Social Injustices Rooted in Religion Social injustice is something that concerns everyone, whether it be based on ethnics, gender, political view, religion or anything that makes one person different from another. One common factor in all types of social injustice is religion and religious views and perceptions. While it is recognized that everyone has a different interpretation of what religion is based on their own individuality, whenever it comes to the law and individual rights religion is said to be kept separate. To dig deeper into the roots of social injustice and how plays a role in this type of disrespect, I focused in on two of the biggest social injustices of racial and sexual discrimination, interviewing two people of different ages, race, and religious backgrounds on their opinions of the problems at hand. The first person I interviewed, Claire Holmes, is an eighteen-year-old college freshman, and while she believes in God she does not consider herself to be very religious. The second person interviewed, Angela McKenzie, is a 30-year-old college graduate who has a strong faith deeply rooted in Christianity. Although religion and state are supposed to be kept separate, certain religious views and interpretations create a platform for social injustices and directly affect the individual rights of others. Looking at racial discrimination, a variety of religious views seem to stand as a foundation that is used to justify the actions of those who feel that they
There have been many cases over the years regarding people objecting to things based on their religious beliefs. By doing so, these people are sometimes in violation of federal or state laws that protect people’s rights and prevent discrimination. An example of this is when Bob Smith refused to rent out his banquet hall to Adam and Steve, a gay couple who wanted to get married there. Bob, a California resident, refused to rent out the banquet hall because Adam and Steve’s gay wedding went against his religious beliefs and he found their lifestyle to be immoral and ungodly. This case brings up several legal, moral and philosophical issues that will be discussed in the following paragraphs.
Religious oppression, persecution… The noun is related to persecute which comes from Latin persecute meaning “followed with hostility” persecution means hassling or singling out a person, or group, because of race, religion, or sexual orientation, gender, or social status to persecute.
For the entirety of the United States’ existence, freedom of religion has been a guiding principle for the nation. Despite, or perhaps because of, the deep, varied religious heritage of many Americans, America was the first country in history to abolish religious qualifications for civic engagement. However, paradoxically, the United States also has a history of discrimination based on religion, as seen in historical bigotry towards Catholics, some Protestant sects, Jews, Atheists, Mormons, Muslims, and other marginalized groups. Indeed, a common theme in American history, continuing to this day, is the conflict between America’s secular ideal and its often faith-dominated reality. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, religious
Prejudice and bigotry have created chaotic situations in history while becoming integrated into society. Evident prejudices remain the basis of events such as the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. Although both events are extreme situations of bigotry, prejudices towards religions and ethnicities still remain. Sister Rose Thering conducted a war against prejudice towards the Jewish people. The entire religion was blamed for crucifying Jesus. Sister Rose’s unique and commendable actions allowed her to be successful in her strife against prejudice and bigotry. She even influenced me to take action against bigotry with knowledge instead of simply hoping for the best.
Even through contradictory politics and the use of religion as justification in the formation and adherence to these segregation laws, the resolve of individuals have collectively played a tremendous role in racial equality in all facets of life.
The struggle to obtain gay and civil rights has been directly influenced by religion, either in a positive or negative way. More specifically, religion has served as a disadvantage to achieving gay rights and an advantage to those that participated in the civil rights movement. Contrary to the recent successes of the gay rights movement, there have been a lot of obstacles along the way and most of them have been due to religious beliefs and practices. Religion opposes gay rights, especially gay marriage on the basis that it immoral and unnatural, it is against the word of God and it is incompatible with religious beliefs, sacred texts, and traditions of many religious groups(Eskridge,15). On the other hand, religion more directly influences the outcome of the civil rights movement by providing a basis for unity among African Americans. The concepts and strategies of the civil rights movement alluded to Biblical stories and admonitions. The church provided a physical shelter for African Americans to congregate and organize marches, sit-ins and protests, but also a spiritual overlook that guided them to the freedom that they always deserved.
Throughout the past couple of weeks, the readings revolved around oppression. These readings have talked about oppression as being pervasive, restrictive, hierarchical, intentional, unintentional, institutionalized, and so much more. These examples show us how oppression is taking over our society, and it is going to take a lot for it to finally disappear. One way that individuals believe oppression can start to deteriorate is through the process of social justice. The end game of social justice is to make sure there is equality for everyone present in our society today. Yet, we know that having social justice present is a process that will not happen overnight. By breaking down and analyzing oppression, it could help many individuals understand
Discrimination is an unjustified, inexcusable crime against people of a different race. Most importantly, commonly discriminated races are discouraged and commonly stereotyped as negative people and are overall expected to be failures. This is why the percentage of white homeowners is 73%, while in second place is only 47% for Latino homeowners. “Those who failed were ceremonially accepted by other Indians and appropriately pitied by non-Indians.” Additionally, people who impose these ideals onto society split it up even further, dividing people who are accepting of others, and those who are not. This can apply to many subjects other than race, such as sexual identity, sexual preference, religion, and more. While it is understandable that some
In the history of The United States, there has always been a history of discrimination that has come from many different areas by many different people that have led to violent discrimination acts to members of our society (Miller, 2003). These violent acts have been based on members of society bias views of others race, sex, disabilities, sexual preferences, and religion (Greenhouse, 1993). The members of these groups that have been discriminated upon are minority members of our society that have had to fight for their rightful place as a member of the American Society, and still, fight prejudice today.
The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution sanctioned all 50 States to protect all citizens, by requiring that all citizens are treated according to the Bill of Rights, by protecting “the inalienable rights of all its citizens” (Fisher, 2013, pg. 3). Although, the inalienable rights of men are projected differently, both from a Biblical perspective and a Constitution, Declaration, there are or will be several morals violations among citizens that must be addressed. Particularly, in this case on Religious Discrimination and Racial Harassment in the Workforce.
Faith: faith gives people spiritual beliefs and in influences their cultural traditions and what they celebrate. Discrimination can happen when people assume that their beliefs and practices based on their faith are the rights ones and that everyone should believe in and so the same as them
For instance, according to an article in the Washington Post “…black men still need two more levels of education to have the same chances of landing a job as a white man” (Marte). Minorities in general are disproportionately unemployed; Native American employment rates are far below those of whites, they have lower odds of employment than whites even after accounting for various demographic factors (Austin). When it comes to religious bias, Muslims are now experiencing more injustices than any other time in America. The bias towards American Muslims post 9/11, has affected their job prospects; researchers have discovered that “…applicants who self-identified as Muslim on their social media profiles were called back at a lower rate nationwide by prospective employers than Christians with the exact same names and qualifications” (Pal). Even when a Muslim does get the job, the discrimination continues, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported a 250 percent rise in the number of religion-based discrimination complaints post 9/11 (Pal). If your gender is female, you aren’t fairing much better in the workplace, the majority of America’s lowest paid workers are women. On average women make seventy-eight cents to a man’s dollar, even when you take into account the difference in job choice, men still earn more for the same role (O’Brien). Opportunities to move ahead economically are out there, but they’re definitely not equal for
Racial discrimination and prejudices are not to be mistaken as mere personal opinions or human nature, as its existence infringes upon the entire position and teachings of the Catholic church and is in complete violation of God’s will, which is ultimately the purpose of humanity.
During my time as an undergraduate, I majored in philosophy but intentionally selected courses that would further my knowledge on my range of interests in social justice and law. As I started to engage and learn about theories of intersectionality, social and structural inequalities and constructs, I grew angry at the world we have created for ourselves to live in. I understood that the injustices imposed on people at the dangerous intersections of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, and ability are frequent and widespread. The oppressive forces that have allowed for the creation of such injustices have not only routinely excluded and silenced the voices of many groups of people, but have destroyed countless lives.
In 2007, according to the Federal Bureau Investigation of the Nation’s law enforcement agencies “there were 9,535 victims of hate crimes; of these victims17.1 percent were victimized because of a bias against a religious belief which totaled to be 1,628 victims of an anti-religious hate crime” (1). Almost ten thousand people were victims of hate crimes alone in 2007. That is something to be alarmed about because part of living in the U.S.A as minority is to have freedom to do and be anything you want and yet we find that you really don’t have that freedom because you get attacked for practicing that freedom. The increasingly rate of hate crimes is soaring that many states like New York, New Jersey and California now have the highest