The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

=> the politics of heresy

Posted by pancho (Guest) - Monday, July 30 2007, 19:12:26 (CEST)
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...in the third volume of his thirteen volume "The Story Of Western Civilization", titled, "The Age of Faith", Dr Durant writes that most often during the early days of the consolidation of power of the Christian Church, a heresy usually masked a political revolt. He says that orthodoxy went hand in hand with promoting the centralized power of the Roman emperors, while heretical sects were opposing such efforts at "unity" in favor of local control or "national" independence.

There was probably no real pressing or overwhelming doctrinal reason for the Christians of the Sasanian empire to make Nestorius and his heretical views their own....even to calling themselves by his name...but their precarious position, once the arch-enemy of the Sasanians, Rome, converted to Christianity and tried to enforce uniform practices and beliefs, called for them to distance themselves from Roman orthodoxy and centralized control...in order to calm the suspicions of their overlords that they might favor loyalty to their co-religionists in Rome rather than to their Pagan rulers...who, so far, had shown tolerance towards them. What better way to make a clean and well apparent break than to call themselves after one of Rome's earliest heretics?

In a replay of what is happening now in BetNahrain, imagine the chagrin with which Sasanian Christians would have greeted all calls for "unity" issued by Roman Christians...especially during one of the several wars between Rome and Persia...the LAST thing the Persian Christians wanted at that time was to be seen as "united" or even friendly with the Christian Romans.

This is exactly the situation of the Iraqi Christians now, as these ex-patriot co-religionists, who've fled to the Christian nations at war with betNahrain, feel when calls go out from the West to "help our Christian brothers and sisters" in BetNahrain. It is "help" which is not really welcome, except that their situation has been made so dire by this Christian-led war, that in desperation they take what little is offered...with fear and trepidation...for they are, in reality, accepting aid and comfort from the enemies of BetNahrain.

And, once again, there is a splinter-sect...a new heresy, led by Mar Bawi, which seeks to distance itself from the hegemony of Mar Dinkha. But that isn't the only heresy around...there are political heresies as well...greeted with all the fanaticism usually reserved for religious non-conformity...we have a growing crop of people who are splitting from "orthodox" political parties to form smaller and more "independant" ones.

These people are using the misery of Iraqi Christians to give meaning to their lives...how else could Magpie style herself as the commander of a Militia...travelling to cities to "meet" with people...in order to "set a new agenda"...for "achieveing our politcal goals in Iraq"...etc?

It's a game...that's all, a game which requires an "Assyrian" front, or else becomes too clearly an extension of religious hegemony, the fiorst step being an enclave of Christians in the midst of a Muslim population...which is exactly what the western missionaries were hoping to achieve 100 years ago...a religious base-camp from which they could "save" benighted Muslims.

It's a game of little to no risk for them...just something to while away the hours between teevee shows and bingo...something which adds "politcal urgency" to a vacation..."strategy sessions" to a gossip fest. It's quick, painless and even though it yields nothing, makes the participants feel that they "at least tried to do something". That this "something" is worse than meaningless because the one solid result is and always has been a worsening of the conditions under which Iraqi Christians must live, doesn't phase them because they are "mature" enough to know that "nothing comes easy"....except that it does..it comes very easy to Magpie, Screws-Loose, Dadeeshoo and the rest of them to PLAY...it comes VEY hard for the Christians of Iraq.

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