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Some who follow current Middle East developments closely have reached the conclusion that Christianity and Islam are at war.
You know history tells us that whenever there is a disruption of law and order people suffer needlessly. I'm going to talk a bit about Iraq here. The political destabilization of Iraq was the result of the U.S. occupation and overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. As a result, Iraqi central authority collapsed and a breakdown in law and order occurred. Either the U.S. did not have enough troops or it was unwilling to maintain public security. Everything in Baghdad became a "free-for-all." Hence the law of the jungle prevailed. The only government building that remained intact was the Ministry of Petroleum. Asked why the U.S. did not maintain law and order, Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, responded, "Let the people enjoy freedom!" Really? In this atmosphere of chaos, Iraqi Christians became a target. At the time of the American invasion, Iraqi Christians numbered about a million to a million and a half. It's estimated that more than half of them fled Iraq. In 2006, some 20,000 Christians were driven out of Baghdad while the U.S. troops looked on.
Christianity and Islam are not at war, but a "fringe" of Muslims who have gone astray from true Islam, do not speak for Islam, nor do they represent the majority of Muslims, are attacking Christians, as well as non-Christians, even Sunni Muslims who disagree with them. When Muhammad started his call to Islam and the worship of one God, Allah, early in the seventh century, A.D., the majority of Arabs in the Arabian peninsula, except for a few Christian and Jewish tribes, were pagan worshippers. How did the prophet of Islam treat the Christians and Jews whom he encountered? He simply recognized them as the "People of the Book," meaning possessors of a divine revelation, the same revelation Allah has sent to the Arabs through him. The rest is history.
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I'm amazed at the similarity of Donald Rumsfeld's callous and ignorant statement to what Marie Antoinette said about the French people who were protesting because they had no bread. "Let them eat cake."
The day after I left Egypt, Anwar Sadat raised the price of bread. There was rioting in the streets of Cairo. The problems of the Middle East are probably more economically based than religious.
Ron
Love ya!
Jane