Conversion or exile
Monday July 30, 2007
Categories: Iraq
With brothers in Christ like G.W. Bush, Iraqi Christians don't need enemies. And with religions of peace like Iraqi Islam, Iraqi Christians don't need religions of war: The novelist Zora Neale Hurston described one of her characters as a rut...
Filed Under: Iraqi Christians, persecution
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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"After thwarting an attempt by a man in a police uniform to shoot Ashur as he lay"
I love the way you rightys in the corporate media report this. It's always "man in a police uniform" "men driving police cars" and my favorite when the five British mercs were captured a few months ago "men in police uniforms driving cars painted to look exactly like police cars"
They're cops, Rod. Your buddy Dick Cheney's company probably got paid to train and equip them.
Kim M
Your buddy Dick Cheney's
Kim, have you actually read any of what Rod has written in the last 3 years or so if you believe that he's chummy with Dick Cheney?
Your buddy Dick Cheney's company probably got paid to train and equip them.
Kim, along the lines of what Bill said, it would be helpful if you would actually think about what you write before you write it. You know where I stand on Iraq and this administration.
Its sad and ironic that in the days leading up to the initial invasion many evangelical leaders like Chuck Colson tried to justify the preemptive strike as it would mean new hope for Christians in Iraq. In the days immediately following the fall of Baghdad I got a letter from Campus Crusade celebrating American victory because it meant they could expand their ministry in that part of the world. Its amazing to think back on those days...
And even if it were the case that deposing Saddam Hussein meant new freedom for Iraqi Christians, would that set precedent for invading every country where persecution exists? No, we wanted to believe this war was right and we made our own excuses. Before this war started there were enough questions to give us pause, but the drumbeat was infectious and our human desire to "shoot back" got the best of us. Guised as self-defense, humanitarian, and in help of persecuted Christians; we went in guns blazing and set back the prospects for peace by decades if not worse.
I think what Kim may mean is, if you voted for these guys twice, then it is difficult to declare that you don't support the policies, practices, and implementation by the men you put in charge.
Or to paraphrase: "I voted for the Iraq war before I voted against it."
The persecution of Christians by Iraqis is one of the most appalling stories in this whole Iraq debacle. Yet it seems to me that the mainstream media is rather quiet about it. I guess Christians as victims doesn't fit the media template.
I think what Kim may mean is, if you voted for these guys twice, then it is difficult to declare that you don't support the policies, practices, and implementation by the men you put in charge.
Firstly, I only voted for Bush once (2000). But I can certainly understand conservative disgust with Bush. Bush has certainly shown his disgust with conservatives. He's far less the person he advertised himself to be.
I understand. But simply declaring Bush is not a conservative runs right up against Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, and the president himself saying the exact opposite.
What people like me believe is, while you think you can divorce yourself from Bush because of how he has done the things he has, the very foundations of the Republican party tend towards the outcomes you are seeing in Katrina, Iraq, Immigration, Pollution, Health Care.
All of these situations are dealt with in an incompetent manner because the basic ideology of the GOP and disdain for government rewards lax oversight, deference to industry, gold plated defense projects, lack of compassion, and greed. It may not by how you or Rod think conservatism manifests, but I of course beg to differ.
Don't beg, Richard. Demand to differ.
So what can we do? I know a gentleman at a Byzantine Catholic church in Illinois who has organized a fundraiser for money to be sent to Iraqi parishes. Any other ideas?
"The persecution of Christians by Iraqis is one of the most appalling stories in this whole Iraq debacle."
A nominal Christian - Bush 43, the "Decider" - is the one who launched Shock & Awe, killing by conservative estimates over 30,000 Iraqis. Who's persecuting whom?
What's more important: being a dead Christian in Iraq or a live Christian somewhere else?
After all this time, and all of these incidents, why isn't there a mass migration of Christians out of Iraq? Is proclaiming one's faith more important than staying alive?
I've got lots of such questions to ask...
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