Thoughts on Classism

Classism. Google Chrome doesn't even recognize it as a word as I type it here on the screen. When I type it into Microsoft Word however, Microsoft recognizes it as a word. It's a word I didn't think about when I was younger. It's a word I didn't even know about until I was in college, yet it was unknowingly used against me my whole life.

It's a word that shouldn't need to exist, but does. I shouldn't have to learn about it, yet at the same time everyone should know about it.

People say that hindsight is 20/20, so classism is easier to see now that I know what it is and how it's used, but looking back, it was everywhere. Growing up in the school and town that I did was partially rough on me, but was very formative and made me who I am today. However, it didn't necessarily need to be that way. Kids would make fun of me for all sorts of reasons: my underbite, my hand-me-down clothes, my religiosity, and my political thoughts...

I had a 'friend' on the school bus that would point out my less-than-cool clothes, my less-than-hygienic hair and my free lunches at school. He blamed all of my 'problems' on my dad. My mom worked, but it was my dad who supposedly didn't work hard enough. Thus, because of my father's 'laziness', I was relegated to a lower class bracket. I wasn't cool because my parents were 'lazy'.

So I went to school everyday, enjoying my free lunches, wearing my less-than-stellar clothes with my not-so-clean hair... being made fun of because I looked different or something... Who knows. Kids can be downright evil sometimes.

I knew I wasn't one of the cool folks. I knew I was going to stay on the bottom of the barrel for the remainder of my school career. As I grew older, I learned to accept this fate, and made friends with similar backgrounds and similar socioeconomic status.

Whodathunk that  10-15 years later wearing old clothes with messy hair was going to be the 'cool' thing...

Whodathunk that all of those things people made fun of me for was because my parents were 'lazy'...

Because that was the reason we were poor after all, and thus a reason to be stigmatized and ridiculed...

Because my parents made less money than most everyone else, and thus I was shamed for such...

Because classism exists, and thus kids start at an early age to recognize class...

Because class is why all of the decisions are made, and thus who is cool and who is not...

I broke away. I broke away from all of that 'cool' crap, but classism still haunts me today.
I am here today to say that classism exists, and we need to fight against it.

In the context of churches and ministry, it is clear that churches are filled with both the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'. Seminary is filled with both the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'... Life is filled with both the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'...

But in the church context, it should not be so obvious. Church is for everyone, and All Are Welcome.

Whodathunk that church dinners are still being used more for fundraisers than for feeding the hungry...
Whodathunk that Sunday School and Confirmation students are being charged money by the head...
Grace is freely given to ALL, and thus ALL church dinners should be a free-will-offering...
Grace is freely given to ALL, and thus ALL students deserve and require free education...

Yes, that is right. I'm tired of seeing dollar signs in front of food at churches. I'm tired of seeing dollar signs on top of Sunday School/Confirmation registrations. This needs to stop. If we are truly members, stewards, leaders of the Christian faith, then we must hold fast to the fact that ALL are welcome.

Putting dollar signs in front of church dinners, Sunday School/Confirmation registrations and every other activity that should be free is more of a barrier than anything beneficial.

If a church is charging for Sunday School/Confirmation registration, then they might as well consider the students more like cattle than students if the dollar signs above the students' heads are worth more to the church than the students' education.

Education in general, should be and always should have been free, but that is another thought for another time...

Classism exists. We must fight it. Half the battle can be won if people begin to learn what classism looks like. Then armed with the knowledge, we might begin to stem the tide of tyranny.

Amen.