"One nation, under God." "In God, we trust." "They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." This is a country that was built on the ideals and teachings of the Christian church. Currently, more than three-quarters of the American population identify as Christian. Christian beliefs are brought up all the time in politics. It's nearly impossible to escape Christianity in this country and people have started to wonder: do Christians—namely white Christians—have certain rights the rest of us do not?

A recent Fox article discusses a seminar that was held at George Washington University. The seminar was titled "Christian Privilege: But Our Founding Fathers Were All Christian, Right?!" It discusses the possible privilege that Christians in America receive and how white Christians receive even more of this privilege. "White privilege" is not a new thing, but "Christian privilege" is.

Now, I'm saying that Christians get a free pass to Disney World or get to skip the line at the grocery store every day. Privilege like this is much more subtle, which can make it hard for people to notice.

Think about the last time you had to go to work or school on Easter or Christmas. You probably never had to, unless you choose to. Holidays like that are recognized as national holidays because a majority of the people in the country celebrate them, but there are millions of people that belong to the Jewish faith that do not get off work or school to celebrate Hanukkah or Passover, but very few places actually give people paid time off for these holidays. Christian privilege is not having to worry whether or not you'll be able to celebrate your holidays at home.

While we're on the topic of holidays, when was the last time you walked into Walmart and saw the countdown to Kwanzaa, or a Diwali decoration section? If you're lucky, you might be able to find a Hanukkah end-cap or maybe one kinara on a bottom shelf near the Christmas section. Christian privilege is being able to walk into a store and find decorations for your holiday and not have to worry about hand-making them or ordering them online.

I was expected to know stories from the Bible in 10th grade English and be able to answer questions about it whether or not we had read it because it was something I should have read growing up. When we read stories from other religions, we were taught the backstories. It is widely accepted that religion is not to be talked about in school, but it's not possible to completely disregard the existence of religion altogether. In many social studies classes, students learn the basics of world religions, but some parents are against even the lightest teachings of other religions.

Take this Facebook group called "Parents Against Islamic Religion in Schools," or this news story where parents are mad that their students were expected to compare and contrast multiple religions, including Christianity and Islam. When you do a quick search of those who oppose Christianity in schools, all that pops up is that Christians should pull their children out of public school because there is not enough Christianity in them. Christian privilege is not having to worry about people starting Facebook groups to ban the discussion of you religion in public schools.

April 3rd, 2018 has been referred to as "Punish a Muslim Day." Posts have been circulatng that people should pull the hijabs off the heads of Muslim women and to spit in people's faces. Doing so would earn them points in their sick and twisted game. Christian privilege is never having to have endured a "Punish a Christian Day."

Christian privilege is being able to wear a cross around your neck without being told that your religion is misogynistic. Christian privilege is being able to say "God bless you" without worrying that the person you said it to might spit in your face. Christian privilege is an uproar because Starbucks used a red cup one year and it wasn't "Christmas-y enough." Christian privilege is having people hold seminars are whether or not you have privilege.