The Church

When the Israelites were overrun by Shalmanezer of Assyria in 722-721 bc; and then again by Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, in 588-587 bc, they did not carry away everyone into captivity.  They carefully selected – “culled” – the population for those whose knowledge, skills and abilities could benefit their own civilization; in other words, only those who could do them the most good.

This had two consequences:

1.They left Israel barren of ideas, organization, wealth, and enterprise. This had destructive consequences for generations; and,

2.Strabo (63 bc – 28 ad), the noted Greek historian observed (quoted by Josephus):  it is not easy to find a place in the world that has not admitted this [Jewish] race, and is not mastered by it.’ The obvious inference is two-fold: Israel was robbed of its best and brightest; and, the conquerors gained from it for centuries to come.

The same will happen // is happening in the Middle East today – without the invasion of a conquering force. However, an indigenous conquering force can be just as deadly, just as persistent, and just as effective in causing the halving of the Christian population in the countries of the Middle East in the next seven years. And, with no disrespect intended to those who will remain, it is the loss of those who have the greatest potential to create wealth, expand knowledge, and provide leadership for the entire community that ought to be of greatest concern.

For 60 years the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was our only worry. Arab vs. Israel. Now, it is almost a sideline to what is going on internally to the central countries of the Middle East. And, caught in the middle of this war between Shia and Sunni (and offshoots of both) are the Christians. Ironically, in Syria it is Russia that has stepped up to protect the Christians with its support of the Assad regime. (It is equally ironic that it has been Assad, Hussein, Mubarak and their governments that kept the majority Muslim population from turning against the Christians and other minorities.)

This new Christian diaspora is a tragedy that appears to be beyond the understanding (or ability to do anything about it) of those who are making public policy in each of the affected countries as evidenced by their total incapacity to protect the Christian population from the violence, intimidation and fear that has accompanied the so-called “Arab Spring.”

It is estimated that by the year 2020 the total Christian population in the Middle East will decline from about 12 million today to 6 million.[1]  (At the beginning of the 20th Century 20 percent of the total population of the region was Christian. Today, it is five percent.[2])  It is the neutron bomb of mid-Eastern Christianity: the Church buildings are left standing while the parishioners are vaporized. However, whether they are killed, driven away, or simply leave on their own, the impact on the nations of the Middle East is the same: devastating.

Here are some example numbers:

This means more than just a loss of numbers — tragic as that is.  The larger issue is who will leave and who will stay behind that is the biggest concern. Simple logic prevails here: those families will leave who have the most resources that they can transfer to a new location: a job, financial security, or professional class network. The very people a nation needs to build the future.

Conversely, those people will stay who are most vulnerable, and have the least ability and resources to either leave or to succeed in place.  Doubly unfortunately, it will leave them even easier prey by the extremes because there will be no one left to protect them through their network, their access to power, and their financial strength in the community.

Christians in the Middle East are the most educated and successful of any ethnic group there: Arab Christians, Maronite Christians, Palestinian Christians, Syrian Christians, and all of the other Christian sects.   They are relatively wealthy, well educated, and politically moderate.[8]   They can be found in the top echelons of business, finance, education and government in every nation of the Middle East that allows any Christians citizenship or residence there (particularly Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.)

These are the very people who can most easily leave — and who they can least afford to lose — for the very assets they bring to their societies.

However, there is much more to this than simply their individual and collective successes. Because of their level of competence, network and respect, in many ways they serve as a moderating factor in their societies; and, in particular, in the “halls of power” where their influence in providing reason and tolerance is desperately needed. One of the most troubling aspects of the past two years’ revolutions in the Arab world is the rise of intolerance, extremist control of the daily life of civil society, and general collapse of protection and legal recourse available to minorities against the intimidation, gang violence and outright murder of Christians in their homes, their businesses and their churches by the extremists and tolerated by the majority.In many documented cases, this occurs with the acquiescence and sometimes even the help of the civil authorities who, at a minimum, are seen on the scene acting like observers rather than law enforcers protecting the victims.[9]

Additionally, they provide a cultural bridge between the Moslem East and the Christian West.  By being ethnically part of the wider society in which they live, and religiously part of the greater Christian world, they are able to talk with both sides. When they are gone, there is no group that can fill this role; thus, deepening the already wide divide that sees the two worlds moving farther and farther apart at the very time when reconciliation is essential to the large majority in all the nations who are watching the cultural war in their country from the sidelines.

It is this bigger picture that is the story.