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Many Christian believers say they are not prejudiced against non-believers.
Living in a western society, the majority of people I know are Christians in one form or another. From my observation, the devout people tend to be more prejudiced against non-believers. And many are not even aware that they are prejudiced.
Many Christian readers at this moment probably think: "It could be anyone else but not me, I'm definitely not prejudiced". This is because perhaps you have many acquaintances, colleagues, friends who are non-believers whom you always respect and regard as individuals equal in all aspects with yourself; you consider the fact they are non-believers as a private, separate matter that has no influence in the relationship between you and them.
In fact it is very easy to know if you are deep down prejudiced or not. You only need to do a small mental experiment to find out; the only requirement is that you must be totally honest with yourself.
Just try to imagine that an over-21-year-old member of your family one day announces that they would reject Christianity and become an atheist. This could be one of your children, or your brother/sister or your boy/girl friend or your husband/wife. Let us assume that this person has always been very responsible and mature in their life and their way of thinking. They would explain to you clearly why they want to reject Christianity using all the standard reasons that an atheist would use.
Try to imagine what your feelings and reactions would be when that person is determined to choose that direction in life. Do you think you would be shocked because of this news? Would you try to dissuade or to stop them from doing this? Would you use all the standard reasons that a Christian believer would use (such as Christianity is a true and noble religion; atheism does not have a foundation for morality; the family's tradition has always been Christians; what would our neighbours, relatives and friends in the diocese think about this? etc.) to discuss with them? Or even if you could not be in the position to do this with them, would these thoughts come up in your mind? I want to repeat here, you must be absolutely honest with yourself to make it work because this is an experiment for yourself - and nobody else but you would know what you are thinking (!)
If you answer "No" to all of these above questions then you are really a believer who is not prejudiced in this regard; and you probably are the first one I ever know of.
Similarly, imagine if one of your children announces their intention to marry a non-believer. What would a parent like yourself think and react to this news? You could use the same questions above for self examination. Remember to be true and honest when answering.
Sometimes you could surprise even yourself.
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I absolutely think that predujice is wrong. Have I ever been prejudiced about what I believe, whether religious in nature or not? Absolutely. Do I think that is right? Nope. But that is part of human nature and something that must be curbed and fought against. Have I been in the situations you mention above? Yep. Did I handle it correctly? Definitely not. And because of that I learned much about myself and the true nature of the Gospel of Jesus being one of, not moral superiority, but absolute grace.
ReplyDeleteThat said, there is a difference between prejudice and conviction. Just because a person beleives something strongly and wants others to believe that as well, doesn't mean they are prejudiced, especially if the issue at hand is of significant consequence. Seeking out a person that you think is erring is not necessarily pride (although it certainly can be). If their genunine welfare is at stake, that is called love. If not, then your own effort to convince those around you that embrace a Christian worldview to consider atheism is itself prejudiced. Would you not attempt to seek out a person that moved from atheism to a Christian perspective? I perceive that you would, based on our conversations and this very blog. But does that make you prejudiced? Based on your pardigm above, yes. In actuality does this make you prejudiced, obviously, no. You are actually concerned for the good of yourself and those around you, although we disagree on what that "good" should be.