One of the unexplored ironies of George W. Bush's ‘War for Iraq' was the systematic dwindling of that hapless country's Christian population. Although cautionary voices that anticipated such an outcome were quickly stifled by amateur geo-strategists, Bush and his supporters won, as did Iran, whereas Iraq lost in general.
Baghdad's loyal Christian citizens — along with their Muslim brethren — were thrown into the whirlwind of violence that strives on sectarianism. Those able to flee are on the run. Elsewhere, Christian Arabs are under pressure, many wondering where to turn, or who to depend on. What will be the impact of this Christian plight on Arabism itself?
Bush probably did not know that the Christian community in Iraq was one of the oldest in the world, with St Thomas making the pilgrimage to Mesopotamia. One doubts that he assessed, as a consequence of his many decisions, to see priests kidnapped or killed and churches bombed. Like most of his countrymen, he probably didn't know about Eastern Christians, stretching from the Balkans to Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and throughout the Middle East. Even if one were to give him the benefit of doubt, and conclude that he may have heard of Greeks, Armenians, Copts, Chaldeans, Nestorians, and other Christian nationalities and denominations, he almost certainly never considered them worthy of Christ.
Sadly, the sort of "American Christians" who are so keen to see Arabs get bombed, cannot tell the difference between a Christian or a Muslim, or a Catholic and an Orthodox. Like Bush, most of these folks belong to Protestant Churches, whose contacts with other Christian denominations are very limited.
Since few Middle East churches are Protestant, and since ancient apostolic churches carry strange names, Western decision-makers seem to have pretty much washed their hands of these problematic nuances. This is one of the reasons why Israeli politicians, who are well aware of religious permutations, latched on to Protestantism in the United States. They nurtured ties with, and gained immense influence among, so-called born-again followers who donate generous sums of money to Israeli institutions.
If Iraqi Christians are being murdered, Palestinian, Egyptian and Lebanese Christians are leaving in droves too, and this will impoverish these societies significantly.
In fact, a haemorrhaging of these loyal citizens is under way, though this does not spell "the end of Christianity in the Middle East" as a recent foreign policy essay claimed. Rather, the declining Christian numbers could be the result of three inter-related causes: demographic imbalances, favourable immigration conditions in certain Western countries, and a genuine fear among segments of the Christian population.
The demographic picture is of some concern as traditional migrations carry exponential consequences. Today, over 60 per cent of all Arab-Americans are Christian who, under US Immigration regulations, favour family unifications. This is a steady trend that took generations to assemble and was not the result of any anti-Muslim feeling, save for the initial waves that may have left for such reasons in the 18th and 19th centuries. Similar patterns in Canada, Australia, France, Italy and elsewhere confirm this observation.
Western countries are also predisposed to grant visas to skilled immigrants, which tend to incorporate a larger number of Christian Arabs than their Muslim brethren.
Fear factor
Yet, few should overlook the fear factor, as is the case in Lebanon, which used to have a 65 per cent Christian versus less than 40 per cent today. The civil war, an unrelenting assault on Christian political privileges under the existing constitutional framework, and dire economic conditions, encourage many to leave.
Luckily, there is light at the end of the tunnel, as most of Iraq's displaced Christians sought and received refuge in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, which speaks highly of the Arab world's sense of tolerance. Despite the anti-Syrian rhetoric, some of which is politically justified, few can deny the long-established legacy of protection extended to Christian subjects. Armenian Christians fleeing the 1915 Turkish massacres were welcomed in Syria as are today's Iraqi Christians. Many Syrian Christians retain privileged positions, especially in the military, even if a successor generation is not filling vacancies.
Lebanon, of course, remains a cradle of Christianity, producing a disproportionately higher percentage of saints than most established societies.
Equally important is the major contribution made by Lebanese Christians to the very Arab identity that strives against all odds. Few can deny that Lebanese men and women defended the Arabic language, preserved and enhanced Arab socio-cultural features, and introduced a pluralistic society where little existed.
Like Bush and Blair before him, President Barack Obama repeats that the West in general and the United States in particular are not at war with Islam, although those who are fighting the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and against Al Qaida in the perpetual war on terrorism, along with instant experts in leading think-tanks, do not seem to get that message. There is an immensely powerful military-political lobby that wants this to be a war on Islam. We should, therefore, not be surprised that Christians will suffer if wars are fought in Muslim countries.
Of course, this does not justify Muslim attacks on Christians, and must be a warning to the vast majority of decent men and women in the Muslim world that their religion is being hijacked by soothsayers and political manipulators.
It does mean that the Christian flight must be stopped to preserve and protect Arabism, its sense of tolerance, and its models of co-existence.
Dr Joseph A. Kechichian is a commentator and author of several books on Gulf affairs.
