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PDF versionIn Middle East, democracy is the 'Great Jihad'
by John L Allen Jr on Oct. 13, 2010
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
There’s nothing like the realistic possibility of extinction to push people beyond euphemisms, forcing them to lay it on the line. That was the spirit of several presentations yesterday afternoon during the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, as Catholic leaders from the region described a future that might be paraphrased as “democracy or death.”
The disappearance of Christians from the Middle East also poses the real and present danger, speakers said, of exacerbating a “clash of civilizations” between Christian and Islam.
The Synod of Bishops for the Middle East is being held in Rome Oct. 10-24.
| Read NCR's full coverage of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East: Index of stories from the Synod. |
Greek-Melkite Patriarch Gregorios III Laham of Syria offered perhaps the most forceful diagnosis, warning that the steady migration of Christians out of the region poses a whole series of worrying consequences.
“It will make Arab society a mono-color society, exclusively Muslim, facing a society in Europe that’s said to be Christian,” Laham said. “If that happens, and the East is emptied of its Christians, it could mean a new clash of cultures, civilizations and religions, a destructive conflict between an Arab Muslim East and the Christian West.”
In order to convince Christians to stay put, Laham said, it’s time to speak frankly to Muslims about why Christians are afraid.
That, he said, means talking bluntly about “the separation between religion and the state, ‘arabness,’ democracy, whether the nation is Arab or Muslim, human rights and laws that propose Islam as the lone or principal source of legislation – which constitute an obstacle to the equality of Christians as citizens before the law.”
“There are also fundamentalist parties, Islamic integralism, to which are attributed acts of terrorism, killings, burnings of churches, extortion, all in the name of religion, which rely on the strength of being a majority to humiliate their neighbors.”
All of that, Laham said, makes peace-making the great challenge of the region – what he called its Great Jihad.”
Archbishop Georges Casmoussa of Iraq struck a similar note, warning that increasingly Christians are seen in the Muslim street as “troops led by and for the so-called Christian West, and thus considered a parasitic body within the nation.”
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Places where Christians have been present since long before the rise of Islam, Casmoussa said, are becoming a “Dar el-Islam” where Christians feel unwanted.
Too often, Casmoussa said, Christians living in an Islamic nation feel compelled to choose between “invisibility or exile.”
Harés Chéhab, the secretary general of a national committee for Islamic-Christian dialogue in Lebanon, insisted that the exodus of Christians out of the Middle East cannot be understood solely as a function of the region’s economic problems.
“If that were the case, the entire region would be depopulated,” he said. “It’s obvious that discrimination, persecution in some places, fear in other, the absence of freedom, [and] a disparity in rights are at the basis of this movement.”
Chéhab spelled out the challenges: “The relationship between religion and the state, in other words between with is spiritual and what’s temporal, secularity, extremism, fundamentalism, terrorism.”
He called for a more direct language in discussing these realities with Muslims, in order to “make them aware of the reality of our problems.”
In that regard, Maronite Bishop Nabil Andari offered one creative idea: The creation of a new group of Christian intellectuals in the region, who could make the argument for a genuinely democratic culture with space for religious minorities.
Andari called such a group a “permanent cenacle of Arab Christian thinkers.”
Archbishop Youssef Bechara, a Maronite, suggested that in making the case with Muslims for democracy and a separation between religion and the state, Christians should avoid the terms “secular” and “secularism,” because Muslims generally associate secularism with irreligiosity and immorality.
Instead, Bechara said, it’s better to refer to “citizenship” and a “civil state,” because those are the terms used by reform-minded Muslim writers.
That language, he said, would allow the reform movement to “go beyond the level of the elites, for whom citizenship, dialogue and even freedom are allowed, in order to be able to reach the masses which can be manipulated and turned towards any sort of extremism.”
Follow other coverage of the Middle East Synod at http://ncronline.org/mideast_synod
How about more about women
How about more about women church in the Mid-East?
I hear there is a Syrian religious woman, Claude Nadaff at the meeting - can you explore that experience, that reality?
Thank you.
John Allen Thank you for this
John Allen
Thank you for this story. I hope Washington is listening. While we in the church may rail against Rome, it is only with Rome that this story and warning could be told.
I cannot understand why they
I cannot understand why they are saying that democracy equals religious freedom. One can elect one's leaders and still have laws that prohibit the free exercise of religion. However, since Muslims revere the same Jesus that Christians worship, it might be possible to be individually Christian within Islam if one is delicate about it.
It seems very unlikely that the retreat of Christians from Muslim countries will lead to a "destructive conflict" since those areas where religious freedom exists are not particularly keen on defending one religion over another. In addition, there is some Biblical evidence in favor of individuals staying put and taking the persecution instead of trying to alarm outsiders into taking action on their behalf.
One problem I have with your
One problem I have with your proposition that Middle East Christians stay put & take the persecution is that they've already been there and done that. We know of two places at least: Iraq and the West Bank (& Gaza). In both places it's becoming more & more obvious that their presence is not desired so pressures grow ever more oppressive. In the case of West Bank christians and Israeli christians theyve been there "forever", certainly since before the rebirth of Israeli state in the 60's. Iraqi christians also have an ancient continued presence. It's not like their fear arose today or even yesterday or that it was as deep and all-pervading as it is in their present circumstances.
It seems that the reality is
It seems that the reality is that if they stay put, they will be subjected to oppression. More active engagement by the pope might even be counterproductive, and the likelihood of some country actually going to bat (battle?) against the oppression of Middle Eastern Christians seems really remote, since there is no country that calls itself Christianity. Furthermore, it is foundational to Christianity that one turn the other cheek to this type of behavior. Therefore, it seems to me that finding a way to live with the situation is the only option, and that might entail finding a way to be Christian that is not so obvious. Christianity does not depend upon buildings being in good repair. While I have never experienced mistreatment for being a Christian, I have experienced having people become curious as to my religion since I only live according to it and don't preach about it among the people I encounter. It would seem to me that keeping a low profile could be a more effective way of witnessing for Christ than demanding rights and protections.
Hmm...I don't see where you
Hmm...I don't see where you get Muslims revere the same Jesus Christians worship. TO begin with, the very fact Christians worship, but Muslims only revere Him shows a distinct difference in understanding of His natures. The Christian Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Trinity, Who died on a cross for our sins. The Muslim Jesus is only a man, a prophet of course (but second to Mohamed), but certainly not God and did not die for our sins.
I am aware of that
I am aware of that distinction of belief. However, it is the same individual who actually lived in the Holy Land that we are talking about. What I am saying is that worshipping Jesus cannot be stopped, though worshipping Him in the style to which Christians have become accustomed might have to change, at least temporarily.
or how about we just become
or how about we just become Muslims and stop worshiping Jesus Christ, and we're good to go. What do you think?
The reality for Christianity
The reality for Christianity in Arab countries is extinction or the alternative, facing Muslims assertively. It is a delusion to believe Islam will change and either allow christianity to exist in Moslem states as an equal or embrace democracy and have church and the civil goverment seperate.
In fourteen hundred years Christianity has made no impact into Islam rather the opposite has been the reality.
We are deluding ourselves to imagine Islam will change. Dialogue is a talk shop which makes christians feel good but no change takes place.
Amen!!
Amen!!
There is a great danger of
There is a great danger of losing Democracy in the USA also because Democrats see Muslims as allies, for the Muslim, like the Democrat, sees abortion as a victim-less procedure. The Muslim must, because of religion, believe that a baby is not a person until it gulps in it's first breath of air in which the spirit or soul of said baby is waiting to enter it and take over the once totally empty body. Most Democrats also believe in this superstitious view of procreation. They believe that a baby is not a baby until it breaths in its spirit from the hand of Allah, or God, or Nature, or whatever. That is why nearly all Democrats love Islam. They say, in step with the Koran, "An unborn baby is not a person yet until it breathes its spirit laden first breath". The Democrats are not fools, they know that sooner or later Abortion is apt to be made by law again into a criminal offence with real punishments - how to forestall that? Make friends with anybody anywhere who believes under penalty that Abortion murder is a VICTIMLESS CRIME ! Unless the Church steps up to the plate, free religion and free speech will soon be dead things.
These things you write are
These things you write are bizarre and wrong.
Please read the various
Please read the various popes' pronouncements on the idea of when a baby is considered viable; you will be surprised at the vascillations to be found therein.
Hal, I have never heard a
Hal,
I have never heard a democrat say anything to that effect in regards to Abortion. In fact, the religious extremism of the Muslim Middle-East and the extreme secularism of some American democrats, while both being evil and therefore related, are not equivalent.
What I think is fascinating is that the departure of the Jewish population to Israel and the departure of the Christian population is leaving Islam without a significant religious minority for the first time since its conception. What will be the effects 200 years from now?
May I suggest reading the
May I suggest reading the following books by Hirsi Ali: Infidel and Nomad. This is the inside story of Islam as she lived it. She is currently under a fatwa for writing these books about her life. Many fatwas have been issued against women; why has no Islamic cleric issued a fatwa against any of the terrorists?
When we throw arrows at
When we throw arrows at others, the promise is, they will come back to haunt the source. Opening the doors to discussion at least the potential for discussion has power in itself. Never forget the influence of Francis of Assisi centuries ago.
The position of women in the Muslim culture is of great concern. Maybe if respect for Christians surfaces then we will be able to promote the dignity of women and children?
Please do not forget the great Theologian Thomas Aquinas did not believe a person had a soul till they were more than 5 years old - reason was the gift that demonstrated a soul. So, quoting historic sources that a person is not a person they breathe is earlier than even Aquinas's observation...
When will we learn to build on good instead of tearing down every possible hope?
Reacting to some comments
Reacting to some comments about the status of women in Islam, I offer the following:
I was told that prior to the Christian influence on Islam occuring during the Middle Ages, women had higher status in Muslim cultures. It was during that time that the practice of covering the head was adopted, since the custom among influential women in Europe was to cover the head. Even now, though, in Islam women can own property, which contrasts to the status of women in western cultures where this right was mostly nonexistent until the 19th century. It is important to differentiate between the religion and the cultures that follow the religion so as not to be unjust.
Is this another one of those
Is this another one of those shoddy researches that people in the west conduct on Islam. I seriously cannot help but be offended at this non-sense. You want to blame Christianity for Islam's nonsense. I encourage you to read history of Islam and Christianity in the Middle East. Don't just repeat what you heard other people say.
Women in Islam are told to cover up in the Koran and the reason was Omar saw Mohamad's wives going out of their house to pooh. He told them as they were coming back that he saw them, and the verse "came down" on Omar
Narrated 'Aisha:
The wives of the Prophet used to go to Al-Manasi, a vast open place (near Baqia at Medina) to answer the call of nature at night. 'Umar used to say to the Prophet "Let your wives be veiled," but Allah's Apostle did not do so. One night Sauda bint Zam'a the wife of the Prophet went out at 'Isha' time and she was a tall lady. 'Umar addressed her and said, "I have recognized you, O Sauda." He said so, as he desired eagerly that the verses of Al-Hijab (the observing of veils by the Muslim women) may be revealed. So Allah revealed the verses of "Al-Hijab" (A complete body cover excluding the eyes). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 4, Number 148)
Please read up.
Look at the Church's
Look at the Church's treatment of women and children before going anywhere near talking about the Muslim world. Male domination is not new to Catholicism nor the Muslim world.
You can't possible be serious
You can't possible be serious about comparing Islamic treatment of women with the Catholic one.
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