www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Catholic Response To The Arab Revolutions

Shlomo Lkhoolkhoon,

I hope that the Church publically comes out in support of the people of the Arab World. The Catholic Patriarchs need to especially be out front on this issue.

Fush BaShlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
Yuhannon

They also need to proceed with circumspection. As a general rule, whenever there is a revolution or change of regime in the Muslim world, it is the religious minorities who suffer.

Aye, the cradle of Christianity is in great peril. It breaks my heart to consider that the land which gave us +Clement and +Augustine has turned so hostile to their spiritual descendants.

Having learned late Saturday of the call for uprising throughout the Arab world issued by the Muslim Brotherhood I included prayers for the safety (and courage) of the Christians throughout the Middle East in the Sunday liturgy.

I agree with Stuart and Father Thomas. The Muslim Brotherhood has positioned itself as wanting democracy. What they want is a democratic election. One election. They win (no matter the vote). Sharia. Very much like Iran in 1979. I heard on the news tonight that the demonstrations have the same people saying that freedom and democracy mean death for the Jews.

It is interesting. It appears that the uprising is not rooted in a desire for democracy (though that desire is certainly present in the crowds). The trigger is food prices. It looks like our quantitative easing has caused world-wide inflation. We spend on average 10% of our income on food. In Egypt it is closer to 50%.

Pray for them.

Indeed. While nobody says Saddam was a great guy to have running a country, he was much kinder to Christians than the current regime. (He was also very terrible to other minorities.)

Was Saddam's ouster a good thing? Many more Christian martyrs have come as a result.

Personally, I think it is best that the church tend to its flock in the region and not take sides in political confrontations. It's track record in that regard is spotty at best.

Then they should make some noise and not wait for "further instructions". It is time to get out there and make some noise. I personally find this "waiting for Rome's instructions/approval" to be be problematic in times like these.

God have mercy on our Arab brothers and sisters.
Stephanos I

Smacks a lot of "I'm all right, Jack". Yes, Saddam's ouster was a good thing, and even while Saddam was in power, Christians (other than his favored group, the Chaldean Catholics) suffered from persecution by the Ba'athist regime.

One man, one vote, one time.

I think it would really depend on who you were asking. Yes, Christians suffered, but not nearly as badly as they have since.

Here's French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, saying that Christians were better off under Saddam. http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0704487.htm

So, either he's right, or he shouldn't be sticking his nose in secular politics.

My larger point is that the church screws up least when it doesn't get involved in politics, and focuses on tending to its flock whether George Washington or Pol Pot is in charge (it would obviously tend to its flock much differently in either situation).

Unless I missed the section where Christ extolled his followers to overthrow the evil Roman overlords and establish a democratic republic.

Depends on which Christians you ask. The Chaldean Catholics did relatively well under Saddam, since he enrolled them as his pet Christians and gave them privileged places in the regime. One reason he did so was to curry favor with the Vatican, which thus leant moral cover to his regime--hence Cardinal Tauran.

On the other hand, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Syrian Orthodox and the few Eastern Orthodox (as well as whatever Evangelicals) did much less well. This explains the divergence of opinion among Iraqi Christians concerning the war: the Chaldeans thought it a catastrophe, whereas the Assyrians welcomed it.

Where you stand is determined by where you sit.

So are the Assyrians doing well now, or are they "happy" that the Chaldeans are persecuted? Do the Muslims distinguish among the Christian denominations?
Don't know, just asking....

I think they are not necessarily happy, but they are indeed glad no longer to be singled out. As compared to the systematic terror of the Saddam era, the situation in Iraq today is singularly better. One could point to cities in the United States whose violence is greater than that in most Iraqi cities.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...possibilities-in-post-mubarak-egypt.html

Our government, which is warning Mabarak to resign, may regret its action.

I just heard on the news that VP Biden is telling the Egyptian government to avoid violence. Now imagine what would happen if thousands of protestors stormed the White House, the Capitol, or the Supreme Court. If the crowd doesn't disperse after being gassed, they would be clubbed and shot! What a double standard!

Right, and which of the Chaldeans, ad nauseum. My larger point (opinion?) is that when the Church starts choosing sides in wars, bad things tend to happen. I'd be happy if it tended to its flock and preached peace and love in the midst of wars. Like Jesus did.