Such prejudices pervade established social institutions, are reinforced by the broader society, and have evolved as part of its history.
This process is comparable to the way in which whites and males, according to many, continue to (consciously and unconsciously) ensure the privilege of their racial and gender groups".
[1] When dominating groups within societies place Christian cultural norms and perspectives on individuals holding differing viewpoints, those people are sometimes deemed, in social justice terms, to be oppressed.
[2]: p.19 These social and cultural norms define issues related to good and evil, health and sickness, normality and deviance, and a person's normative ethic.
Alexis de Tocqueville the French political scientist and diplomat, traveled across the United States for nine months between 1831 and 1832, conducting research for his book Democracy in America.
[3] The religious majority in the U.S. has historically been adherents of mainline Protestant Christian denominations who often assume that their values and standard apply equally to others.
Another traveler to the United States, social theorist Gunnar Myrdal[6] examined U.S. society following World War II, and he noted a contradiction, which he termed "an American dilemma".
Today, the invocation of a Christian America takes on a new set of tensions as our population of Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist neighbors grows.
The students, he notes, state that many of the celebrations and decorations have nothing to do with religion as such, and do not represent Christianity, but are rather part of American culture—however, this could be considered a further example of privilege.
At a minimum, it prohibits Congress from, in the words of James Madison, compelling "men to worship God in any manner contrary to their conscience".