Easter Sunday seems like as good a time as any to blog about something I've been thinking about for some time now: how Christian literacy is an unspoken component of American cultural literacy,
especially when you're in a conversation with a bunch of atheists.
My mother raised me Buddhist, though in Northern Arizona, there's no Buddhist temple (even if there was, I doubt I'd have turned out any more religious than I am right now). Religion, as a vehicle for spirituality, has never been a big part of my life. I can count on one hand (maybe two hands) the number of times I've been to a Christian church service of any kind. This is in contrast to most of the kids around me growing up, who were all different kinds of Christian, and who spent their Sundays (and Wednesdays) obtaining a vocabulary and knowledge base that I didn't even know I was missing.
The moments in my life when I did realize this void of knowledge were all deeply embarrassing moments that remain ingrained in my memory. Each one caught me completely off-guard, as the people around me sought to bring me into a world that to them, was normal, and to me, was utterly foreign.
When I was 5 years old we moved from Oregon to Arizona and I was temporarily placed in a private Christian preschool. (I'm not sure why this was; I should ask my parents!) On my first day there I followed the other kids into the lunchroom, where bowls of food were waiting for us at our chairs. I started eating. Everyone else gasped and stared at me. Some other 5 year old kid hissed at me in a scolding tone that we all had to say grace first. I didn't know what grace was. I also vividly recall an evening several years later, when my friend's sister asked me to say grace before dinner, and my friend and her mother also pleasantly encouraged me to do so. I knew by then what grace was, and I was happy to follow along with everyone and say "Amen," but I had no idea how to lead grace. I just kept declining until they gave up on me, and I sat there, totally embarrassed.
Along the path of life there's been other moments etched in my mind, such as mispronouncing a Biblical name and eliciting laughter, or not getting a joke because it relied on knowledge of some famous Bible story I'd never happened to learn. I own several Bibles, and I've read a fair amount of it, and I have had some wonderful conversations with my Christian friends over the years. Furthermore, it's also undeniably a fact that a person can't grow up as a fully acculturated American without some basic understanding of basic Christian beliefs and Bible stories. The metaphors, allusions, aphorisms, and practices are everywhere. American cultural literacy is Christian cultural literacy.
So why blog about this? Because I wonder
to what extent the expectation of
total Christian literacy makes sense. If I, as an advanced graduate student at Stanford University (who I guess is supposed to know a lot of stuff), slip up on some fact about Christianity, is it appropriate for the room to laugh at my gaff? Should I continue to swallow my pride and learn more about this religion which isn't my belief, but
is my ambient culture? (Because isn't it one task of a social scientist to at least understand their own ambient culture?) Or is there any justification for the annoyance I'm tempted to feel, the little voice that says, "Hey, I was raised to follow a different religion, so why am I expected to know
more about another religion than my own?"
A few months ago I was in a work meeting with several other academics, and I accidentally referred to a community by the wrong Christian denomination. (I don't even want to repeat it here, because the difference between the two denominations is quite large, and the fact that I made this mistake was deeply embarrassing -- which I guess is the point of this blog post.) The other people in the room laughed uproariously at my mistake, and all of a sudden I was 5 years old again. Except the difference these days seems to be that Christians are
never the ones laughing at me anymore, rather, it's often the most atheistic of academics.
Why is that?
Comments (12)
I don't have an answer to your question, except that so many atheist academics I know were raised Christian of some sort, so maybe it's a weird guilt thing.
Great post! And so very true.
I think Kaleidescopeeyes is probably right on - many of todays atheists were raised in surprisingly strictly Christian homes, which is probably part of why they've rebelled and chosen atheism. Not all, of course; one of my closest atheist friends was told by his parents (who I believe are also atheists) to pursue whatever path he chose, and he chose atheism because he looked all around and said he didn't find God anywhere.
As for the working knowledge of Christianity; I think it's widespread because Christianity is so widespread. Because of all the different denominations, it's amazing how many people are Christian that you'd never expect, and they're raising children who are taught Bible stories every Sunday at church. There's a lot of Bible stories, granted, but there are a lot of Sundays in one's childhood. I actually experienced this from a slightly different angle; my family never attended Church, though we considered ourselves Christian, and when I married the son of a Baptist pastor, I was very much in the predicament of not knowing the lore as well as everyone around me.
Christianity is certainly one of the dominant faiths in America, and I think even non-believers could benefit from the wisdom of it's pages and the history that it covers, just as all people can benefit from reading the Qur'an or the Tao te Ching or any number of other religious and historical texts. But for people to expect you to have the same knowledge of the faith that those raised in it and believers possess, well, that's a strange assumption. Hell, I'm Christian, and I couldn't name you all the different traditions, beliefs, and rules of the Catholic church.
One last thing; I don't remember if it was us, but if it was my family pressuring you to pray (knowing perfectly well that you were not a Christian) then it is US who should be embarassed. That's ridiculous. To this day if a Muslim asked me the process of Islamic prayer, I would be utterly lost, and Islam takes up over 20% of the population of the world and I'm an adult. To ask a child to lead prayer in a strange home is unfair; to do it to a non-believer is just wrong. I'm very sorry if it was us.
As a literature student I believe that the 3 most important things a student should know are Homer/Virgil, Shakespeare, and the Bible. I find the importance not in the religious aspect of it but in the fact that it permeates almost EVERY ASPECT of modern literature and culture without us even realizing it, in the same way that Shakespeare does. I think that some allusions are too common and too important to ignore; for instance, the other day I got upset and my dad for not knowing what the Judgment of Paris was (to me that feels like it should be common knowledge, but of course I live in a different world where everyone reads classic literature on a regular basis). This isn't a Bible allusion obviously (hmm Firefox is telling me that "isn't" is spelled incorrectly... it so is not) but if I make a reference to "In the beginning..." or casting the first stone and the person I'm talking to doesn't know what I mean (Firefox also says that "doesn't" is wrong. Stop hating on contractions, Firefox!) then my opinion of their intelligent will fall a little, unfortunately. Also, if someone in a novel or poem makes an obvious allusion to the Last Supper and a person doesn't pick up on it, again I feel a tinge of condescension. Not that I know the Bible front and back; far from it, but I recognize its importance and I'm trying to learn more to help so that I WILL be able to pick up on these allusions that appear everywhere in our canon. I know it's a bias thing to expect of people, as I certainly can't tell you anything about the Qur'an or the Torah, but as someone who has pretty much devoted themselves to Western literature I find that these things come up so often that they should be obvious. I'm taking a class next semester called "The English Bible as Literature" offered in the English department AND the Religious Studies department, which again reflects the importance of the Bible as not just a religious reference but as a literary one. To me, it's the same as not knowing who Odysseus or King Lear is (though again, my expectations of how much literature people should know is warped). But then again, I am a snobby English major
Also, there's nothing more self-satisfying than winning an argument with a fundamentalist Christian because you can actually quote the Bible better than they can.
Hey there! I think that Syd is spot-on in her analysis and I would just like to add a huge "ditto."
I’d also like to say that I feel really bad for you for all of the times that you have felt embarrassed, or had to deal with rude people. I think that reacting like that to someone’s mistake is just plain rude, even if they were of the same faith – and when someone doesn’t come from the same background, it is incredibly unjustified. Like the others have said – I think that when people act like that, they are trying to cover up their own insecurities.
If it makes you feel better, I am Christian and I HATE praying out loud in front of other people. I would be incredibly uncomfortable if I were at someone’s house and they asked me to say grace. I think that is often considered a sign of respect (to ask someone to pray) but it would make me want to just sink into the floor and disappear.
Thanks for posting this, Ling. It has given me a lot of food for thought.
P.S. I forgot to add that I also have an awkward eating-before-grace-is-said story from pre-school, and I was raised Catholic for a long time. So you're not alone!
As a Christian who grew up in non-Christianized cultural contexts, I would never laugh at anyone who didn't understand things that pertained to Christianity (culturally or historically or biblically). I sometimes get snickers from muslim friends when I commit a faux pas about their customs. But I'm not muslim, so they really shouldn't expect me to know their customs. I noticed some Christians saying "He is Risen" to others. But how appropriate is that when the culture around you may not believe in the same thing? And so I decided in my blog to say "Happy Easter" (because it could refer to bunny rabbits and chocolates so prevalent in the N.A. culture) as well as a more personalized "My Lord is risen." I acknowledge Jesus as *my* Lord and I believe He is risen. But others may not. So to say "He is risen" comes across a little presumptuous and power-over.
All that, and, yeah, you advanced Stanford types are really supposed to know everything.
A couple of quick thoughts, and then I'll comment more later, but first, I like the purple and your pink scarf in the picture...purple and pink were my favorite colors in 5th grade. :) Second, I'm sorry on behalf of the Christians you came into contact with when you were little, who put pressure on you to "know" traditions of a Christian religion, and especially make you pray or say grace...being a youth leader in a Christian church now, I know how embarrassing that can be for kids. And three, although I've grown up Christian, I am quite annoyed that it's part of the American culture for a different reason...it's because now the term "Christian" is thrown around so much that "everyone" is expected to be a Christian. I don't think Jesus ever intended this. The term Christian actually means "little Christ", or one who lives in a way that reflects Jesus. From what I've studied about Jesus, and how he lived on earth, most Americans I know are far from reflecting how Jesus lived. Yes we may have similar or "good" morals, but the way that Jesus lived sacrificially for the poor, defended the orphans and widows, prayed for all, healed people, etc, I feel like the term "Christian" is thrown around far more than it should be, gives a bad reputation to people who are truly trying to follow Jesus and His ways, and the cultured term of Christian drives many to become atheists. Plus I don't think that Jesus came to tell people to have good morals, and that is what many American Christians seem to communicate today. There is a "righteousness" aspect (I know, another big "Christian" term which basically means right living), but the whole crux of Christianity is that because everyone is screwed up morally (aka has sinned), we need one who lived a perfect life (Jesus) to take the punishment for sin, so that we can live freely for Jesus. Does that make sense?
This is a beautifully written post. The lines, "The moments in my life when I did realize this void of knowledge were all deeply embarrassing moments that remain ingrained in my memory. Each one caught me completely off-guard, as the people around me sought to bring me into a world that to them, was normal, and to me, was utterly foreign" resounded with me because I've often felt the same way but could never have said it so eloquently. My family is not at all religious and also gave me the freedom to choose my own spiritual path. However, a family friend often encouraged me to attend a local Sunday school class and I went eagerly mostly hoping to meet and interact with other kids my age in our very small town. By the time I was in the eighth grade my mom forbid me to go anymore because I came home from church in tears so often. She felt that I shouldn't attend a house of worship and come home feeling worse about myself then before I left. It was amazing how adults and children alike felt that my lack of knowledge in Bible history and church norms were acceptable reasons to treat me as inferiors.
Thanks for the posts, everyone! This was a tricky post to write, not because of the pain of the memories or anything, but because all the "laughing" people in my vignettes are/were friends of mine and people I respect. I used the stories as examples, but I hope that the point is a much more general one, above and beyond individual insecurities.
@molchick It never occurred to me before that some Christians may not want to pray out loud, even just grace before dinner. That was cool to hear, thanks!
@kirs10lew How did I never know you were raised Catholic?! Was that on your mom's side? Because Grandpa's Catholic influence never seemed to trickle down to his (grand)children, as far as I knew... Anyway, I agree with you, and I admit that I'm just about as good with Homer/Virgil as with the Bible... which is to say, not awful, but not as good as I ought to be! Maybe you can teach me a thing or two...
@JenniIngram Very interesting comment, thanks for posting!!
Thanks for the monster hugs. :) Camilo hasn't been laid-off very long - only five or six weeks so far.
I enjoyed reading this blog entry. It reminded me a of a time in Laredo when a good friend decided to come with me to Bible study one night. We were supposed to open the Bible to, let's say, "Matthew four eight". She didn't know that "four" mean chapter 4 and "eight" meant verse 8, much less where Matthew was in the Bible. (Not that I know where every book is.) It was like a foreign language to her. I had never before had to teach someone about finding verses in the Bible. It was interesting to me (not in a bad way) that she could already be 16 or 17 years old and not know how to navigate the book.
Also, I know a LOT of Christians who are not comfortable praying out loud. It took me a while to feel comfortable doing so and now I even love doing so in the right contexts. In my parents' house we only ever pray(ed) before a meal on a holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter) and even then it's not a given. So I certainly didn't grow up with that practice.
Just stopped by to say hi since we haven't "talked"on here for awhile
Also, I think you make a very good point in saying that Christianity is a part of American culture. To be "truly" culturally literate in this society means having knowledge of Christianity. Until I read your post, I never realized how much Christianity is ingrained into everyday American culture.
As for the embarrassments you have felt, I can relate to those. I went to a Catholic school from kindergarten - 6th grade. I was in for a bit of a religious culture shock in middle and high school. I didn't realize that some Christians went to church TWICE on Sundays and on Wednesday nights as well. People would always look at me kind of funny when I said that I was Catholic and didn't go to church twice on Sundays (only once, and sometimes that one time was on Saturday evenings - that boggled some people's minds!
) At one point, there was a preacher in this area who made it his purpose to convert Catholics to Christianity (which, I'm sorry, I thought Catholicism is a part of Christianity - same basic beliefs when you come down to it) because we were going to go to hell otherwise. I was outraged by this and shared this story with a friend, who said, well you are going to go to hell if you're not a Christian. Hello?? I believe what Christianity teaches because it is a part of Catholicism.
Since then I've kinda gone my own way in terms of religion. I know consider myself more of a spiritual person than a religious person. And I'm okay with that.
I just found your blog from another xanga blogger.
I'm probably a little late to the convo, but according to Samuel Huntington in the Clash of Civilizations, cultural experts often refer to Western culture as "Western Christianity." The religion played such a crucial role in the culture's development that they are intertwined.
I personally am an atheist, but I was raised in the church. It's freakish to see how much influence the church has had on life outside of church.