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Reported Experiences of Anti-Christian Prejudice among Christian Adolescents in England

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Moulin, D 

Abstract

© 2016 Taylor & Francis. Abstract: Christians’ experiences of anti-Christian prejudice are relatively unexplored in sociological research. This article analyses perceived anti-Christian prejudice reported by Christian adolescents in England. Rich interview data were collected regarding Anglican, Baptist, and Catholic adolescents (N=26) over a five-month period in churches and church youth groups in an English city. The young people reported incidents of anti-Christian name-calling (slurs), bullying, labelling, and aggressive questioning about their faith by non-Christian peers, indicating that anti-Christian prejudice may affect the status of Christians in adolescent peer-group hierarchies. They also perceived formal aspects of schooling to be biased against Christian beliefs and practices. These episodes suggest that, like prejudice against other religious groupings, anti-Christian prejudice has historical negative tropes and stereotypes based upon perceived inferiority. However, unlike other kinds of religious prejudice, the analyses also suggest that anti-Christian prejudice may sometimes be related to philosophical objections to religious beliefs rather than perceived negative racial or ethnic attributes. These findings are discussed with reference to the debate about secularisation.

Description

Keywords

Religious, anti-Christian, prejudice, adolescents, atheism, secularisation, England

Journal Title

Journal of Contemporary Religion

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1353-7903
1469-9419

Volume Title

31

Publisher

Informa UK Limited

Rights

All rights reserved