tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7687886961771238263.post4780121885738605246..comments2023-12-28T14:51:34.281-05:00Comments on Notes on Arab Orthodoxy: Met. Ephrem (Kyriakos) on RacismUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7687886961771238263.post-2907651649930396622015-04-10T11:22:05.460-04:002015-04-10T11:22:05.460-04:00Thanks for passing along Ephrem's remarks abou...Thanks for passing along Ephrem's remarks about racism being a sin and inconsistent with Christian values. We need this reminder. Racism is a very difficult sin to get rid of because it is human nature to mistrust those different than us. It works together with related sins like pride and anger and envy. Also having a racist conscience is a short-cut to getting someone to hate his fellow man, to defy our Lord's great commandment to love our neighbor and gives the devil an easy win. Racism even keeps the church, the body of Christ divided; another easy win for the devil. Here is another quote on this line, not from an orthodox divine but from an interview with an older black woman who 50 years ago participated in the U.S. civil rights movement, the march to Selma. In a recent radio interview on democracy now she said "you can't be a Christian and a racist at the same time." Sorry I don't recall her name but she was a teenager at the Selma event and she was the one whom, while registering blacks to vote, a sheriff's deputy punched her in the face, breaking his hand. Anyway, my point is her Christian grace allows her to not be hateful, to see the sin behind racism, and she gives the same beautiful message as these remarks on your webpage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7687886961771238263.post-13441331890480024902015-03-24T12:24:58.802-04:002015-03-24T12:24:58.802-04:00Eh, not really. That is, there's a pretty wide...Eh, not really. That is, there's a pretty wide range of secularist ideologies in the Middle East, some more successful than others, but very few that could be qualified as Baathism... While it's true that most secularist and leftist parties have historically had strong Christian participation, none of the extant secularist or Leftist parties (or newspapers, etc) are currently Christian-dominated. Samn!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14142811721903345946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7687886961771238263.post-69937149883260161982015-03-24T10:16:09.120-04:002015-03-24T10:16:09.120-04:00Samn - Secular, pan-Arabic, social democracy. Agai...Samn - Secular, pan-Arabic, social democracy. Again, the only people who still believe in it are Arab Christians who read French academics. <br /><br />Anonymous - you tell me, how is that glorious multiculturalism and pluralistic democracy working out for the Middle East? No less than four countries are trying to be born where there used to be two secular dictatorships. Egypt is still around--not everybody has a General Abdel el-Sisi.The Anti-Gnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04386593803225823789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7687886961771238263.post-1203575471112520602015-03-24T09:49:11.162-04:002015-03-24T09:49:11.162-04:00Sounds like Anti-Gnostic is clumsily trying to tra...Sounds like Anti-Gnostic is clumsily trying to transpose his white nationalist paranoia onto a Middle Eastern context. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7687886961771238263.post-48417635935398731832015-03-24T08:36:09.418-04:002015-03-24T08:36:09.418-04:00I fail to see what any of this has to do with Baat...I fail to see what any of this has to do with Baathism.Samn!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14142811721903345946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7687886961771238263.post-62458643751039512402015-03-24T08:30:13.988-04:002015-03-24T08:30:13.988-04:00The undoing of secular society is cratering birthr...The undoing of secular society is cratering birthrates, which means eventual displacement by more tribal societies. This is exactly what has happened in the Middle East.<br /><br />Nobody else over there still believes in Ba'athism. Why do Middle Eastern Christians still cling to it?The Anti-Gnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04386593803225823789noreply@blogger.com