Posted on 04/30/2002 11:26:55 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
Outraged by the protracted standoff between Israelis and Palestinians at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, a considerable number of Arab Christian clergymen including some heads of various churches are publicly condemning not only Jews and Israel, but Christians in the West especially in the United States for siding with Israel.
Here, as translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, are recent statements made by several Arab Christian clergy. MEMRI is an independent, non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East.
Attacks on Christians in the West
Father Manuel Musalam, head of the Latin Church in Gaza, told Palestinian Authority television:
Therefore I, the Christian Palestinian, say in all rage and daring to the Christians of the world: You are loathsome! You are contemptible! You are cowards! because you cannot carry the message of Jesus in your hearts. The message of Jesus is one of love, sacrifice, mercy, life, and manhood, and these Christians of the world have no mercy, no compassion, no manliness, no sacrifice. I do not mean only towards us, but even towards the Jews, as not only do the Jews kill us we also kill them, because we are in a war of self-defense
We and I say this brutally, because he who remains silent is Satan are facing the filthy Christians of the West. We hear that the American Congress is demanding that Bush unleash Israel to slaughter the Palestinians. What kind of Christian is this?! This is not Christianity; it is not even paganism. This is Christianity of the jungle. Our New Testament is not their New Testament, our Jesus is not their Jesus, our [Church of the] Nativity is not their [Church of the] Nativity, and our peace is not their peace. I will say still more: Our God is not their God
Father Musalam voiced similar sentiments at a meeting between heads of church in Gaza City and a delegation of Muslim clerics from the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Religious Endowments:
During the same meeting, Bishop Alex, head of the Roman Orthodox Bishopric of Gaza, said: "Real Christianity means love and harmony, and it exists only in Palestine and the Holy Land. In contrast, Western Christianity is false. Anyone who claims he is a Christian but has no love or tolerance in his heart is no Christian."
Condemnations of Protestantism and the American political leadership were voiced by the Egyptian Coptic Church as well, which typically enjoys good relations with the West via the Coptic communities in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. In an article titled, "Oh Mr. Bush, Are You Christian or Crusader?" Coptic priest Marcus 'Aziz Khalil wrote:
If only God would intervene to defend the world from these enemies of peace. Although they swathe themselves in sheep's clothing, they are wolves seeking to kill the flock. We Christians of the East, who in the past refused to stand by the Crusaders and stood by our Muslim brethren, are also opposed to the negative deeds of the Western governments biased in favor of Israel despite its arrogance and even though it damages the holy sites. We say to Mr. Bush: During your term, Jesus' name is disgraced by the attacks on the holy places. Are you a Christian, Mr. Bush? I doubt it. Perhaps you are a Crusader. God alone knows.
Egyptian Shura Council member Dr. Nabil Luka Babawi, an expert in criminal law and a Copt, attacked President Bush in an article titled "Judas Is Back":
Babawi published another article in the Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram slamming his fellow Copts living in the West for their failure to support the Palestinians:
Elias 'Awwad, head of the Palestinian Roman Orthodox Church, said, "The Zionist movement controls European and American public opinion For this reason, we witness a weakness in the defense of the Christian holy sites on the part of America and the European countries ... These people [Western Christians] deal first of all with their interests, not their religion. In my view, they are not Christians, because they do not act according to the precepts of the New Testament. "
The Bishop of the Assyrian Orthodox Church of Mt. Lebanon and Tripoli, George Saliba, stated the following regarding Christian leaders in the West:
Jesus once said to the Jews: "You are the sons of Satan, and you do the will of your father Satan." They answered: "No, we are not the sons of Satan, we are the sons of Abraham." He replied to them: "Had you been the sons of Abraham you would be acting [in accordance with] the acts and precepts of Abraham. Therefore you are the sons of Satan. "
Jews throughout the generations
Father Manuel Musalam compared the armed Palestinians in the Church of the Nativity to Jesus on the cross:
The Jew has a principle from which we suffer and which he tries to impose on people: the principle of the "gentiles." To him, the gentile is a slave. They [the Jews] give the [Palestinians] working in Israel only a piece of bread, and tell them: "This piece of bread that you eat is taken from our children, and we give it to you so you will live not as free men on your land, but as a proletariat and slaves in Israel, to serve us " The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are based on this principle, and anyone who reads the Protocols feels that we are in this period with the Jews.
The Church, the Pope, the Christians, and the New Testament clearly state that, according to Christian belief, the ones who killed Jesus are the Jews, and there is no way to deny or renounce this The Jews are the ones who killed Jesus; after him, [they killed] the Christians, and after them, the Muslims. Now they are again killing both the Muslims and the Christians. Throughout history, we have seen that the Jews persecuted the Christians at the beginning of the Church, and now they are again persecuting the Church, and Islam
As is known throughout the world, even in our time, they always accuse the Christians The case of Pope Pius XII is bad enough. They accused him of terrible things They attack the Church because the Pope was not as strict as they wanted in protecting the Jews from Nazism while the Jews found shelter only in the Church and with Christian families
In a letter to the editor of the Egyptian Coptic weekly Watani, Egyptian Coptic clergyman John Jirjis wrote:
The Coptic priest Marcus 'Aziz Khalil wrote:
The Hezbollah television station Al-Manar gave its viewers an exclusive broadcast of a lecture on "Christianity's View of the Jews" by the Bishop of the Assyrian Orthodox Church of Mt. Lebanon and Tripoli, George Saliba, at an Islamic institute for religious studies. He said:
Or five verses?
Or one?
Find a time to read the essay I linked for you previously. I hope you'll find it helpful.
Dan
Always happy to see it put in terms which properly characterizes what has been generally called Eastern Christendom. Its nature under Islam must be understood in the context of the dhimma process and the fact that it is just a shell of what it once was. When one understands what Islam did to formerly ancient and robust Christian communitites in the Middle East, Asia Minor, North Africa, one can gain a little perspective with these comments.
It bothers me more that some people, like you, question the christian faith of these people because they are arabs or because they're oriented towards being opposed to israel in this struggle. You called them 'christians' as if they're not really christians.
My catechumen, whom I am sponsoring this Holy Saturday, is a Phillipino woman. Maria. She seems to feel comfortable converting in a church filled with Americans, Russians, Greeks, and Irish.
Pray for my catechumen!!
I wanna meet this guy in person someday.
That's a heck of a good start!
We and I say this brutally, because he who remains silent is Satan are facing the filthy Christians of the West.
In defense of Michael I would say these Christians are sad representatives of the faith I profess. I am indeed loathsome and a coward as I have not prayed as much as I could have on this day, and I do not completely love God and my neighbor to perfection.
And yet I recall, Blessed are the peacemakers, and oh, btw, Judge not....
This apparently passionate spewing of anger and name-calling I know to be of one origin only.
Here is one, and from a Saudi financed (London based English-language) paper, no less.
But your point stands. Even this rare uncompromising rejection of the Shahid death cult does not represent a changed opinion, as the author has apparently been an opponent of the Islamists (radical Muslims) for years. And even here in America I see a parade of reps from supposedly "mainstream" and "moderate" American-Muslim orgs whose "denunciations" of terrorism are disgustingly pro forma (drowned in a sea of justifications and "Israel" this and "Irael" that -- I call 'em "But-Muslims," as in "terrorism is wrong, BUT...").
(BTW, I happen to know a good many Muslims. Orgs like C.A.I.R., virtually the whole lot of them, have been heavily infiltrated and dominated by Islamists, or by hard-core leftists who find the radicalism of Islamism useful and convergent with their own totalitarian inclinations and sympathies. The major organizations do NOT well represent the views of most American Muslims.)
Ooops. Sorry. Apparently this is an Arabic newspaper, financed by the Saudis and published in London.
I am pretty sure that the Pope still uses the 'Patriarch of the West' title. As I am sure you know, the office has accumulated titles for 2000 years. As in the title 'Pontiff' which was originally the Roman pagan title 'Pontifex Maximus', an office held by both Julius Caesar and Cicero (maybe even Sulla, don't know about that). The Vatican bureaucracy is called the 'Curia' which is one of the names for the Ancient Roman Senate. Roman Catholic Canon Law is naturally based on Roman Law, most likely Justinian's codification. Rome does not throw out anything useful, a lot like me.
A little hard work by theologians in both churches, a withdrawal of mutual anathemas, a pledge to remember why Byzantium and Rome originally gave their mutual support to the Crusades, forgetting about that little unpleasantness with the Fourth Crusade, and we can work together more smoothly. I know that a little work will need to be done on the issue of Papal Infallibility, but where there is a will, there is a way (just don't ask me how!)
I wanna meet this guy in person someday.
What for ?
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