The BBC website is asking Christians in the Middle East to talk about how their faith affects their way of life. I wonder what brought this up? Was this debate triggered by the latest events in Alexandria, I wonder?
I also noticed that the BBC failed to mention Jordan among the Middle Eastern countries that have a Christian population.
My opinion? I will reiterate what I said before: I am a firm believer that Jordan is indeed a perfect model of Muslim-Christian coexistence. In spite of what many might see as a current global clash of religions, Jordan remains intact and its people — regardless of their beliefs — continue to live peacefully and amicably, providing a prime example of tolerance and acceptance.
Hamako go to a poetry recital/ and ask why the poems don’t rhyme
“why do you always revert back to the Zionist conspiracy”
I live this conspiracy phrase which has become a favorite comeback for most shallow, indifferent folks. And BTW, we are not on the same side. You don’t decide for me which side I am on. I know when I meet someone with whom I share common values. You ain’t that person.
Sakhafaat 3omry relax, I was nt advocating anything, why do you always revert back to the Zionist conspiracy, I thought we discussed that earlier 7obbi, we’re on the same side so spare me that tone and grow up. When I say ‘Jews cannot live in Jordan but Jordanians can live in Israel’ then come give me your morsels of wisdom. However, when I say ‘jews cannot live in Jordan’ I am merely trying to understand an argument presented by Nas.
“And therein lies my point. Jews cannot live in Jordan if they wish to remain Jewish.”
Just as Muslims cannot live in Israel. So please spare us such absurd comments unless you are willing to discuss both sides of the issues.
And therein lies my point. Jews cannot live in Jordan if they wish to remain Jewish.
Hamako, yes that would also be the case. But there are no Jewish Jordanians. At least none I’ve ever heard of
If Jordan followed the ‘People of the Book’ mentality would’nt that mean that they are also friendly with Jews, since they are also considered to be monotheistic (Diyanat samawiyyeh)?
I don’t know if that’s what you meant by people of the book if that is not the case.
U r my hero
The failure to mention Jordan could be for many reasons.
First, the Copts in Egypt have historically had that friction of co-existance ever since they were established.
Second, I agree with you, Jordan is the model of perfect co-existance, or at least as perfect as perfection can come in this world. So there’s no controversy there. If christians and muslims clashed on the streets of Amman, well then you’d have a story.
Jordan is about 5% christian whereas Egypt is at 10%, that comes out to be something like 6 or 7 million which is the overall population of Jordan.
Third, Egyptian Copts are different from other Christians in the Middle East. Some have their own language, some do not see themselves as Arabs, so there is a wedge that is created. Compare this to several Jordanians in a room, you’d have trouble telling the difference between a christian and a muslim.
Fourth, History. To some parts of the Middle East Christianity is practically non-existant, especially in modern times, so theres a lot of friction there when it feels like a foreign element is entering, we see that in the gulf. Jordan and Palestine represent the craddle of religious civilization and its not something that can be easily erased.
Lastly, Religion. Jordan follows the “people of the book” ideology outlined in the Quran which commands that Muslims must live peacefully with Christians and so if Christians live on any given Muslim land this gives rise to Islamic laws which must be followed, such as gaurenteeing their rights, their safety, their right to worship etc etc, in other words catering to the Christian population. Other Arab countries have tried to avoid this whole scenerio, it’s sort of along the lines of “what you don’t know about won’t kill you” mentality, and this has somewhat worked because either the christian population is scattered or is just too small population wise.
Amman is a good example, I wouldn’t call it perfect as there are a lot of social seggregations. Not to instigate anger/arguments (because thats the last thing we need) but I found myself caught in the irony of being discriminated against in Jordan by some ‘elite’ christian families. I guess irony is not a proper word to use in that instance but all I am pointing out to is that discriminations occur in both directions; the majority believes it is right because, by definition, it is the majority and the minority wants to protect its seemingly fading tradition/religion/welath…
I am not complaining, it is only normal for that to happen.
Natasha, whereas I agree with your premise, its not like a Moslem guy can marry a Christian woman without any heads turning, as for the opposite of that (christian man, moslem woman)…I don’t even want to go there. I personally find the whole thing retarded (stage directions: Arms engulfing head, ducking in anticipation of religious anecdotes). Jordan has an ‘acceptance’ facade, but you must have been in on one of those gossip sessions that happen between its socialites to know better.