Christianity in Baghdad
I transcribed the following from an interview that Alive in Baghdad conducted with Hanni Essa, an Iraqi priest at Al-Hikma Church in Baghdad. It’s quite eye-opening, if you ask me.
I believe that it’s incorrect to think of the West as Christian, especially when we talk of the occupation forces, which have shown many examples why. Religion is used for other ends, the historical evidence shows this.
As for Western police and occupation forces, I don’t think they care for religion, or Christians as Christians. They care for their interests, for capitalistic thought. They have the idea of globalization, which is not for Christians or religion. With their idea of globalization they want to unify the world on one scale. All should wear jeans and eat hamburgers. The media connects different parts of the world but we shouldn’t obliterate the characteristics of other societies whether Muslim or Christian. As a result I don’t see the West as Christians. I think they have capitalistic intentions, but use this Christian image, they use this religion for different reasons, for their goals I think.
I wish that even if there is strife we all remember we have one valuable country. In a garden, you can see a lot of flowers, with different colors, and the more colors in the garden, the more beautiful it is. Our nation has many colors and many flowers. but I don’t think flowers fight one another saying, “I am better and more beautiful than you.”
March 7th, 2007 at 3:25 am EST
dsiturbing, yet true, and at the same time some what releaving in the sense that someone over there knows that things done by our government or society as a whole is usually not a religious movement in sorts…. course that is the disturbing thing.
March 7th, 2007 at 9:22 pm EST
He is right : the “West” is not “Christian”, at least not in the sense that all people west of the Bosporus and east of Japan are followers of the teachings of Jesus. I think he is also a bit confused as well. And, I have no problem with “globalizing” the teachings of Jesus.
Interviews such as that one are media-designed and orchestrated to illustrate that anyone who believes that he knows the “truth” is simply self-centered. The man’s final comment, as you quote him, Lance, is nothing more than a variation on “everyone is going to heaven, regardless what they believe”. This poor Iraqi sucker dares not speak the truth lest Mukky al-Sadist [%^P] sends his thugs and takes him out.
You have to take any media interview that is broadcast as simply somebody’s propaganda. Sorry to be so distrustful of the Guardians of the Truth at BBC, CNN, al-Jazeera, etal, but it’s snowing here and the Global Warming is broken.
March 7th, 2007 at 10:27 pm EST
Willy, are you familiar with Alive in Baghdad? It’s the least “media-designed” organization that I’ve ever heard reporting anything from Iraq. Each video is raw … created by an Iraqi civilian and posted through the Internet and a podcast. It’s governed by a few individuals and Creative Commons, not a media company … and after following it for about six months, I definitely vouch for its authority and genuine voice. If you watch the video I transcribed (here), you can pretty much see what I’m talking about.
And I don’t believe that he is talking about “going to heaven” … he’s talking about “fight[ing] each other”. People are dying all around him every day because of the fighting … what would you say if you were him?
March 8th, 2007 at 12:42 am EST
Seems like he is viewing the West through a Middle-Eastern filter where Islamic Theocracies are the ideal and Democracy is little understood. Seperating religion from politics is a very difficult thing in the middle-east (and too easy of a thing in the West!)
March 9th, 2007 at 2:19 am EST
… so I took a little trip … to Baghdad …
Steve Wyshywaniuk– intriguing… Ukrainians everywhere, eh?
I watched the video. He liked it better under Saddam because there was security. That is understandable; people in the US of A feel the same way. “Don’t rock my boat.” “We had fish and garlic in Egypt; slavery is better than the uncertainty of freedom.” In this day and age, everything is “media”. Webeldotnet is “media”. That fellow sees the “West” through the eyes of journalists; it is apparent from his comments.
I still say he is confused, and has a very narrow perspective. His world is Baghdad, and it is in upheaval because the man who provided “security” by reason of his brutality is gone. Babylon was a very secure place to live under Nebuchadnezzar — as long as you didn’t raise your voice (or smile). From the man’s comments, he and his church would not dare to speak out against injustice, even under The Previous Dictator who made them so secure. It is not part of his religion — his “Christianity”. Shades of Rodney King : “Why can’t we all just get along?”
What would I say if I were him? Probably the same thing. If I were him I’d probably be just as ignorant of the world outside my clamshell. My globe would fit inside my dresser drawer.
You are right, though. The site and the videos do provide an interesting perspective. Helps to keep me globalized.
I still say he needs to keep a sharp eye out for Mukky… if and when he returns from Iran.
March 9th, 2007 at 9:37 am EST
I wish I was informed enough to catch half of the things you allude to in these comments …