Posted on 06/09/2004 7:42:31 AM PDT by A. Pole
The long-predicted exodus of Christians from Iraq has begun.
Facing a June 30 deadline for transfer of power, a temporary constitution that reads, in Article 7, that Islam is the "Official Religion of the State," and the most recent humiliation for the community -- the failure to receive even one position on the Executive Council and only one ministry post, the Ministry of Emigration -- the Christians of Iraq are voting with their feet.
"On a recent night the church had to spend more time on filling out baptismal forms needed for leaving the country than they did on the [worship] service," says Amir, a deacon at a local church who does not want his full name published. "We have been flooded with parishioners desperate to leave the country, and as they cannot get an exit permit without a baptismal certificate from the church we have been swamped with requests. ... In recent days nearly 400 families as far as we can tell have filled out baptismal forms to leave the country. Our community is being decimated."
Most of the Christians in Iraq are Assyrians -- people who claim to be the original inhabitants of Iraq. The Assyrians were the people of Nineveh -- present-day Mosul -- the city to which God sent the biblical Jonah.
Because they are Christians and seen as allies of the West, the Assyrians have long been subject to persecution. The Assyrian Church, known officially as the Assyrian Church of the East, is the oldest continually existing church in the world. Assyrians are the only people in the world who still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Christ.
During the Assyrian genocide, in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, it is estimated that nearly two-thirds of the Assyrian people were slaughtered.
According to figures from the previous regime, there were 2.5 million Assyrian Christians in the country with an estimated 3.5 million outside the country for a worldwide total of as many as 6 million, many of whom would return to Iraq if they had a future.
"We thought the Americans were going to bring us freedom and democracy," said 31-year-old Robert. "Instead, they are promoting Islam. We do not understand it. ... We love the Americans! We are so grateful for them removing Saddam and giving us back our freedom. We do not want their effort to be a failure if the dictatorship of Saddam is replaced by the dictatorship of Islam."
Robert continued: "The American-funded TV station, Al Iraqia, broadcasts Muslim programs four times every day and for two hours each Friday but nothing for the other religions. The recent inauguration of the new government was opened by a Muslim mullah reciting a long passage and a prayer from the Koran, but none of our priests were invited. Why do they do this? Why do the Americans promote Muslims? They need to promote equality and democracy and freedom, not Muslim dictatorship."
He lamented: "What happened to the American promise to help [Iraq] become a democracy that would be a place for all to live? This is our homeland! We are the original people of Iraq! We should not have to leave."
The community is working on two projects -- one to establish a 24-hour nationwide hotline to provide security for daily acts of intimidation that is much of the cause for the panic among the Iraqi Christians. The other is a nationwide network of "safe houses" to take care of the community, when -- as they believe -- following the handover of sovereignty to Iraq, the country will descend into chaos and civil war.
"We are having to take care of daily cases of harassment of Assyrians by Muslims," says one priest. "I just got back form helping one of our parishioners who was falsely accused by a neighbor and was about to be arrested. I had to go and sort it all out. ... Our women are accosted on the street and intimidated to start dressing according to Islamic tradition, our businesses are being burned, and the constant harassment is because of the attitude of appeasement toward Muslims."
In addition, a proposal for an Assyrian Regional Government based on Article 54 of the Transitional Administrative Law is being circulated in Iraq and in Washington in a last-ditch effort to persuade the community to stay.
"We want to stay. This is our homeland," the priest said. "But if we do not have a place where we can go, if we will be persecuted daily by Muslims again we cannot stay. We are appealing to the world to help us -- to guarantee us an area where we can be protected, where we can live in peace and where we can worship in freedom."
Ken Joseph Jr. is an Assyrian and directs Assyrianchristians.com. He is writing a book on his experience in Iraq entitled I Was Wrong. United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of UPI, a sister news organization of Insight.
Iraqi christians represent around 10% of the population. They are a very vulnerable minority in a country that has routinely visited genocidal slaughters on them. That our government did nothing to insure their representation is criminal.
Interesting thought, but Bethlehem in in the PA, you'd need to discuss it with Yasser.
And a constitutional safeguard is nothing but a speed bump on the way to sharia when the Islamists hold such a supermajority that they can easily amend it. If 75% of American citizens wanted to establish a state religion, it could be done.
Liberty is NOT a natural outgrowth of democracy--tyranny of the majority is. But, democracy is a natural result of liberty.
I think I basically agree with you here. Despite the claims of another poster in this thread I do not believe that liberty can be separated from democracy---however, it must be democract practice with a certain measure of self-restraint. Hence despite the inseparability, liberty must be given a priority.
I just don't think we can impose this philosophy on anyone. If the Iraqi's aren't going to insure their own liberty we cannot force it upon them.
That is a taboo subject.
Pogroms were in very small scale compared what republics did to minorities (like Indians in America). And kings were the main power protecting Jews.
The really huge atrocities happened when the population revolted against royal power in 1648 on the Ukraine when many thousands of Polish nobles and Jewish middlemen were killed by peasant rebels.
This we shall see. Certainly they had much better deal than among our Saudi friends!
Well yes, I think I was basically admitting I don't have an answer. Sometimes there are no good answers.
That is another illustration of your partiality. The US is a SUPER MAJORITY Christians, if you demanded that there will be a constitution change that says the religion of the USA is Christian! You will never see the end of it!
I'm not entirely sure what you mean here, but if you are saying that this would never happen in America despite the supermajority of Christians present in this country, then I would agree with you. But there are good reasons for this. First of all, we really don't have the kind of adherence to Christianity that Islamic nations have to Islam. Secondly, Christian denominationalism serves as a natural check against such a movement---we may have a majority. Thirdly, Islam specifically dictates the structure of civil government, Christianity does not.
My example was simply to point out that a constitution can only dampen the tyranny of the majority, not eliminate it. With sufficient supermajority support, anything can happen even in a constitutional republic. Remember slavery?
I'm not sure its any different here in America.
We know that the Arabs came from Saudi Arabia to invade the Middle East, and convert its population by force to Islam. The reality that most of North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco; and Iraq/Syria/Lebanon are not Arabs. A few Arabs from Arabia had overtaken all these countries. Let that be a lesson to other cultures like India, China, Russia, and the USA. We all can be wearing rags on our heads soon? The only exception is JAPAN! Ain't no MF Moslem going to immigrate, or even get accepted to open a shop in there!
I guess if the Christians were protected under Saddam (I remember during the first Gulf war the Christian Iraqis were singing Christmas carols in downtown Baghdad), then our action did not help these people, it essentially helped destroying them and their 6000 year old culture!
6 out of the 11 top advisors to President Bashir Assad of Syria are Christians. The Neocons would like to reverse that. They would love for Assad to be killed, and a Moslem fanatic cleric to rule, where churches will be burned, and the Christians will run for their lives or killed. We did that in Kosovo with the help of the godless Neocons. Now after we screwed up the Iraqi Christians, and women, the neocons are salivating to destroy Syria and Lebanon. With friends like that, who needs enemies
Exactly how have we ruined their country? That is a huge stretch, IMO.
The Christians are no worse of there now than they were before we invaded. At least, they can get out now. Sure, I would like to see them have freedom of religion, but we have NOT ruined their country or prevented them from having freedom of religion.
Iraq has to govern itself and we have limits on how far we can push them.
So, is calling someone an idiot because he disagrees with you a Christian virtue? If you are going to defend Christianity, at least do it in a Christian way, please.
BTW, thanks for the correction on the position of the Royals with regard to the pogroms. Whatever the power of kings and czars, the pogroms led to the emigration of millions of Eastern Europeans to this continent, adding to the population pressures on the Indians from those who had previously come to escape the religious wars of Europe.
We are not king-friendly in this nation. The most significant action President Washington took, was to set the precedent and leave office after two terms, even though there were Americans who wanted to acclaim him as King. This is the most critical aspect of any fledgling democratic republic, in that the leaders voluntarily leave. Failure to adopt this into the political fabric of a nation leads to tyranny. This is evident in almost all of the newly-independent countries of the developing world, and has led to their failure due to avaricious nature of their very human leaders. That is the idea of limited government, in that the nature of humans is acknowledged, and impediments to power are put in place.
I KNOW these people have suffered. YES, I have listened to them, and to the Soldiers who word and live around them, away from TV cameras and the Palestine Hotel bar, 'home' of the mainstream press - and where our enemies know to find them.
Will of the people:
Potential (Iraqi) FReepers:
To be precise, many Arabs were Christian long before Islam. They lived in today Syria, parts of Israel/Palestine and Lebanon. The most famous Arab Christian was Saint John of Damascus, and there was a Roman Emperor of Arab origin - Philip the Arab.
The main reasons for the emmigration of millions of Eastern and Southern Europeans like Poles, Jews, Italians was poverty not pogroms. Pogroms were the exception, poverty was the rule.
We are not king-friendly in this nation. The most significant action President Washington took, was to set the precedent and leave office after two terms, even though there were Americans who wanted to acclaim him as King.
You said it! - There was a difference of opinion among Americans. BTW in the North the loyalists prevailed and that is why we have Canada. Either way the facts are facts, whether you like them or not.
Also with the growth of empire, many Americans seem to become more monarchist in their attitudes. especially in willingness to grant President more powers.
I can't at all blame them...
I am as Christian, as a liberal Hollywood Jew is; only in name! I don't have to be sinless to defend the Christians from the oppressive Moslems. You appear to be insensitive about their problem, and that is why you earned that adjective! Sorry!
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