41: The Christian Persecution Complex is...Interesting

Hey guys!!
I hope this gives anyone even a teeny tiny bit of insight into my PERSONAL views with a dash of sociology because that's fun. Love you

HAHAH I USED A FILTER APP FOR THIS VID AND I DIDN"T NOICE IT GAVE ME EYEBROWS NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (i didn't notice this while filming). anyway, the lighting is going to forever suck in further apps because i'm never using this app again but the lighting is like super good.

Transcript

Hey everyone :) Welcome back :) It's Reese and it's the holiday season and you know what that means "wow Reese, Jesus?" YES! Jesus" so let's talk about the Christian persecution complex! And before you guys boo my mom's a chaplain and she laughed when I told her that joke so so we're good we're good it's it's Mom approved~ so I'm Reese and this is Reese Grey Analyzes and I'm so excited that you guys decided to Adventure with me today on great analyzes we dive into creations and experiences in art media music and even video games to unravel why we think the way we do question what we believe and learn something new now like I do want to bring up that I'm aware that like Christianity has faced like you know significant persecution presently in different countries and like historically like in the Roman Empire and stuff and that's true like I'm not trying to say that that's not true and even in places like the Philippines and stuff like missionaries there were these Methodist missionaries who like were just denied Visa status and like just not allowed like back in the country and that was based off of religion right so like I do understand that these things happen and they do happen to like Christians so I'm like just interested in the way that it works in like like these more Western societies where they are the more dominant group I think it's really crucial to like have this type of awareness that in the United States at least like 70% of the population identifies as Christian and I'll leave like my sources in the description as well but like Christian religions basically they are like all included all inclusive kind of like the like Catholic Christian Methodist Nazarene like it encompasses a lot of different things even though there is supposed to be a separation of church and state a lot of like laws and cultural norms can kind of be based upon like Christian morals and values kind of like with the cultural norm thing like even something that my mom like a Chaplain like will say she admits that her whole like work calendar and like holiday calendar is based off of like Christian holidays like Christmas they get off like Easter and stuff like all of that is like based off of religious practices of the majority of the country having a nod to that like that doesn't have to be like an inherently bad or good thing it's just the reality of it so I think just like having a nod to like that's the reality of like where being Christian and like the Privileges of that comes from and like now since like it's established that in the US at least and I am going to keep saying us because I know it's going to be very widely from country to Country so like how does a group with like so much cultural significance in a country like still end up feeling like persecuted in that same country and that phenomena is something that's like super interesting to me and what like made me make this video because I think like growing up like in a Nazarene Church especially like and I know every church is different too but ours focused a l lot on like victimization and othering and that like it's not safe like to be a Christian um and that's something that I always felt like really weird about and so in my experience that's just my experience and if people have different experiences that's totally fine too I wanted to kind of like delve into that like complex relationship between like still being the majority and that like importance of feeling like victimized and persecuted so what I learned too and I'm going to pull up my notes Here is that like this Christian persecution complex isn't merely a response to like external criticism but it involves a psychological element where Believers May internalize these feelings as a form of identity so there's a sociologist um Amil durkheim and that sociologist has a concept of collective Consciousness that may offer a lot of insight on the Christian persecution complex so it's suggested that shared beliefs and values contribute to like a type of social cohesion and in the Bible too there is a lot of persecution and people of certain churches you know want to feel closer to that and so they take on this this victimhood mentality in order in order to be closer to the text but however when a dominant group feels threatened you know it can lead to a redefinition of that like Collective identity and you might be like how are Christians like threatened in the United States and it you know hearing a lot of people talk about like Christianity at church and if you're at like a church that like victimizes Christianity I really think that you'll understand where I'm coming from here that Christians in my church you know not everybody's church but they do feel like their morals are threatened because of like the lgbtq community and like the pledge allegiance at schools not being um mandatory and they believe it's because of the line like one nation under God that's in the um Pledge of Allegiance and they just believe that they're like being censored and that the Christian values of the nation is like being washed away in favor of diversity so this majority group does feel threatened because they are the dominant group and in the name of diversity like things aren't like being mandatory anymore like the pledge and I know that sounds like really really small but I have seen people get so passionate about these issues which is why like I really wanted to look up like stuff that had to do with this mentality of Christian persecution because I've seen How Deeply it affects people's identity and their lives and the choices that they make so going on with this sociologist um study uh they say that the feelings of persecution arises in part from a perceived erosion of the privileged status and I just think that's so interesting because a lot of Christians too in the large Christian Community like that I grew up in and moved a lot to like overseas as well and it might be the kind of churches that like the adults around me picked that skewed my own perception of like um Christian persecution but I did notice that it was a huge theme there was like always this danger of like Christianity like their right to practice Christianity being taken away from them like the people who do admit that like yes they're the majority pretty like they don't have the same like sense of fear that other people do of their rights being taken away which I find like really interesting like the people who are more like grounded in the reality of their situation are less likely to act out of like this this fear so whether this fear lies in like factual reality or not this this feeling this sentiment and this fear still really affects the way that people move about the world and treat others so that's why I'm really wary to like look at certain like extremist groups or something and be like oh they're just stupid because sure their beliefs aren't like grounded in like this reality but it's those types of people who are most determined to enact On Their Fear you know in like be like violent and like hurt others like the people who are like more extreme and that people write off like I just feel like it's not taken seriously and it should be taken seriously so going on with this study this like perceived loss of privileged status can create a complex where like real changes in um like cultural norms like the legislation of same-sex marriage being enacted um can lead to like threats of the country's morals shifting with like rights of abortion and rights to marriage marriage and abortion aren't phenomena that directly affect a Christian person because it's another person's marriage and another person's body like I just find it interesting that Christians feel like their beliefs are being compromised through decisions that are not made by them I'm not trying to play an Us Versus Them game but in that case I do have to say that like Christianity being oppressed in the US specifically I just feel like it's a perception of persecution and not actual persecution in the case of like contraceptives and like the lgbtq movement like what I think a lot of Christian persecution as well is like backed up sometimes like by the media as well growing up in the church too like we all remember all of the Christian like films that had like heavy heavy victimization themes a really popular one too is like God's not dead as well where like a student was vilified for like believing in the fact that you know he believed that you know in Abrahamic religions that God died on the cross for our sins and will like rise again right so he's not dead and someone stood up for that that in class and then too with that really interesting like War on Christmas um type of narrative too where people are really mad that you know to be more inclusive they say happy holidays instead of Merry Christmas but you could still say Merry Christmas like it's not a big deal but then like people make it a big deal out of nowhere so I think like popular media too playing into these victimhood narratives really helps the fact that people do feel feel like this Christian persecution thing is real and I think when people like get focused on like War of the war on Christmas like saying happy holidays like when you get into this like hive mind of people who like all think the same way and like just highlight all of those instances instead of like looking at various points of view it kind of leads to this like self-fulfilling prophecy that like you just believe what you want to believe and then just look at the things that prove the things you want to believe and nothing else and so you kind of get stuck into this like circular thinking right this is what I saw like in a lot of people like at church like they just grasp onto any little fact and just like run with it and not try and like question anything after that I just find it really interesting how things that like validate their victimhood are held on so tightly I also think like the rise of like cancel culture too has like made some Christians feel like this validation towards like victimhood too because like they're like not allowed to say anything and these debates around like freedom of speech a lot of the time we don't want to perpetuate any type of hostility towards people who think differently than us but we also don't want dangerous misinformation narratives to be prevalent um within a society and I think like as Americans we like don't have a agreement we don't have an agreement on what reality is I think that's just so interesting right like it it's just like the stakes have just like become so extreme right that like political debates like around issues like healthc care and education where people can have like different views on how problems should be solved but instead of coming together to find Solutions there's like this demonization of each side like no matter what somebody believes it's just if it's not the same thing that you believe it's just wrong and demonized which isn't the way that like you know people are widely in real life like if you talk to somebody but it's just like the the the way that media has seemed to work because like you know rage bait and really really like strong opinions and stuff I think since those things are more clickable it just seems like that's how the world is but it's not a correct depiction of how the world is but it's a correct depiction of the things that people want to interact with on the internet for entertainment value and I just think that in itself is really interesting too like it's just like a really weird and interesting phenomena and you know because people are like so isolated and we're able to interact more with people online than we are like with each other I think people are under this assumption that the world Works in a certain way because of what they see online I know this like sound I'm like going down this rabbit hole but like the point of me making this video was trying to like navigate through like what we could do like how an individual can act in order to like feel like someone who does have a different view than them like they're not like an enemy right and like that's something that's really been on my mind because it's sometimes it's difficult to have like conversations and stuff with my family because of their like extreme like religion beliefs and like I do deeply want to have like these like conversations with like extremely religious family members and stuff and like understand what they say and I want to be understood for what I say too so the point of this video was really to try and understand like this victimhood and persecution that you know people around me feel so deeply and understand it and come at it with empathy so that I can have more constructive conversations um with people I disagree with so this isn't like a US versus them type of debate or like trying to change someone's views it's just trying to understand others in a way that you know can help me understand myself and then hopefully find some answers on how to like we can be better humans to each other to like coexist happily in a world where like we're able to make the best decisions for ourselves and I was trying to think like what is the answer to that like what is the is there like a out something that an outside person can do like if someone feels so so persecuted as a Christian and it like affects so deeply like the way they move about their own world like is there something that I can do for that and the answer is like no but I think like encouragement of like critical self-reflection is something that can be like suggested like in a loving way and is probably that self-reflection is the only way unless someone has that they're not like able to have a conversation with you the more extreme the belief is the more angry they get like at you too because they're afraid for you too because they like just want you to believe what they believe because then your soul will be saved too so the stakes are like so high for these people with like these deep set fear-based victimhood like Christian beliefs and I just like I don't know I think the shared value to like with these people who have these like deep set Christian beliefs too is that we all want to love each other right I don't know and so even though I don't have the answers like in this video I just kind of wanted to like talk about it and I really enjoyed how people were able to have really excellent conversations like in my Bo Burnham uh video too and I just like kind of wanted to have a conversation about this this too yeah cuz I can like throw academic articles and facts and stuff out there as much as I want but in the end with like you know people who are extremely religious and fanatic like an article isn't going to change their mind a fact isn't going to change their mind what matters most to them is how they feel and what matters most to others too who aren't like very religious too it's like how they feel and like how do we deal with all of those [Music] feelings I don't know I'm um it's tough right and so like if you guys have like any suggestions on how you're like dealing with this like weird area in life I don't know H or anyone who's like grew up really religious and then since left the church like I'd love to have a conversation uh my Instagram my blue sky is linked in the description and yeah yeah love you bye oh