Maddy Baker
You may have/probably heard about a boy named Ahmed Mohamed, who lives in Texas. Ahmed built a homemade clock for class, and was arrested because it looked like a bomb. But no, it didn’t look like a bomb because it was shaped like a bomb. It didn’t look like a bomb because it had the word ‘bomb’ written across the side. It looked like a bomb because this boy’s name includes Mohamed and he is not white.
In short: A HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMAN MADE A CLOCK AND WAS TAKEN INTO POLICE CUSTODY FOR IT. And this makes me angry.
I am the first to admit that I am a privileged person in a lot of ways. I feel the effects of sexism quite often (if you want to hear me talk about cat-calling culture you’re in for a long conversation, fair warning), but other than that, I got the luck of the draw. But what I’m most focused on for this Viewpoint is my Christian privilege, something that I didn’t fully realize I had until recently.
As a Christian, a lot of people know the basics of the religion I identify with (the New Testament to be specific, because the Old Testament is something that I get to share with those of the Jewish faith), even if they don’t identify as such. Jesus was born on Christmas, did some cool social-justice things during his life and then rose from the grave at Easter.
People know these basics for many reasons, but often because Christian holidays correlate with national holidays. Growing up, my Spring Break always lined up with Easter Sunday. My elementary school called our weeks off in December “Christmas Break,” not “Winter Break.” However, I can’t tell you the dates for many other faiths’ holidays; I find out because friends tell me, or because it’s a trending hashtag on Twitter. And this is so unfair.
To clarify, I grew up in the United Methodist Church, but I’m more of a cocktail-Christian because I question the Bible more often than not. In addition, my home church in DC is a very ‘controversial’ one, because we are a reconciling congregation which performs marriages regardless of the genders of the couple, along with majority of our clergy being African-American or women. People tell me I’m not really Christian because I “pick-and-choose what I want to believe,” which is silly because I believe in friendship and social justice and love and technically Jesus is love, right? At least, that’s what I was taught.
(If you really want to talk about picking and choosing what you believe, Matthew 5:34 says “But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all.” That arguably ruins the United States’ whole Pledge of Allegiance deal. Also, Song of Solomon from the Old Testament is definitely NSFW. Oops.)
I was lucky to have grown up across the street from a Muslim family who invited my family to celebrate holidays with them. My best friend in high school was Jewish. I took awesome world religion courses in sixth grade through which I got to visit Hindu temples and mosques in my hometown of DC, and my FYS here at Wooster was surrounding Islamic culture. I went to a million bar and bat mitzvahs in middle school. My friend who was my co-worker for a Christian organization converted to Buddhism this summer.
So yes, I’ve been exposed to other faiths. No, I’m not an expert of them all, by any means. Open-mindedness was drilled into my head as a child and it’s stuck with me. And I think other faiths are really great.
Thus, I’m a doubtful Christian. I question things, easily and often. I believe that there are parts of the Bible that are outdated. I fully recognize and agree that history does not reflect on Christianity well.
But one thing I do know is that I’m lucky, because this country is one heck of a place to be anything but Christian. So, to Ahmed: I’m sorry that you were legally admonished for being a brilliant young engineer. I’ll be first in line to get your autograph someday.
Maddy Baker, a contributing writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at MBaker16@wooster.edu.