I am shocked!

Submitted by mahmoud natout (United Kingdom), Sep 15, 2006 at 14:08

...I do not think I can recall all the preposterous comments and claims that I have just read about Islam and Christianity, infested with reductionism, essentialism, racism, and many more isms. It is shocking to read comments about Islam's persecution of Muslim Theologians in the Middle Ages that ignore the persecution of Christian theologians in the same epoch.

I am surprised to see so many refer to Christians being second-class citizens in the Arab world. Which countries do you exactly have in mind? Christians in all the Near East Arab countries are the 'middle class' in society. In countries like Lebanon, they are the ruling class. In Syria, they are pro-government because again they are the middle class.

On the other hand, let us consider countries such as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. It is interesting to bring up the status of Christians in such countries which are ruled by oppressive regimes that are protected by countries such as the United States and Britain. And let us keep in mind the second-class Arab citizens of Israel, where their rights do not even measure up to half of the rights of Jewish citizens.

And then, the most preposterous thing I read is, if I can remember correctly, "Islamdom must treat Christians the same way Christiandon treats Muslims." Do you sincerely believe that such "planets" exist in this universe? What Islamdom? And what Christiandom? Do you mean by Islamdom the dictatorships and corrupt oppressive regimes that "Christiandom" protects in the Gulf while it announces a "Crusade" on the only two democratic countries in the Middle East; namely Lebanon and Palestine? And what Christiandom are you referring to? The secular country in which you live in; where the Church is so marginalized that it's impact can barely be detected in some of those countries? Please, avoid such ignorant categories and visit planet earth for a while, where political corruption, persecution, marginalization, ethnic cleansing, exploitation, oil wars, and many others speak louder that "Islamdom" and "Christiandom."

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".