Deconstructing our Defenses: An Imperative for Self-Sacrifice in Interfaith Relations
January 31, 2013On Bearing False Witness: Our Casual and Repetitive Breach of the Ninth Commandment
February 14, 2013Betrayal and Redemption
By Rupen Das
Over the past many months, a number of Syrian Christians and their leaders have made comments, which have taken me by surprise. They say, “The West has betrayed the Christians of Syria and abandoned them. They support and arm the rebels who not only want to overthrow the regime, but also want to rid Syria of Christians.”
These comments strip away the façade of the simple narrative told by the western media and their governments of the battle between good and evil in Syria – that the regime is bad and that the opposition is good. Michael Weiss recently wrote about “the civil war within the civil war”. He described in detail the emerging brutal conflict within the Syrian opposition between the more secular oriented factions who have a vague notion of a semi-democratic Syria and the more extremists groups such as the al-Nusra Front, which are fighting for a radical Islamic vision of Syria. The latter are better armed, better trained and bearing the brunt of the fighting, and as a result making significant inroads and able to hold territory they have taken. At the same time the extremists are practicing the same brutality that the regime has been known for.
Syria’s Christians are about 10% of the population and have historically been protected by the regime, whose leadership is predominantly Alawite, a religious minority within Syria. As dictatorial regimes in the region come under increasing pressure and begin to collapse, the Christians are among those who become targets of violence and many are forced to leave their homes. Those who remain don’t seem to have a place in the new emerging Islamic dominated societies, as the radical extremist elements would prefer not to allow non-Muslims to have the same rights as Muslim citizens.
The West under the guise of being champions of democracy, while glossing over their agendas for geopolitical dominance and energy security, see the Arab Christians as an inconvenience and having no strategic value. So they are abandoned to their fate; hence their sense of betrayal.
However, Arab Christians in the countries experiencing political upheaval are often viewed as not belonging to the mainstreams of society, culture and faith, all of which are becoming increasingly Islamic. Though their ancient historical and religious roots predate Islam and go back to the earliest days of Christianity and they have kept the faith since then, they are mistakenly perceived as vestiges of a western imperialistic Christianity. The irony is that they are seen as betrayers of what many feel it means to be Arab; their wrongly held perception being that Christianity is a western religion and that to be Arab is synonymous with being Muslim.
While in a different context and at a different time, Philip Yancey describes the struggles of Japanese Christian writer Shusaku Endo, who as a child grew up in Manchuria and was perceived as an alien, a child of the despised Japanese occupiers. Upon his return to Japan his anguish deepened as he experienced further rejection, being part of the 1% of society who were Christians. During World War II his feelings of isolation turned into a sense of betrayal as the West, whom he had always seen as the spiritual home for his Christianity, destroyed Japanese cities, indiscriminately killing hundreds of thousands of civilians. His novels consequently struggled with the silence of God and a sense of rejection not only by his own people but also those who were supposedly his brothers in the faith.
This story of double betrayal and abandonment is the story of the Cross. The living God in Jesus is betrayed by his own people and the Roman occupiers, and then by one of his disciples. He is then abandoned by those closest to Him. Though many of us may know about the silence of the Father, Syrian and Iraqi Christians, as did Shusaku Endo, have come to understand the agony God endured because of betrayal and abandonment.
But the story of the Cross also includes redemption.
In the midst of all this there is another story of forgiveness and reconciliation that is being played out. It is a story of redemption that only God could have written. As Syrian refugees are flooding into Lebanon, some Lebanese pastors and churches are opening their doors and hearts to assist those who are terrified and have lost everything. They do this in the face of intense criticism from many Lebanese who have never forgotten the brutality of the 20-year Syrian occupation. There isn’t a family who hasn’t endured the repeated shelling by the Syrian army. Many recall family members who were killed or tortured. Yet the impact of these few pastors as they lead their churches in demonstrating forgiveness and reconciliation that is only possible through Christ is so profound, that I believe it will breathe new life into the Church in Lebanon. They are living out the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.”
The timeless story of betrayal, forgiveness and redemption is still being played out in the Middle East today and it is the only message of hope for the region.
8 Comments
This has been a great source of concern to me personally. Americans have a very strong sense of wanting to help the “good guy” and they tend to look for that person in every conflict. While that can sometimes be helpful, it can also set up situations where the “help” replaces one evil with another. The growing sentiment to support Syrian rebels ignores the whole reality that there are no clear “good guys” in this war, at least not as a whole.
What we can do to help is to send humanitarian aid directly to the Syrian people. We can send food, clothing, and relief to our Christian brothers and sisters. We must also help all those non-Christians who are affected by the war in the same way, regardless of their religion.
No matter which side wins, the Syrian people are losing. We should not be remembered for supporting one evil or the other, but for showing love and compassion to the Syrian people in their time of need.
Reblogged this on Persona and commented:
Thanks a lot, Rupen, for your hearty presentation of these opposing views on the situation in Iraq.
Based on my previous experience in Romania, and other post-authoritarian contexts, I would like to present to you a third possible view.
I have started doing it here, but it became too long to be a legitimate comment. So I have decided to reblog your text on my blog and I will try to respond in a separate post, which you may, if you wish, also reblog here.
Rupen, you will find my response at the link below:
http://danutm.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/repentance-and-reconciliation-a-response-to-rupen-das-on-betrayal-and-redemption/
[…] a lot, Rupen, for your very hearty presentation of the grim situation of Christians in […]
Chris you are correct that in the West we try to find the good guy. As Danut and Rupen have pointed out all have reasons in this conflict to repent. The West must also repent of double standards when it comes to the Arab Uprisings. Many of the autocratic leaders received financial support from the West and our leaders were concerned to see their allies fall even if it was in the name of democracy. If the international community at large and individuals on their own do not step up to alleviate the humanitarian crisis we are currently witnessing we will also have to repent for this. Thank you Rupen for recounting the stories of some churches that are reaching out with both forgiveness and practical support. There are many others working tirelessly and sacrificially in the pursuit of peace and humanitarian relief. May they lead the rest of us in this process.
Great article but as you seek to lay some of the blame for the plight of Christians at the feet of Western governments, who see not strategic value in Middle Eastern Christians, you also need to highlight the duplicity of western based Churches and Christian prelates in Europe. Many are hypocrites who have failed to challenge their own governments on the issue.
The West has been very generous to the Middle Eastern countries by sending always humanitarian aids with groups of NGOs to help and develop what the wars have destroyed, and I am sure that the majority of the Arab people – Muslims and Christians alike – are quite thankful for these initiatives.
The problem is that these initiatives are not solving the roots of the conflicts and wars but just applying “band aids” on them. I wish the West would notice the 10% Christians and how they are excluded from the West’s agenda because they are Arabs and how they are looked at by Arab Muslims as Western imperialists. Well this is not something new to the Arab Christians because since the Crusades, their destiny was at stake as it is mentioned in a National Geographic’s report: “Ironically, it was during the Crusades (1095-1291) that Arab Christians, slaughtered along with Muslims by the crusaders and caught in the cross fire between Islam and the Christian West, began a long, steady retreat into the minority” (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/arab-christians/belt-text/2). By now many centuries have passed by and the Arab Christians are still rooted in the land walked by Jesus, and this only by His power and grace and according to His purpose. The Apostles were only twelve and they changed the world so 10% should do more.
Hallo Rupen
I meant that my reply should have been posted here. It appeared by mistake under Danut M blog.
Thank you for a balanced and comprehensive article. I will repeat here the last para of my comments.
The political choice facing Christians of the M.E. is a choice between bad and worse.The Arab World is not yet ready for democracy American style.It is plagued with ethnicity, confessionalism, tribalism and a patriarchal culture . Yes we need to pray for repentance of Chritians here in the M.E.but also for repentance of Western and North American Christians . Only few can really assess the magnitude of damage Christian Zionism in America is doing to the cause of Christianity here in the M.E. Let us also pray for a fair political solution , not only for Syria but also for Iraq and
Palestine/ israel. There is so much need for reconciliation and forgiveness in this region at the political as well as the spiritual level. Let us pray to our heavenly Father , in Jesus name, that HIS WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.