• The Mideast Crisis – A Christian Perspective

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  Feb 24

  The Mideast Crisis – A Christian Perspective

  Mideast situation powerpoint

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  Notes:

  CRISIS IN EGYPT (and beyond):
  Notes to accompany the PowerPoint presentation – February, 2011
  -David Runnion-Bareford,
  -Islesboro, Maine

  As the crisis spreads it has become obvious that our self-focused press and perhaps our government is struggling to understand the global shift that is taking place in front of us with amazing rapidity. (see slide #1). As slide 2 illustrates, there is a movement of historic forces comparable to the world changing collapse of the Soviet Union in 1987. It is a geopolitical earthquake with roots in the very origin of humanity and faith, primarily in the dysfunction and conflict imbedded in the Biblical record of one family, the family of Abraham. This presentation is not intended to present a political or even religious viewpoint on this crisis, but only to provide some basic historic background and wide lens perspective on what we are watching. I am a classic Christian and am not an expert – both things will be obvious as you work through this.

  In slide 2, the Hareetz Article, while written from an Israeli friendly eye, captures key elements of what is unfolding. The Arab liberation revolution and the forces of “Modernization, globalization, telecommunications and Islamization that have created a critical mass that cannot be stopped.” The comparison to the world changing collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing western (U.S.) hegemony is right. The decline and corruption in the west has set the framework for a new moral force.

  But the worldview of this crisis is not new. Slide 3 shows us the map of the first Islamic empire under Mohammed and his successors – the Caliph’s in the 7th and early 8th century. You can see the stages – from the original conquests of Mohammed in the darkest shade. In slide 4 we see how the power of Islam was extended at the highest point of its global conquest. It is almost shocking then to see slide 5 with its map of current “Organization of Islamic Conference Member States.” Read that description of the unified goals of these 57 countries carefully. Our next slide refines this by showing us which of these countries are Islamic states, which are secular states in which Islam (or the practice of Sharia law) is the official religion and those states which have secular law with Islamic majority populations.

  In contrast, Slide #7 takes us back to the way it was in 1972 when the cold war between the western democracies and the Communist countries was at its height. Anybody miss Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev? Look carefully and you can see which countries are autocracies, monarchies, democracies and such. You can see how the Islamic countries weathered the storm of communism, eventually bringing its expansion to a halt through the soviet defeat in Afghanistan.

  Slide 8 shows us the expanding presence of Islam and its global concentrations. It is interesting to see for instance its penetration into South America or the contrast between the size of the Islamic presence in Canada and the U.S.

  The next slide shows us where in the world people have the strongest faith regardless of affiliation. It explains not only something about Islam, but why the leadership and authority in the Christian Church is shifting to what we call “the global south” – namely Africa, South America and parts of Asia. Slide 10 gives us the statistics on Islamic distribution and the pie in slide 11 gives us a picture of the world as she is today in terms of religious commitment. It provides clarity on why the Christian/Islamic conflict is so central to what is unfolding.

  In slides 12, 13 & 14 we can see another powerful force at work in this global shift. China, once thought to be the primary new force in geopolitical realignment is facing a crisis in its aging population. Abortion both in China and the west has played a role in a declining birth rate and static population. In both settings aging will play an important role. In contrast the Islamic population of the world is growing rapidly. As a people group they are younger and coming into their own. From the birth rates it seems obvious who owns the future.

  How did it all begin? Slide 15 gives us the family tree from which the entire story unfolds. Abraham was promised a child by God as he walked the land of Palestine or Israel worshiping and claiming it spiritually for the future. As he waited, he and Sarah his wife grew impatient and he had child with Hagar – Sarah’s servant girl from Egypt! When Sarah’s child Isaac was born, Sarah became jealous of Hagar’s child Ishmael and Abraham sent the boy and his mother away. Stranded in the wilderness, an angel of the Lord came to them and showed them a spring of water and cared for them. That location is believed to be the place called Mecca. Hagar then went and obtained for Ishmael an Egyptian wife and Ishmael became the father of the Arab race.

  Later Abraham would bring his son Isaac to a Mountain to sacrifice him as God instructed. God reached out and Isaac was spared. That location is on the temple mount – now housed inside the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem. The bad blood between these brothers and their rival claims to the birthright of Abraham are at the heart of the long Arab – Jewish conflict. It is why the world looks to Mecca and Jerusalem. But it isn’t the only component.

  Isaac would go on to have two sons, Jacob and Esau. The Bible tells us that one day when Esau the hunter came home, Jacob got him to give him his birthright to satisfy his immediate hunger. Jacob then tricked his father into actually giving him Esau’s birthright. Again there was a profound cause for bad blood within the family. Esau became the father of two clans – Edom and Amalek. The Palestinians are descended from Esau and the intermarriage with the descendants of Ishmael has compounded the deep emotion that drives Jewish – Arab – Islamic- Palestinian angst.

  In the 7th century after Christ, Mohammed is born in Mecca and as his religion evolves makes this his headquarters. Some of his early years are spent among Nestorian Christians and that Christian influence is obvious in his Qur’an. Most Christian scholars would regard Islam in fact as a derivative religion similar in origin and the relationship it has to Christianity with movements like Mormonism or Jehovah’s Witness.

  When Mohammed established Mecca it was already a spiritually “alive” site where shrines to 360 different global deities were worshiped and a site to which many religious groups ascribed power. Mohammed destroyed all the shrines and idols, leaving only the original site of Ishmael’s house, the sacred spring and a statue of Mary and Jesus. Subsequently as we see in slide 16 & 17, the Mecca pilgrimage became the glue that brought the diversity of Islamic people together in one huge event and bound them to a unified experience.

  Meanwhile moving back to the early part of the story, slide 18 shows us on the right, the map of 8th century Israel. It was at this time a divided Kingdom, but if we showed you the map under King David when Israel occupied for the one and only time almost all of the “promised land”, it would have eclipsed much of what shows as Edom, Moab, Ammon and Aram (Syria). What we see here is the kingdoms of Esau and Ishmael. Ammon is modern Jordan. Edom – the Kingdom of the descendants of Esau appears visually in slides 19 & 20. We see Edom from across the Dead Sea and the ‘secret’ passage that served as the entrance to the ancient Edomite capital of Petra.

  In 1948, when the Zionist forces, with western support, fought to create the nation of Israel, the bulge of the “West Bank” (left map – slide 18) is where the Arab legion under King Abdullah of Jordan stopped the Jews and established a truce. You can see the problem. Unchanged after all these years. Note also how the “Golan heights” and the “Gaza Strip” fit into this puzzle by comparing the two maps.

  I think (slide #21) that it is important to recognize that the Bible regards the whole family as important. Chronicles chapter 1 (the Chronicles are ‘the record’ of God’s people) starts with Hagar and Ishmael, includes not only Esau’s people but the Kings and chief families of Edom alongside the tribes of Israel. This is important to know as the whole world watches now.

  The conflict has been almost perpetual since the beginning. To do a detailed history of how this families struggle to be in right relationship with God and each other has superimposed itself on world history would take books – but a few items I think paint the picture. (slide #22) – Psalm 83 gives us a thumb nail summary. The roots of the famous Esther/Haman story in the court of Persia are fascinating. The rest speaks for itself – although the background of the Baath Party is not as well known.
  Why then did this conflict become an Islamic vs Christian conflict? One answer as you can see in slide #23 rests in the history of war. But we also need to recognize the more profound basis which is this verse from the New Testament. Christians lay claim to the promise of Abraham which Ishmael contests. That is a key.

  In our next slide we look at some of the similarities between Islam and Christianity – although you may be able to think of others. And then in slide #25 – some differences. As you read those carefully, I want to note the last one. Christians are in several teachings of Jesus mandated to lay down their lives for others, dying literally if necessary, but never authorized to kill for their faith. Whenever military action has been taken in the name of Christian faith it is a falsehood and heresy which never leads to good. Therefore Christians know that real life release from oppression almost always comes by the “blood of the martyrs”. Slide 26 shows us why Christians might be anxious about the current developments. We need to be aware not only of the huge increase in Christian persecution worldwide but that 65% of all Christians who have died for their faith have been killed in the last 75 years. Sometimes I hear the comment that wars and persecution somehow arise out of religious commitment and passion. The implication is that the world would be better without them. But note carefully that is secular regimes and ideologies such as Nazism and Communism that unleash the greatest violence and oppression in human history.

  What is Jihad? (Slide #27) Jihad is both a spiritual and a physical concept. It is both a spiritual expression of the internal conflict between good and evil as well as a defense of the faith even if that means military action. The description here is from an Islamic perspective.

  So then if Jihad is strictly a defensive action – not an action of unprovoked aggression against non-Islamic people or nations, what is the problem? Slide #28 summarizes what current events look like from an Islamic perspective and why Jihad is now in play.
  When all of this began to explode, I emailed a good friend Dexter Van Zile to ask him just what was really going on. While Dexter is a pro-Israeli journalist we have worked together on a number of projects and I find his knowledge consummate and insight invaluable. (Slide #29) This was his response. (Slide #30) What impressed me was that just days later I found this analysis on Al Jazeera.
  Who then are Sayd Qutb and Hassan al Banna? Let’s read through slide 31 & 32 together carefully. I noted that Mao before the Chinese communist revolution studied in the U.S. and had a similar analysis. It is interested to see Sayd’s take on the U.S. in the early 50’s – somehow I don’t think seeing us today would change his ideas. It is important to know that there is a unified ideological base below the surface of all this that is shared by the brotherhood across all the lines of different countries and situations. It is not accidental that some forms of “Sharia” law have been proposed in the U.K. and Canada – in one instance with the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This is not a spontaneous eruption in the streets of Egypt.

  There are, however, other forces at work here as well. The yearning for democracy is not unique to the streets of Cairo and as this largely peaceful revolution spreads it is obvious that many groups and movements are coming together in a common yearning for democracy. One interesting thing, as it spreads into these various settings, (Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, etc.) is that while all are nations of the “Arab world” they are so different from each other. Let’s just note a few.

  Libya, for instance (slide 34) is very different from Bahrain in many aspects and both are different from Yemen (slide 35) and yet there is a common cry from the heart that resonate in all of these public squares. It is interesting that Iran, an Islamic republic, is the target of the same spirit of revolution. So perhaps the invisible hand that moves history is larger than even Islam.
  Slides 37 & 38 are two powerful pieces by analysts for Al Jazeera. Let’s read through them carefully. They express, I think, the highest hopes for all that is coming to pass. The lives of many have already been sacrificed for this hope and great risks have been taken. We have seen great courage in the streets and we can only pray that the aspiration of the human heart for freedom and democracy is not disappointed.

  
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