. One class was sociology of race and ethnicity, one was sociology of religion, and the other two were introduction to sociology courses. Soon thereafter I learned that some faculty had misgivings about my ability to teach the religion class because I was a Christian. They feared that I would be biased. However, the fact that I am an African American did not create any fear about my bias in teaching the race and ethnicity course. While all professors bring some degree of bias into their teaching (an atheist certainly brings bias to a sociology of religion course), the comments of these professors indicated that black racial bias is acceptable while Christian religious bias is not. I have encountered more barriers in academia because of my faith than because of my race.

Such experiences and my observation of social events convinced me of the importance of studying hostility toward Christians. My previous work on the dynamics of racial intergroup conflict helped me to understand issues of prejudice, stereotyping, bigotry and hatred in this religious context. I saw similar, but not identical, dynamics in anti-Christian hostility. While I am convinced that the Lord used me in my previous racial research to help address important racial issues, he also used my time dealing with racial issues to prepare me for understanding anti-Christian animosity.

Over the past few years I have learned a lot about anti-Christian animosity. First, I conducted research on social and religious bias in academia. I learned that evangelicals and fundamentalists are the groups most likely to face negative bias by academics.5 Unlike previous work on academic bias, my work was systematic and not anecdotal. I found that almost half of all academics were less willing to hire a candidate for an academic job if they learned that the person was a conservative Protestant.6 That work provided evidence of the anti-Christian bias prevalent throughout the academic community. To look at potential anti-Christian attitudes outside of academia, I used data from a national survey to document the extent of antifundamentalist hostility in the United States. In a research article, I showed that this hostility at least matches the level of anti-Muslim hostility, or Islamophobia, in our society.7 In another book I tested a theory—Right-wing authoritarianism—that argued that vindictiveness and hostility toward out-groups are much more prevalent among religious and political conservatives than among religious and political progressives. I demonstrated that religious and political progressives do possess vindictiveness and hostility when asked about conservative Christians.8

Finally, I wanted to know what Christianophobia looks like. The research I did on culturally progressive activists provided several clues about the nature of Christianophobia in our society. I analyzed those answers and used a probability sample to document the characteristics of those who have Christianophobia. My coauthored book provides solid analyses of the perception individuals with Christianophobia have of Christians, how they dehumanize Christians and what they want in our society.9 The responses from the national survey that is the basis for So Many Christians replicated my earlier finding that conservative Christians face more animosity in society than any religious groups other than atheists. Those with this animosity are more likely to be white, wealthy and educated, and thus have relative power in our society.

Throughout this book I will refer to respondents’ comments collected from my research for books on cultural progressive activists and on Christianophobia. If you are interested in the methodology used to find respondents, see the appendix or pick up one or both books that used this methodology.10 Quotations from our respondents, combined with an analysis of current events, will help to illustrate the mindset of those with Christianophobia.

Defining Christianophobia

The term Christianophobia is controversial. Some individuals may see those who use the term as a bunch of Christians whining about not getting their way. The actions of some Christians justify this contempt. But hatred and fear of Christians are pheno­­­­mena with real consequences, even in a democracy such as ours. As I considered how to label this phenomenon, I decided that Christianophobia is the best term devised to date to describe much of the anti-Christian perspective in the United States.

This is not a word that I made up. Christianophobia is defined by Macmillan Dictionary as “an irrational animosity towards or hatred of Christians, or Christianity in general.” In this sense, it is not unlike the way we use Islamophobia or homophobia in that we are not addressing simply fear of a group of individuals; we are referring to the negative emotions directed at those individuals. While it is inaccurate to make the assumption that Christianophobia is exactly like other types of intolerances, the basic concept that certain individuals target a given group with hatred and negativity is fairly similar in this definition of Christianophobia. Thus, the Macmillan definition is the one to keep in mind as I discuss this concept.

I anticipate that some will argue that Christianophobia is either a myth or that it really does not matter. “Where is the evidence that Christians are put at a disadvantage in our society due to Christianophobia?” they may ask. Consider the fact that my research, as well as other research,11 indicates that there is a notable anti-Christian bias in academia. This bias means that one should not expect the level of academic documentation of anti-Christian prejudice that we would expect for other types of prejudice. It is realistic to assert that Christians likely face prejudice in institutions other than academia, institutions that also have highly educated and culturally progressive individuals, and that a lack of curiosity about such religious prejudice among academics keeps it hidden from the general public.

Let’s play a thought experiment. If there were research showing that almost half of all academics are less willing to give a person a job simply because that person is Jewish, then would we say that anti-Semitism impacts the lives of Jews in our society? After all, they would face an unfair barrier to academia, which is an important source of culture creation. What if those who hate Jews are more likely to be wealthy and well educated? Would we not be concerned about how such individuals would express animosity toward Jews? We know these things about Christianophobia, despite the anti-Christian academic bias that discourages such research, and so it is hard to argue that Christianophobia has no effect on Christians. As I will discuss later, it is a mistake to argue that Christianophobia is exactly like anti-Semitism or racism, but if we had the evidence of educational prejudice toward Christians for another racial or religious group, then few, if any, people would argue that such prejudice does not matter.

Even such evidence will not be enough to convince some individuals that Christianophobia is a problem. They will require a level of proof I cannot supply. Beyond a few exceptional cases, I cannot absolutely prove that Christians are unfairly treated. In contemporary society such proof is indeed difficult to obtain, but not just for conservative Christians. Today scholars of racial attitudes talk of microaggressions12 and subtle forms of racism13 at least in part because surveys no longer reveal large percentages of people who directly insult or show a willingness to explicitly discriminate against African Americans. To a lesser degree the same can probably be said of sexism and homophobia, although I do not have the expertise in those areas to definitively make that statement. We do not demand absolute proof of overt systematic discrimination based on race, sex, sexual preference or minority religious status before addressing potential prejudices. Those who demand such a criterion for Christians but no other social groups need to explain why such a double standard is acceptable.

Not all Christians are equally likely to be victimized by Christianophobia. Christians who do not challenge the ideals of those with Christianophobia are less likely to experience this hatred and prejudice. Generally, theologically or politically conservative Christians, who do challenge progressive social and poli­tical attitudes, are the ones who draw the ire of those with anti-Christian hostility. There are aspects of Christianophobia that may also threaten progressive Christians, and this seems especially the case in other countries.14 However, for the most part it is the irrational hatred and fear directed toward conservative Christians that we observe in the United States.

Why Has Christianophobia Been Ignored?

Many Christians believe they have experienced animosity or discrimination because of their faith. Given my research, I cannot deny that they are right. Yet there is little talk about Christianophobia in the larger society. Why is that?

A large part of the silence on Christianophobia results from a lack of academic analysis of this phenomenon. Christianity is what we sociologists call a majority religion. It is the most popular and powerful religion in the United States. Generally scholars do not concern themselves with prejudice experienced by those in the majority group. For example, in the United States men generally have more power than women, and whites generally have more power than people of color. Consequently, there is not a lot of academic research lamenting prejudice and discrimination against men and whites. This is not to say that prejudice and discrimination against whites and men are nonexistent. However, as a group, both whites and men are quite powerful, and isolated instances of prejudice and discrimination do not eliminate the general gender or racial advantages they possess.

But can the same thing be said about Christians? It is true that Christians, while suffering from isolated instances of prejudice and discrimination, also maintain a certain power advantage over other religious groups. However, this is not nearly as universally true as it is for whites and men. In key areas of our society, Christians are at a disadvantage simply because they are Christians. I alluded to this with my discussion above regarding the Christian disadvantage in academia. An overwhelming majority of the respondents from some disciplines, such as anthropology and English literature, stated a willingness to religiously discriminate.15 We are not talking about an isolated bigot or two. We are talking about a substantial percentage of individuals in our institutions of higher education. Thus, higher education and science, highly regarded segments of our society, are communities where Christians do not enjoy the privileges of the majority and in fact operate at a disadvantage compared to those with other religious beliefs, or no religious beliefs at all.

When we consider the importance of education in our society, this type of bias becomes a bigger concern. Higher education is a primary means by which we train and socialize the elite in our society. Contrary to popular belief, the science emerging from institutions of higher education does not come from unbiased individuals. A lack of Christians participating in scientific endeavors due to potential discrimination means that some scientific research will be conducted in ways that disadvantage Christians.16 I do not want to overstate this disadvantage for conservative Christians because clearly there are other ways they still have majority group status. For example, do we honestly believe that some...