I’m Arab and Christian- why are people always so surprised ?

[Anonymous]

FYI, Zionists/Israel need the people to think what's going on is "religious" so they can get dumb Americans to associate anyone Palestinian w/ screaming about "infidels." Meanwhile, the oldest churches in Christianity have been protected by Palestinian Muslims for over 1000yrs. Two Palestinian Muslim families for over 850 years have actually been the peacekeepers among the Christian factions for the Holy Church of the Sepulchre - they keep the keys for the Church. Look it up, it's actually a fascinating story. Palestinian Christians and Muslims are brethren who both live under occupation. They are brethren who serve in govt together.

Bob Simon actually did a 60 Minutes piece on the abuse faced by Palestinian Christians which Israel attempted to keep from being aired. Even he saw what israel had become...and this was over a decade ago.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm, there are not from Detroit, that's why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm, there are not from Detroit, that's why.

+1, this was totally not uncommon nor surprising.

[Anonymous]

I’m not “surprised” by you being an Arab and a Christian, I’ve just never met an Arab who was a Christian before. And I know a lot of people who are from or whose families are from the Middle East, as I have worked at three different universities. So it wouldn’t be a total shock, you would just be the first Arab who is also a Christian that I have personally met.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI, Zionists/Israel need the people to think what's going on is "religious" so they can get dumb Americans to associate anyone Palestinian w/ screaming about "infidels." Meanwhile, the oldest churches in Christianity have been protected by Palestinian Muslims for over 1000yrs. Two Palestinian Muslim families for over 850 years have actually been the peacekeepers among the Christian factions for the Holy Church of the Sepulchre - they keep the keys for the Church. Look it up, it's actually a fascinating story. Palestinian Christians and Muslims are brethren who both live under occupation. They are brethren who serve in govt together.

Bob Simon actually did a 60 Minutes piece on the abuse faced by Palestinian Christians which Israel attempted to keep from being aired. Even he saw what israel had become...and this was over a decade ago.

Only the keys to the door are controlled by the Palestinian Muslim family as implemented by Saladin. There is no other church that has such an arrangement.
The official custodians of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are the Latin Church, Greek Church, and Armenian Church. The Ethiopian Church, Coptic Church, and Syriac Church also participate to a degree.
You’re making up things to support a conclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not “surprised” by you being an Arab and a Christian, I’ve just never met an Arab who was a Christian before. And I know a lot of people who are from or whose families are from the Middle East, as I have worked at three different universities. So it wouldn’t be a total shock, you would just be the first Arab who is also a Christian that I have personally met.

There are many Christians who fled here from Arab lands because of persecution. However they’ll identify as their specific ethnicity to distance themselves from the Arabs who oppressed them drove them out. As pointed out upthread, this includes Armenians, Copts, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syriacs, etc.
Simply coming from a land dominated by Arabs, where the lingua franca is Arabic does not make one an Arab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Christians keep a low profile in the middle east. A church is not allowed to be taller than any mosque in the area. Also, Arab Muslims are elite compared to Asian Muslims, who look down on African Muslims.

I've met plenty of Christian Arabs, but they tend to blend in well enough that people do not realize they are Christian.

And they have just as much of a right to call themselves Arab as anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christians keep a low profile in the middle east. A church is not allowed to be taller than any mosque in the area. Also, Arab Muslims are elite compared to Asian Muslims, who look down on African Muslims.

I've met plenty of Christian Arabs, but they tend to blend in well enough that people do not realize they are Christian.

And they have just as much of a right to call themselves Arab as anyone else.

To PP, don’t forget the Christians are not allowed to spread the Gospel among Muslims. Any Muslim that converts to Christianity is often executed as an apostate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think some people understand that Muslim countries still have pockets of Christians and sometimes up to million to a million and a half Christians.

Some of the Christians in Muslim countries come from very, very ancient sects.

The title of your post is misleading. Most Christians in the Middle East are not Arab but rather Assyrian, Copt, Armenian, Greek, Chaldean, Aramaic (Syriacs), and Phoenician (as many Lebanese Christians identify).
But you are right, they are very ancient communities. The hatred and persecution they have suffered and continue to suffer from the Arabs is wholly tragic. Pope Francis has often brought attention to this.

OP here. Christians in the Arab countries of the Middle East are Arabs! I know many Lebanese Christians who will tell me - in plain Arabic - they are not Arab, they are Pheonician. Several DNA studies have shown that both Lebanese Muslims and Christians are descendant from the Phoenicians but somehow Lebanese Christian’s want to distance themselves from the Arabs because of the common misconception than Arabs are mostly Muslim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think some people understand that Muslim countries still have pockets of Christians and sometimes up to million to a million and a half Christians.

Some of the Christians in Muslim countries come from very, very ancient sects.

The title of your post is misleading. Most Christians in the Middle East are not Arab but rather Assyrian, Copt, Armenian, Greek, Chaldean, Aramaic (Syriacs), and Phoenician (as many Lebanese Christians identify).
But you are right, they are very ancient communities. The hatred and persecution they have suffered and continue to suffer from the Arabs is wholly tragic. Pope Francis has often brought attention to this.

OP here. Christians in the Arab countries of the Middle East are Arabs! I know many Lebanese Christians who will tell me - in plain Arabic - they are not Arab, they are Pheonician. Several DNA studies have shown that both Lebanese Muslims and Christians are descendant from the Phoenicians but somehow Lebanese Christian’s want to distance themselves from the Arabs because of the common misconception than Arabs are mostly Muslim.

LOL.
I’ll take their word regarding what they are over yours. Go label someone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, if 90% of a region is one religion then yes, those outside the region may know less about the 10%. Before assuming Americans are uniquely ignorant, I’d ask the same question to people in China, Sweden, South Africa, Italy, and Poland. That should do it.

It’s just different because the Middle East - the Levantine countries specifically- have been the birthplace of Christianity. Even if 90% of the region is Muslim, it shouldn’t come to that much of a surprise that someone from that region is Christian

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think some people understand that Muslim countries still have pockets of Christians and sometimes up to million to a million and a half Christians.

Some of the Christians in Muslim countries come from very, very ancient sects.

The title of your post is misleading. Most Christians in the Middle East are not Arab but rather Assyrian, Copt, Armenian, Greek, Chaldean, Aramaic (Syriacs), and Phoenician (as many Lebanese Christians identify).
But you are right, they are very ancient communities. The hatred and persecution they have suffered and continue to suffer from the Arabs is wholly tragic. Pope Francis has often brought attention to this.

OP here. Christians in the Arab countries of the Middle East are Arabs! I know many Lebanese Christians who will tell me - in plain Arabic - they are not Arab, they are Pheonician. Several DNA studies have shown that both Lebanese Muslims and Christians are descendant from the Phoenicians but somehow Lebanese Christian’s want to distance themselves from the Arabs because of the common misconception than Arabs are mostly Muslim.

The largest grouping of Christians in the Middle East are the Assyrians and Syriacs. The governments of Lebanon, Syria Iraq, Iran, and Turkey specifically define them as non-Arab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI, Zionists/Israel need the people to think what's going on is "religious" so they can get dumb Americans to associate anyone Palestinian w/ screaming about "infidels." Meanwhile, the oldest churches in Christianity have been protected by Palestinian Muslims for over 1000yrs. Two Palestinian Muslim families for over 850 years have actually been the peacekeepers among the Christian factions for the Holy Church of the Sepulchre - they keep the keys for the Church. Look it up, it's actually a fascinating story. Palestinian Christians and Muslims are brethren who both live under occupation. They are brethren who serve in govt together.

Bob Simon actually did a 60 Minutes piece on the abuse faced by Palestinian Christians which Israel attempted to keep from being aired. Even he saw what israel had become...and this was over a decade ago.

Thanks for demonstrating how ignorance of world affairs actually works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think some people understand that Muslim countries still have pockets of Christians and sometimes up to million to a million and a half Christians.

Some of the Christians in Muslim countries come from very, very ancient sects.

The title of your post is misleading. Most Christians in the Middle East are not Arab but rather Assyrian, Copt, Armenian, Greek, Chaldean, Aramaic (Syriacs), and Phoenician (as many Lebanese Christians identify).
But you are right, they are very ancient communities. The hatred and persecution they have suffered and continue to suffer from the Arabs is wholly tragic. Pope Francis has often brought attention to this.

OP here. Christians in the Arab countries of the Middle East are Arabs! I know many Lebanese Christians who will tell me - in plain Arabic - they are not Arab, they are Pheonician. Several DNA studies have shown that both Lebanese Muslims and Christians are descendant from the Phoenicians but somehow Lebanese Christian’s want to distance themselves from the Arabs because of the common misconception than Arabs are mostly Muslim.

I’m confused. Are you saying that Lebanese Christians are wrong about how they self-identify? And why do you think they “somehow” want to distinguish themselves?

Anyway the actual answer to your question is that there are a very small number of Arabs in the US and an even smaller proportion of them are Christian. So most Americans will never meet a Christian Arab.

[Anonymous]

I'm white and nothing. I have no idea why people think I'm Christian. I have no idea what Christian is.
I even had to fill in my religion when I came here in 1996. I asked the people who were helping me what religion I was. They told me I may be Lutheran. People just make crap up.