Christian privilege and experiences of oppression among people with a non-Christian background in Northern Ireland.

Abstract

The article aimed to provide insight into how people with a non-Christian background experience Christian privilege in Northern Ireland (NI) and to consider implications for the counseling profession. The current qualitative study was located in a transformative paradigm; it intended to advance a social justice agenda in counseling. Data were collected in five mini focus groups and one individual interview from 15 participants with a non-Christian background. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) reflexive thematic analysis (TA) was used to analyze the data, focusing on semantic level content. Analysis of data led to one overarching theme and five related themes. The overarching theme Outsiders captured how non-Christian participants often experienced the normalization of Christianity as the dominant worldview as oppression; they frequently felt they were treated as strangers who did not belong. Related themes included: Systemic Invisibility, Different and Alienated, Treated as an Enemy, Demeaned, Attacked, and Under Threat, and Attempts to Force Religious Conformity. The urgent need for the counseling profession in Christian hegemonic societies to critically engage with the phenomenon of Christian privilege was discussed.