When one begins their spiritual journey, they often start in the church. To many, the church should not only preach the word, but convey a source of comfort.
Yet finding a church that one can comfortably worship in not only begins by evaluating the tone and rhetoric inherent in a church’s ministry, but also by investigating the type of people who regularly attend. In fact, the church’s congregation—including their enthusiastic expression, as well as their friendliness and social economic background—often influence an individual’s decision as to rather or not they will become a member of a particular church.
Yet, this decision making process—a process generally practiced by many—is what has led to Martin Luther King’s reference as “the most segregated hour in America.” Yet, while many still view Sunday morning—specifically the hour of Eleven o’clock—as highly segregated, many fail to question why this hour is segregated in the first place. This is because Eleven o’clock on Sunday morning--this seemingly, mostly segregated hour—is often viewed by many as wrong. However, when one simply dismisses the motivations behind this church based segregation as being wrong, their judgment is generally viewed within an ethnocentric paradigm. For this reason, more discussion is needed to explain how the use of cultural relativism can aid in better understanding why segregation often occurs within churches (and the communities therein)—and why this occurrence is often a display of cultural pride and comfort. Further, by using cultural relativism as a way to better understand why segregation occurs in the first place, it can be used to better understand how ethnocentrism often leads to the financial penalization of minority dominated churches—particularly online.
To better explain the use of ethnocentrism in developing negative attitudes against some church based segregation, it is best to first discuss the nature of ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one culture is better than another. This belief can often be conveyed in personal attitudes and judgments, and can even be indoctrinated in socio-economic systems. However, while many minorities and non minorities are guilty of ethnocentrism, it is important to note that minorities often have to function within a system that is dominated by institutionalized racism. This institutionalized racism has been indoctrinated, as well as continually upheld by non minorities—specifically non minorities who are predominantly white and male.
To get a better idea of this phenomenon, it is best to take a look at Barack Obama’s book, Dreams of My Father, where Obama describes his experience with interracial classmates who struggled with their own racial identity; in an effort to avoid being categorized as Black, many opted to identify themselves as Multiracial. However, in the course of distinguishing themselves as multiracial, Obama asserts that many of them avoided those that identified themselves as Black. Obama asserts that this avoidance was not “a matter of conscious choice, necessarily, just a matter of gravitational pull, the way integration always worked, a one-way street. The minority assimilated into the dominant culture, not the other way around” (as cited by Washington 6).
This quote, taken within the context of the Bay State Banner’s article “Obama’s True Colors: Black, White…or Neither?” not only explains Barack Obama’s motivation behind identifying himself as Black—and hence, as an African-American—it also explains why many African Americans take comfort in not only being identified as Black, but in partaking in church based observances that reflect their heritage and social upbringing. Thus, it is this comfort that many African Americans—not to mention other minorities—seek out when attending church. However, this phenomenon is not limited to minorities, since non minorities readily gravitate to churches that reflect their cultural heritage and ethnicity, too.
In addition to Obama’s quote highlighting the pride inherent in identifying with a particular ethnicity and race, it is important to note that this quote also sheds light on the oppressive nature of racism—specifically in countries heavily steeped in cultural, gender, and ethnic-based oppression. This is because—as Obama eloquently observes—the notion of integration is indeed a one way street. Minorities are expected to dutifully integrate into the predominate culture; they are also expected to shed their own cultural and ethnic identity in an effort to align themselves with the predominant culture. In fact, failure to comply with the predominant culture’s demand to assimilate can often result in harsh penalties—penalties that include, but are not strictly limited to—the financial penalization of churches, as well as within the online sector.
Though this realization may seem daunting to some, the best way to deal with ethnocentrism—particularly within the church and within online sectors—is by encouraging the use of cultural relativism to not only better understand why ethnocentrism is consciously [and often unconsciously] used in the evaluation of churches, but in better understanding how ethnocentrism often leads to the financial penalization of minority dominated churches—particularly online. Cultural relativism, according to Wikipedia.org, is the principle that an individual’s beliefs and activities should be understood in terms of his or her own culture, rather than from an ethnocentric standpoint. By using cultural relativism as a way to evaluate church based segregation, a decorum of respect can be established in better understanding why many tend to attend churches that reflect their own cultural beliefs. Thus, by better understanding that the selection of a particular church is based on an individual’s personal comfort level—a comfort level that is heavily influenced by cultural beliefs—rather than because they are simply trying to avoid integration, integration will be [in turn] encouraged.
Let’s face it. Everyone is curious about why people do the things they do; if we simply encourage that curiosity via the incorporation of cultural relativism, many will develop a better understanding of one another—and may possibly realize that there is no such thing as a “good” or “bad” church—just a church that is different from one’s own. When these differences are fully appreciated and realized, then financial penalization—particularly from an online sector—can be suspended, and eventually eliminated.
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