On Christians
by Ebun Lawore, Staff Writer
Illustration by Angus
It seems that no matter where I go I cannot escape Christianity. I scroll on social media to edits of Charlie Kirk in heaven, Rapture jokes, and videos of Gigi Perez’s Christian doppelganger. I walk out of Wilder after a failed attempt at stealing from DeCafé only to run into a crowd of students watching a man with a megaphone preach the gospel. I go to an Oberlin yard sale only to walk into a room filled with Christian rock CDs.
“I cannot escape it,” is what I say. And in saying that, my only goal, really, is to seek attention. Because even though I sound upset, I really don’t mind it. In some ways, I actually welcome it. What I am really upset about is you guys. Y’all are pissing me off.
Sometimes it shocks me how many people are completely satisfied with Oberlin’s liberal monolith. And before you write me off as someone with weak politics and an unrealistic desire for everyone to hold hands and sing kumbaya, please just hear me out. Every time that Christians have a spotlight in the media, I go about my day at Oberlin and I have the same conversation 15 times. They say things like “It’s crazy that anyone would believe that/think that way,” they mention “religious psychosis,” they make a few more jokes about it, and then say something like, “I’m glad that none of us think that way.”
I’m sorry if you’ve ever had this conversation with me, because I probably just smiled and nodded at you, but in my head I was seething. Because most of you don’t understand what Christians actually are. Your ability to act like you’re so intellectually superior to them and joke about their beliefs so easily shows me that you don’t understand them. And because of the way that Christianity relates so much to the state of our country, it is now more than ever incredibly important to truly understand where they are coming from.
Yes, Christianity has widely been used as an object of violence and oppression, and there are many Christians who align themselves with that. But there are also so many Christians who are victims of that oppression and violence. For every group of European missionaries, there are whole countries full of Christians who were colonized into that religion. For every white, conservative, evangelical church in America, there is an African American Southern Baptist Church that started as a community for ex-slaves. Women, people of color, queer, and impoverished people make up the majority of this religion, and they are just as oppressed by it as you are.
At this point is usually where the superiority complex comes in, and people ask questions like “Why would anyone stay in a religion that is oppressing them?” But people forget that Christianity isn’t just a social construct that is stomping all over people across the world. It is an actual belief system that shapes the world view of everyday citizens.
Think of why someone would ever need a God in their life. Think of those who have suffered, grieved, and lost and see God as the only light at the end of their tunnel. Think of those who have only ever known a world with a God, and fear a life without Him. So much fucked up shit could have happened in these people’s lives, and the only place where they felt love and hope is where God is: in churches, in the Bible, with other Christians. Experiences like that could cause you to cling to God like he is the air you breathe and allow him to dictate every part of your life.
Understand what it means to have a savior: someone who has literally saved your life. In what world would you take that lightly?
Sometimes when I’m in conversation with people at Oberlin, it feels like people can’t understand Christians because they can’t separate Christianity as a social force from Christianity as a personal belief. But a big problem with Christians is that sometimes, they can’t separate it, either. So we all suffer under the same confusion that turns Christianity into something that it’s not. This is how Christian love and hope turns into fear and hatred. It’s why the phrase “Jesus loves you” has turned into an attack. It’s because the Christian feel the need to hold up this Christian social norm that is actually unrelated to their personal beliefs, and that social norm is the one that we want to tear down.
Suddenly, the Christian becomes the oppressor. Yes, the bigoted, racist, homophobic Christian was always the oppressor, but even the marginalized Christian who was searching for love and acceptance has suddenly become a part of the social force that seeks to marginalize them.
I am not asking you to sympathize with Christians. But I’m asking you to truly look at them. We are all aware of the affects Christianity has had on this country, but most of us can’t properly picture who is causing it. We say that people who believe in the Rapture are crazy, and that men who evangelize on the side of the road are stupid. We laugh it off and move on with our lives. But consider that many of their negative actions start with honest beliefs, and then become practical, rationalized thoughts. That should scare you a lot more than crazy.
