Majorities and Minorities

[Please note, first and foremost, some of this is simply a discussion of my thoughts and not necessarily my established beliefs. There’s a difference I think, especially when you become philosophical. Feel free to (kindly) express  your thoughts in the comments below.]   

Minorities in Australia are praised. We tend to celebrate the underdog: the person who has been bruised by humanity. The people who don’t always have a fair go. And yet, the majority is what is mostly considered.    

There are so many racial and religious minorities, neglected due to this lack of numbers.  Inevitably, we become subconsciously adamant that such groups are not worth the consideration. In my personal Christian faith - all of us are sinners, Jesus died for all of those who would simply come in faith to  him. And yet, in our economy, in our politics, in our policies, the majority is considered most apparently. I wonder if this a bad thing. 

What sparked this question was a geography question: why are demographics important in terms of planning  and management? Put simply, I believe they provide a summary for what both the majority and minority of  people do, in order that the government may establish policies that are concerned with “the majority”. This is  the most cost-effective, efficient way of satisfying the needs of the greater population. In politics, this would create the necessary support for your campaign.

Minorities becoming majorities   

Nevertheless, culture is shifting in its view of minorities. It exalts minorities to the point where they are  becoming​ majorities. The LGBT+ movement is perhaps the greatest example of people who are slowly rising  to the majority, and their support system is becoming much more strong and fortified.    

Social and cultural influences play into the importance of minorities and majorities. But ultimately, there has been a declining support for the majority of people. In Australia, this lack of support of power is called  “cutting the head off the tall poppy”. This sort of idea is seeping through much of the world today - whereby westerners classify majorities as oppressive. For example, in Australia, 60% of people consider themselves Christians, meaning that Christianity dominates our society. No wonder there has been great opposition to  such a large impacting force such as Christianity.   

A problem: the politics uses minorities 

If I was to also consider politics now, there is a noticeable trend in how parties cope in our culture’s changing  values. Here's a simple version of how I think it goes:

Around election time: an appeal to the minority

During their time in office: an appeal to the majority

I would never say this is how all elections work, but you might agree that many do. Sometimes, the politician  will appeal to the majority to during election time, which is why so many people are disappointed when  promises never come to fruition. In our changing cultural values concerning minorities, however, there is a clear emphasis on supporting the refugees, the dispossessed, the diabled, the elderly, the African Americans, the indigenous population. Unfortunately, so many people end up disappointed because the (surprise, surprise) the government cannot fix everyone’s problems. 

This is hardly an attack on politics. It is a recognition of the trends existing in political frameworks all across the world. Politicians seem to be notorious for making promises they cannot keep. One African American  woman - a republican - went to court, and proclaimed that the Democrats, the known “defenders of the  African American people” and progressives for their minority, had been promising great redevelopment projects and institutions and policies that would aid the black population, and yet nothing great has been achieved for the black people who are suffering. Urban slums still exist, poverty still runs rampant and people  still are facing great inequality. In such cases, minorities become less of a group to support, and more utilised in political agendas. The minority itself is uplifted as the critical issue, yet it is secretly nothing more than an  instrument for politicians seeking to enter government. 

Another problem: treatment of minorities is, ironically, unequal    

I think the above problem simply stems from who we define as a minority. If you didn’t already know (and I apologise for my lack of explanation), a minority is someone who is disadvantaged as compared to the  majority of people. So, in that case, aborted babies would be a minority. The euthanised elderly would be a  minority. The martyred Christians in the middle east would be a minority. And yet, these social groups or people groups rarely get any sort of advantage - or at least proper recognition - when compared to the  LGBT+ minority.   

Let me remind you of one incident in April 2019 where Obama responded to the terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka  in Churches. He tweeted: “The attacks on tourists and ​Easter worshipers​ in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity. On a day devoted to love, redemption, and renewal, we pray for the victims and stand with the people of Sri Lanka.” I, for one, as a Christian, am personally offended that Obama called Christians “Easter worshipers”.    

I think the Daily Signal has a very good summary of why something like this may have occurred: “​Essentially, the left’s rule is that nothing bad—no matter how true—may be said about Muslims or Islam and nothing good—no matter how true—may be said of Christians or Christianity.” (Dennis Prager from the Daily Signal). In Western society, we have grown so accustomed to the terrorism that exists in our world, that we issue support Muslims out of fear. We are scared, but Christians - whose message centres on love and who are called to be compassionate - must bear the brunt of persecution and attack. So, we may be a majority in numbers, but we are a minority in that we are disadvantaged compared to many people.

I think, if you are a Christian, this will not come to any shock to you. There are many motivations for why some minorities are receiving better treatment than others. As we have outlined, it may give politicians better voting support or it may allow peace to reign between Western nations  and those of the Islamic faith. Whilst such motivations are not terrible, do the ends justify the means? Can we say that some minorities deserve better treatment than others? I hope you would agree not. 

Yet another problem: “majority-minorities” have become intolerant   

Intolerance has become an incredibly big issue in our world today and it stems from Postmodernism and the idea of relative truth (that my truth is mine and your truth is yours). Evidently, it has caused an intolerance to  anyone’s opinion concerning the minority. What I mean by this is not judgement of the people, but opinions  towards their values and beliefs. Pro-choice mothers will easily shout down pro-life mothers who do not agree with abortion, and vice versa. Evolutionary atheists will shout down creationist Christians, and vice versa. We become defensive, because like all values and beliefs, they are apart of us. In our society, to speak out  against one’s beliefs is like attacking that person. I think even we as Christians can perceive disagreements with our faith as intolerance and easily become defensive. We must be careful as well.   

So we can clearly see the issue. Minorities are simply rising in status because their values are values more  accepted by our culture. Aborted babies have had little support, because people do not value new life. Elderly  people (and now even sick people) are being euthanized, because we value workers, and these are people  incapable of work. Persecuted Christians have had little support because our culture has shifted from  Christianity to a much more godless - and even pagan - society. 

In conclusion   

This has sort of just been a bunch of incoherent ramblings, but perhaps it shows you the issue, I think, that exists in our culture nowadays. There are minorities, some are more equal than others and those that are tend to be intolerant. We also see politics mixed in the mess as well.