What in the World?

"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests" (Luke 2:14 TNIV).

Angels sang this song more than 2000 years ago, but in 2012 peace has once again been in short supply.  Does this angelic song mean anything today? Yes, emphatically, is my reply, but it takes the eyes of faith to see it.

Here is a list of counties around the world that continued to be hot spots in 2012 (without giving any details): in Africa: Darfur, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Puntland, Somalia, Somaliland, South Sudan, Sudan; in Asia:  Afghanistan, Burma-Myanmar, Pakistan; in Europe: Chechnya, Dagestan; in the Middle East: Iraq, Israel, Lybia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen; and in the Americas: Colombia, Mexico. A few countries may have been overlooked.

The brutal murder of twenty children and their teachers, whose names are listed above, in Newtown, CT, has occupied the media for several days already. Syria, Egypt and other stories were largely ignored by the media. Everyone has been  talking about this event, especially what can be done to prevent further killings.

In the aftermath of the Newtown shooting, three words or phrases were repeated over and over again: gun control, mental illness, and fear. Each of them is important for understanding why this tragedy happened and, most important, how it can be averted in the future.

I want to examine each of them in the light of Newtown. This horrific event has the potential to be a game changer. Guns and mental illness are once more being blamed for this tragedy, whether justifiably or not, but now both are being reexamined, and actions may be taken to deal with them.

In addition, I will discuss very briefly the underlying fear of being attacked, the way these children were at school where were supposed to be safe, is a reality for many Americans who feel a need to arm themselves for self-protection.


First and foremost, gun control has become part of the discussion more than it ever was before. In previous tragedies the NRA came out immediately with their standard response: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." But this time it did not issue such a statement.

After a self-imposed media blackout for four days that left many wondering how it would respond, the NRA finally stated that its members were "shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders."

It added that the NRA would be "prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again."  Such an offer seemed to indicate a change in tone from the previous responses. 

But this was contradicted in the statement that the NRA made on Friday when it argued that schools should have armed guards. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," explains Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the NRA.

A better sign of change is evident the decision by Cerberus Capital to sell Freedom Group, its collection of gun companies, including Bushmaster, the firm that made one of the weapons used in the massacre.


There is no indication that gun manufacturers will disappear, however; and gun sales surged immediately after the shooting. As long as there are profits to be made, there will always be investors who want to participate in what is a booming, albeit questionable, industry.

Yet today gun control is being discussed everywhere in the US, from water-coolers to the White House. People now expect action, not words, and thus President Obama has called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines and requiring background checks before any firearm sales, although he has left out the details.

Whether the President will be able to achieve even that much is a matter of debate. The GOP has already declared its opposition. As well, recent rulings from US courts suggest that the constitutionality of any such proposals will be questioned not only by the NRA but also by the courts themselves.

Whenever such shootings take place, the issue of mental health is immediately brought up. This too is an oft repeated phrase. The shooters, it is claimed, must been mentally ill in order to have perpetrated their heinous deeds. The NRA has made this claim for many years. But is mental illness the only culprit?

The perpetrators typically are young males with varying degrees of mental derangement. Some of them have a long history of involvement with the mental health system, and many have been identified as being "odd" by educators. They also have this in common: an access to guns, including assault-type semi automatic weapons with large ammunition clips.


Mental health deserves to be made an issue, but not for this reason alone. Mental illness is often stigmatized and thus largely ignored today. Often we only hear about the mentally ill when something catastrophic happens, and then we blame them, although not guns or the sick society that produced them.

Society needs to stop criminalizing the mentally ill, and to learn more about what they are struggling with. The majority of mentally ill patients are not dangerous, according to mental health professionals. What they need is appropriate treatment, medication, and support services. Unfortunately, that is too often lacking.

In classical Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on Earth. The gods had endowed her with many gifts, such as beauty and speech. She was also given a beautiful container which she was not to open under any circumstance. Impelled by curiosity, however, she did open it, and all the evil that it contained escaped and spread over the earth.

December 21, 2012, has been widely proclaimed in the media as the end of the world. Although widely debunked by many people, some still expect the world to end on that day.

The Toronto Star, an otherwise sober newspaper, informed its readers in a headline that one Canadian at least would survive the catastrophe because he would by then have left for the International Space Station.

End of the world predictions have been with with us for a long time. This is just the latest in a long series.

Last year we witnessed Harold Camping making a fool of himself by predicting that the world would end on May 21 or Judgment Day, as he called it, when Christ would return and the world be consumed in a huge fireball.

When that day passed without Christ's return, Camping revised his prediction to October  21, but that date too passed without any truly remarkable event occurring. For more on this prediction, see my series of posts on Camping, starting with the first. The others can be found when you use the search function.


The December 21, 2012, date is part of a New Age phenomenon called Mayanism in which this date marks the beginning of a new era, or-- for some -- the end of the world. The latter, according to them, involves various doomsday scenarios.

These scenarios include a collision with a planet four times the size of the earth or with a comet. However, astronomers, dismiss all of them as bunk, although occasionally asteroids do come close to the Earth, as happened again only a few days ago. But the odds of an asteroid actually hitting the earth are very small.

December 21, 2012, marks the conclusion of a b'ak'tun -- a long time period in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Mayan writings describe how the gods first created three worlds, although unsuccessfully. This was followed by a fourth world in which they were successful and placed humanity.

The phenomenon has also inspired several pop music hits. Britney Spears, for example, contributed "Till the World Ends" (2011).

The exodus from Egypt in the Bible marks the birth of Israel as a people. The exodus of Christians from the Middle East marks the steady demise of a segment of the population that was once constituted the majority in many of these countries. This is the region where the Christian faith was born.

There are many reasons for the demise of Christians in these countries where they and their ancestors have lived for generations, and in some cases since the time the Christian Church was established.

The chief reason is that Christians are no longer welcome in many of the countries where they were born. Religious freedom has become a casualty of political developments that sometimes go back decades. Thus Christians feel they must emigrate if they are to survive.

A declining birth rate is another important reason, when compared to other segments of the population that continue to grow. Christians are thus losing ground, as the statistics for every country show.


I want to examine several countries in the Middle East where the decline has been the greatest in the last few decades in order to determine the situation of Christians there, in particular why so many are emigrating. But I will ignore Iraq because of the tragic war there that uprooted millions from all religions.

I also want to make a few suggestions about what Christians in the West can do about this problem.

I will move from north to south, beginning with Syria and finishing with Egypt. In between, I will look at Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine.


In Syria Christians make up about 6.3% of the population, but this proportion is declining because of continual emigration, largely due to increasing discrimination. Emigration will increase even more when the Islamists, as expected, come to power there. Before the current uprising began, however, Christians enjoyed an almost unparalleled freedom.

Christians are concentrated in the cities, and many are involved in business. They have tended to support the Assad regime, although they can also found among the rebels. If Assad falls, Christians will be in very great danger and many will be forced to leave Syria.


At the time of the last reliable census in Lebanon in 1932, Christians were 53.7% of the population, while today they are only 32%. Yet they continue to hold important roles in the government.

The greatest challenge that Christians face is large-scale emigration. This will increase when neighboring Syria comes under Islamist control. Syria has interfered in Lebanese affairs for decades, as have Iran and Saudi Arabia. This continuing interference does not bode well for the future of the Christian community there.


In Jordan, lower birth rates and high emigration rates have contributed to the numerical decline of Christians. The influx of refugees, especially from Palestine, adds to the pressure on Christians to emigrate. Christians can found in all walks of life, including parliament, but they losing much of their influence as a result of this exodus.

While the constitution forbids discrimination and promotes freedom of religion, in the period from 1980 to 2010, the Christian population in Jordan dropped from 6.5% to 2.2%. The instability in the entire region no doubt contributes to this massive emigration.
In Israel, Christians make up only 2% of the population. While in principle all religions enjoy freedom of worship, ultra-Orthodox Jews have a disproportionate influence when compared to other religious groups, even other Jews.

The Jewish attitude to Christians is characterized by animosity for both historical reasons (the Holocaust) and, more recently, proselytism.

Unfortunately, Christians in the West, especially evangelicals, have contributed to the situation of Christians in Israel  because of their often uncritical support for Israel. They have not spoken out about the discrimination practiced against their coreligionists.


In Palestine, the Israeli occupation and Islamic persecution have for many decades already squeezed out the dwindling number of Christians, who today constitute less than 2% of the population. They are threatened by the Israelis who perceive them as Arabs as well as by Islamic extremists who regard them as Western collaborators. Hamas has no use for Christians.

Their numbers have declined at an alarming rate. Palestinian Christians are being pushed out by the Israelis and Islamists and pulled by the quality of life available in the West. Yet they feel abandoned by the global Church. Again, Christians in the West have largely remained silent in the face of these threats to their fellow believers.


Christians make up almost 13% of the population of Egypt. The Coptic Church is by far the largest body of Christians in the Middle East. Copts constitute more than 90% of all the Christians in that country.

Although the large Christian minority has enjoyed relative peace for many decades, the rise of Islamism as was evident after the election of the Muslims Brotherhood has created an atmosphere marked by violence and terror.

The events surrounding the formulation of a new constitution have increased the marginalization of Christians. The domination of Islamists in the new Egypt will no doubt accelerate the exodus of Christians from that country as well.

The Christians there have already faced nearly 2000 years of discrimination and persecution. Is more of this necessary? Should the world just ignore what is happening not only in Egypt but throughout the Middle East?

What can Western Christians do in the face of this great exodus? They can begin by praying for their fellow Christians in the Middle East. And together they can pray for peace in this troubled region. Many Jews and Muslims are also praying for peace.


Western Christians must also end their silence when it comes to the situation of their coreligionists. Silence means complicity in the the discrimination and persecution that Christians in the Middle East face on a daily basis and that are, in fact, increasing.

This discrimination and persecution will not end until all Westerners speak out forcibly against what some Jews and Muslims are doing to people of other faiths. Not all Jews and Muslims are responsible for this behavior, but enough are to make life uncomfortable, if not impossible, for Christians in the Middle East.

Journalists too must become more outspoken about the religious situation in the Middle East. They are often under pressure to appease those who prefer to deny that situation. That is not good journalism.

Christian journalists especially need to take up the cause of Christians whose only recourse is to leave the country of their birth.

The exodus of Christians in the Middle east must end. Otherwise, there will one day be very few Christians left in the region where their faith was born.
   

A few weeks ago I promised to write more about atheism. That is easier said than done, since atheism is difficult to define. Yet atheism is a dominating force that must be reckoned with in the contemporary world.

This post will be the last in a series on how several religions view their role in the public square. If atheism is a religion, as I have argued previously, then it too belongs in this series. And then we can ask legitimately how it sees its role.

That role is easier to describe than atheism itself. Atheism, since it sees itself as not being a religion, can claim to own the public square. Typically, atheism wants to exclude religion in general, and thus every faith, from that square. Yet today, paradoxically, religion is becoming more accepted in the public square, even while atheism seems to be growing in many countries all over the world.

Part of the problem in discussing atheism and religion is due to the difficulty of defining religion. As I wrote in an earlier post, I consider every person to be religious. In other words, everyone has a faith, even if that faith involves the absence of a belief in a god or gods. It is still a belief.

Religion is thus much broader than it is in the list of characteristic practices that atheists use to define the term (see my earlier post on this topic). One way to define a religion is thus to look for certain characteristics that all religions have in common.

This is what Ninian Smart has done in what are commonly known as the Seven Dimensions of Religion, which is widely what accepted by anthropologists and researchers of religion as broadly covering the various aspects of religion, without focusing on things unique to any specific religion.

The characteristics Smart lists are quite different from the ones that atheists use. What Smart has done is not really provide a definition of religion but rather a method of describing it that avoids the problem of definition entirely.

The seven dimensions proposed by Smart are narrative, experiential, social, ethical, doctrinal, ritual and material. Not every religion has every dimension, nor are they all equally important within an individual religion.