UPDATE (10/2/12): yet another incident...
Is this a harbinger of more trouble to come? Do you think these types of incidents might affect attitudes of Christians who support a strong Israeli state?
September 21, 2012
The 'Other' Abrahamic Faith
UPDATE (10/2/12): yet another incident...
Is this a harbinger of more trouble to come? Do you think these types of incidents might affect attitudes of Christians who support a strong Israeli state?
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4 comments:
News bias, especially when one has deeply-held convictions, is nearly impossible to shed. NPR, BBC, the New York Times, etc. have been criticized for reporting only that news which suits and confirms a liberal, secular view of events. On the other hand, Fox and the various right-wing talk-show blowhards are very upfront about their political agendas and bias. After years of listening to NPR, I personally think that they are guilty as charged of the crime of stealth journalism, that is, publishing and airing “only the news that fits”. Just look at how they treated Juan Williams, who in the end defected to Fox, where he only gets shouted down. Rudeness and bad manners (Fox) it seems are preferable to outright censorship for the crime of ideological deviance.(NPR)
In response to the UK Telegraph I would like to submit the following information:
1. Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the population of Christians is increasing. The indigenous Christians of the Middle East have been there since the apostolic age. Under Saddam, the Assad’s and Mubarak, who were equal opportunity tyrants and feared their Islamist opposition more than the infidels, there was some degree of protection. After the American invasion, with no tyrant around to curb religious enthusiasts, it was open season on infidels. For some reason NPR and the New York Times choose to ignore these events, which are only reported on the various partisan websites of the internet. Given the enormity of the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, this is disgraceful.
2. The Middle East is quickly becoming, not only Judenrein, but also cleansed of all infidels. Christians are fleeing their home countries reminiscent of the mass exodus of Jews in the Third Reich. Christians flourished until the Arab Conquest, at which time their numbers began a fourteen century decline. Traditionally, infidels who were monotheistic became dhimmi’s, second-class citizens who had to pay a special tax, often extortionate; dhimmi’s lacked basic human rights, like judicial redress of grievances, and were periodically reminded by the peace-loving Umma through pogroms bordering on genocide. Many converted, many were killed, and others emigrated. This is happening as I write.
3. Israel is a haven of free speech and political and cultural freedom, a raucous free-for-all of divergent opinions and lifestyles. In Israel they don’t hang homosexuals from cranes and churches and mosques are protected. In Israel secular space is well defined and pogroms and genocide of religious minorities are discountenanced. The Arab world, on the other hand, is politically dysfunctional, ruled by dictators of one sort or another: monarchs with actual power, tyrants who pass on to their sons as an inheritance entire countries. In most of the Arab countries of the region, when enough people are fed up with the regime that runs the country and it’s time to “throw the rascals out”, they don’t hold an election; they have a civil war instead.
The real test of political openness and journalistic integrity is the willingness to include and recognize alternate narratives. Here are some websites that publish alternative narratives on the persecution of infidels:
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/raymond-ibrahim/the-collective-punishment-of-egypts-christian-copts
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2012/07/islam-vs-history
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/290498/global-persecution-christians-conrad-black
To be honest, I don't completely understand Christian Zionism. Especially Christian Zionism in the west. To me, this conflict is not really about religion. It's about land. Zionism was really more of a secular movement at its birth. That being said, it's distinctly possible that there are growing tensions between Christian and Jewish groups in Israel. Despite the fact that at its root, this conflict is not really religious (in my eyes), religion does play an important factor.
-Elika
I agree with Elika in that this conflict is not focused solely on religion. However, religion plays a huge part in the intense feelings of nationalism on both the parts of Israelis and Palestinians. Additionally, the religious claims of both parties (and Christians, as well) are both tied to the land, which makes the conflict not only about the land, but also about the religion.
I think that despite the troubled past that Jews and Christians share, Christians still feel a stronger connection with Jews than with Muslims (although I personally think all three religions share many similarities). They share the Old Testament. This is probably one of the underlying factors of Christians supporting a strong Israeli state.
What Ben mentioned earlier on the treatment of Christians in other Arab countries echoed what I'd read in the Caplan book (pages 69-72). In it, Caplan describes the Zionist idea as being the source of progress and economic prosperity. The oversimplified idea of "We would make better use of the land" or "We would treat the minorities better than your Arab neighbors treat Christians" are not only subjective, but also, I feel, not fully relevant to who deserves the land. Coming to a new land (from a Zionist perspective, returning) with the idea of bettering or fixing that area is a very colonial perspective.
Valerie
I don't see the difference between what is mentioned in the article and that which was done to the Quar'an and mosques in the US a decade ago (and persisting for a few years). There are plenty of extremists out there who are anti-everyone-else. As in a few articles ago, the extremists should not be allowed to be the main ideology that "outsiders" have of their own religion; the grand majority of people are quite moderate or even tolerant.
-Shaun
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