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.
Jareer,
This is Nas, not Natasha.
My apologies for calling your thought “silly”, but im not in the reporting business so objectivity is not a real goal here.
However I do respect your opinion which is why I asked you when you have experienced any of those things. I ask out of interest so I can understand what you are talking about. I make no prejudgments about your life and your experiences as I’m sure you did not mean to when you said I do not relate to the rest of Jordan simply because you know the area where I used to live.
Hamako, you said that since Muslims follow the islamic law of people of the book then “would’nt that mean that they are also friendly with Jews”, and I am saying that this is correct but we don’t have any jews in Jordan. Morocco on the other hand does have jews and they grant them equal rights i believe
i believe jews are not allowed to get citizenship in jordan although i dont know any jew that would want to but this is jordanian law. we are talking about co-existance between muslims and christians under society. the jordanian law in place concerning jews was issued when jordan controlled the west bank and they didnt want zionists buying up palestinian land legally.
lol its fine to throw in an opposing idea but u have to be prepared to defend it at the very least.
As per Nas:
“there is a difference between saying “there are no jewish jordanians” and saying “Jews cannot live in Jordan if they wish to remain Jewish”. ”
Enlighten me Nas, how are they different? ‘Jews cannot live in Jordan if they wish to remain Jewish’. By ‘live in Jordan’ I mean attain citizenship or even temporary status by moving there. As lucid as it may be, attaining Jordanian citizenship makes a plausable argument that one is Jordanian (what a concept).
My posts have achieved nothing but the opposite of their purpose; sometimes its useless to throw a new idea into the mix. Apologies for the drama Natasha.
Natasha,
What I have been through, you will need long time to experience, if ever. You seem you lived in Sweifieh, as you tell here. Looks like you do not relate to most Jordanians.
When you call a thought ” silly”, you are far from the reporting business, or its ethics. When you respect other people’s opinion, and try not to impose your own, then come and start your conversation.
Jareer, have u tried to do any of those things you listed? i.e. have you ever called the police to complain about an imam who was inciting hatred against christians in jordan? or the right to build a church? or publish a book on christianity?
because an imam can get thrown in jail for enciting hatred against jews let alone christians. you can attain a lisence to build a church from the ministry of religious affairs. and publishing a book shouldn’t be so hard considering my parent’s neighbour is a jordanian author who is christian and publishes religious books.
as for anti-christian books in the downtown. are any of those books sold at the safeway or istiklal or any official library in jordan or just on the streets. in other words are they black market books sold on the streets or they officially recognised by the government?
and the loudspeakers? well thats a little silly. i lived by the church in swefieh and it rang its bells. the fact that people in that area didnt pick up there phone all the time to complain about the bells is what is called “tolerence” and “co-existance”. the same goes for the christian community.
Hamako, there is a difference between saying “there are no jewish jordanians” and saying “Jews cannot live in Jordan if they wish to remain Jewish”.
Jordan does not have any Jordanian Jews, we don’t have polar bears either.
Speaking of the “Copts”; a simple history book will help to understand that they are natives in their land, speak Arabic very well, and above all; their contributions to Christianity are more than what Christian Jordanians contributed in all Jordan’s history. The blood they shed for witnissing their faith can never be denied or undermined by an article in a blog.
Thank God I ‘aint’ buddy…I live in palestine because I am indifferent you are so right, and I am shallow becuase I am trying to understand what someone else is saying, you’re good. Thank God we don’t share the same values. By the way, calling people you don’t know shallow makes you, in my ‘shallow’ perspective, a coward, communication will not kill you.
Abdelstar, I don”t know what you’re talking about; aside from being shallow you see, I have very poor processing abilities, I am slower than the average person.
Jareer if if if what
For a “spectator” Christian, I think things are alright in Jordan; by alright I mean: He or she can live a good life with minimum harrassments. By “spectator” I mean, a Christian that if a court accuses him of being a Christian, he can easily prove it wrong. Or, who only goes to church on occasions and sometimes is shown kissing the hand of the priest. But what if you ever tried to publish a book to the Christian community in Jordan, or build a church, or protest of some noisy loudspeakers used in the neighbouring mosque?. What if an Imaam attacks Christianity from the pulpit; what is your chances for a complaint ( I say just a complaint; but not an action or penalty). What would you be able to do toward a book attacking Christians and Christianity and is sold in the market; or in the Husseini Mosque Sa7a ? For most of you, if not all, you do not know what I am talking abought, correct ? The list goes on and on and on, and unless you know what rights a free citizen should get, you will keep bragging of the best example of coexistence you ever experienced.