28 February 2011
Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
We in Jerusalem are watching closely the events unfolding in the Arab world
around us aware that, whether positively or negatively, we will all be
affected.
We in the church are watching and praying. Our prayers are filled with
encouragement for those who long for freedom. Our prayers are filled with hope
that justice and endurance will prevail. Our prayers are filled with sympathy
for the victims of violence.
But at the same time, our prayers are mingled with both awe and fear, as we
watch people now ask for their basic human rights as a whole, rights, which
until now they have been denied.
A decade ago, the horrific events of 9/11 seemed to shape a new worldview based
on a “clash of civilizations.” In events of the last months, as we have seen
Egyptian and Tunisian men and women, among others, risking their lives for
their basic freedoms, this worldview is once again being reshaped. As Charles
Kimball in his 17 February 2011 article, "The Fallacy of the 'Clash of
Civilizations'" observed, the values the Egyptian people have stood in protest
for “are values that most people in the U.S. hold dear. Rather than ‘us’ versus
‘them,’ it is now obvious how much ‘we all’ have in common.”
The rights that the people of the Middle East are protesting for are the very
same rights that democracies around the world hold dear. They are the very
same rights that we, as a church, have upheld and promoted in our
congregations, our schools, our educational programs, and our ecumenical and
interfaith relationships for years.
We stand against the use of violence, whoever the perpetrator, including
violence done by governments. We stand against the weapons trade that
continues to arm our region. We stand against those who would enter into the
fray for the sake of their own international self-interests over and against
basic human rights and the common good.
We stand in solidarity with the families of those who have been injured and
killed. We stand in solidarity with all who continue along the path of
peaceful change. And we welcome the solidarity of the international community
as we work together for peace, justice, and reconciliation.
What we need most in the Middle East is education. As Nelson Mandela has said,
“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” When
you educate people, they are transformed. Education may not make for an
immediate and captivating revolution. But education lays the groundwork for
powerful and lasting change.
We pray that the emerging movements in the Middle East will create modern civil
societies that promote freedom of expression, freedom of religion, rights of
minorities and gender equality, which are the basis for any democracy.
We hope that this movement will put an end to needless poverty and vast
disparity in the Arab world, for the Arab world contains enough resources for
every citizen.
We ask that, in the midst of the emerging democracies, the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict will not be forgotten, but that the parties involved will be
reinvigorated in working for a just peace in a two-state solution with a shared
Jerusalem so that, side by side, the fruits of this peace can be a blessing
to their neighbors and to the world.
Some in this time are asking about the future of Christianity in the Middle
East. The demonstrations that are taking place are political in nature, not
religious. And, as we have seen in Egypt, demonstrators—Christian and
Muslim—have been united, hand in hand, offering support and protection for the
sake of the other. We must continue in interfaith dialogue with one another,
building together, upon our common values, modern civil societies.
As long as Christians in the Middle East continue to play an integral role in
the fabric of their society, I am confident that we will all find our political
way forward. For it is together that we must offer true and reforming support
that encourages governments in the Middle East to move toward fully
participatory democracy, so that reactionary extremism will not fill the gap.
We are entering into a new era and a new Middle East. And we are hopeful for
new and renewed partnership throughout the world. Let now the misconceptions
and misrepresentations of the Middle East fall by the wayside. The new Middle
East is emerging, calling for peace and justice, freedom and democracy, and for
basic human rights and values to be upheld.
Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan
Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
Posted for Pastor Bob
