Because our intent, as members of the dominant group, was to observe and strive to work as allies to groups that are subordinated, we had to seek to take upon ourselves an objective point of view in order to see the whole picture of the culture we live in while retaining our dominant status in order to view the oppression, intended and not, that results from our own dominance. Within this framework we chose to look at the cultural privilege of these subordinate groups within the community, while consciously aware of the privilege we hold in the community. Aside from an address, not knowing beforehand where we were going, we met at restaurant next to the Scientology Mission. The situation speaks greatly to the privilege of the group we were helping. Though the group itself is fairly well known, its location was completely invisible to us as dominants. A nearby restaurant, rather than the address was the meeting place. None of us knew where it was located beforehand, and when we arrived I (Chris) still had no idea that I was standing next to the building which held this religious group. Regardless of the stereotype of religious buildings having a different look (and the nature of our experiences of what religious buildings are), when it became clear that the building we were to meet in was possibly a remodeled apartment building, it was a small indication of the cultural privilege of this group. The same held true for the Buddhist center, which we struggled to find - having no former knowledge of it’s location - itself consisting of two former homes, blending in amongst the surrounding homes. Within a community, visibility is one of the largest of cultural privileges. The religious groups in this community with the greatest cultural privilege have quite a bit of visibility, not the least of which begins with the buildings and the awareness within a community of their location. In addition to the visibility provided by location, the influence a group has in a community depends on its ability to be known in a community regardless of its location - visibility that brings people to a location. The dominant religion in Utah is immensely visible, and one might say ubiquitous. This became quite clear on meeting at the scientologist mission when, having to ask Leonard several questions to understand the religion after watching a video, he told us that he wanted us to help him to find ways to become more visible in the community - to find ways to get people to know about what they were doing at the mission. The dominant’s visibility is quite clear when there are television channels devoted to them, religious buildings at schools, religious schools, and community events that receive media attention unattainable to these small non-Christian religions. Certainly within the community many large events give attention to the dominant Christian religions, with those of the subordinate group largely unknown, even likely unheeded when they seek attention. The thing he wanted most was a small window for people to see that he was there - a testament to the lack of cultural privilege he felt. Cultural privilege within a community is a very big deal - even more so to religious groups whose adherents come to them through visibility, who stay with them based on credibility. Lack of cultural privilege can often lead to unmerited devaluation by communities, in turn decreasing the culturally perceived credibility of the groups through stereotypes, which in turn result in decreased cultural privilege - a downward spiral. This negative trend can be reversed only through awareness education - visibility is one of the greatest levelers for disadvantaged groups and dominant allies the best way to educate. Culturally privileged individuals are able to portray group peerage, value, far above those without that same privilege. Changing stereotypes and increasing awareness are the key ways we need to increase equity among non-Christian groups.
Because our intent, as members of the dominant group, was to observe and strive to work as allies to groups that are subordinated, we had to seek to take upon ourselves an objective point of view in order to see the whole picture of the culture we live in while retaining our dominant status in order to view the oppression, intended and not, that results from our own dominance. Within this framework we chose to look at the cultural privilege of these subordinate groups within the community, while consciously aware of the privilege we hold in the community. Aside from an address, not knowing beforehand where we were going, we met at restaurant next to the Scientology Mission. The situation speaks greatly to the privilege of the group we were helping. Though the group itself is fairly well known, its location was completely invisible to us as dominants. A nearby restaurant, rather than the address was the meeting place. None of us knew where it was located beforehand, and when we arrived I (Chris) still had no idea that I was standing next to the building which held this religious group. Regardless of the stereotype of religious buildings having a different look (and the nature of our experiences of what religious buildings are), when it became clear that the building we were to meet in was possibly a remodeled apartment building, it was a small indication of the cultural privilege of this group. The same held true for the Buddhist center, which we struggled to find - having no former knowledge of it’s location - itself consisting of two former homes, blending in amongst the surrounding homes. Within a community, visibility is one of the largest of cultural privileges. The religious groups in this community with the greatest cultural privilege have quite a bit of visibility, not the least of which begins with the buildings and the awareness within a community of their location. In addition to the visibility provided by location, the influence a group has in a community depends on its ability to be known in a community regardless of its location - visibility that brings people to a location. The dominant religion in Utah is immensely visible, and one might say ubiquitous. This became quite clear on meeting at the scientologist mission when, having to ask Leonard several questions to understand the religion after watching a video, he told us that he wanted us to help him to find ways to become more visible in the community - to find ways to get people to know about what they were doing at the mission. The dominant’s visibility is quite clear when there are television channels devoted to them, religious buildings at schools, religious schools, and community events that receive media attention unattainable to these small non-Christian religions. Certainly within the community many large events give attention to the dominant Christian religions, with those of the subordinate group largely unknown, even likely unheeded when they seek attention. The thing he wanted most was a small window for people to see that he was there - a testament to the lack of cultural privilege he felt. Cultural privilege within a community is a very big deal - even more so to religious groups whose adherents come to them through visibility, who stay with them based on credibility. Lack of cultural privilege can often lead to unmerited devaluation by communities, in turn decreasing the culturally perceived credibility of the groups through stereotypes, which in turn result in decreased cultural privilege - a downward spiral. This negative trend can be reversed only through awareness education - visibility is one of the greatest levelers for disadvantaged groups and dominant allies the best way to educate. Culturally privileged individuals are able to portray group peerage, value, far above those without that same privilege. Changing stereotypes and increasing awareness are the key ways we need to increase equity among non-Christian groups.