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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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.[/quote]
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.[/quote]

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.

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

I am Coptic and I tell people my parents are Egyptian.  People barely understand where Egypt is, much less what Coptic means and  I’m not getting into sectarian divides with acquaintances and strangers.

You have to remember that the Lebanese went through a very traumatic sectarian war recently and many people from these other groups faced really heinous treatment from the Muslim majority and thus refuse to identify as Arabs.  A lot of Coptic people refuse to identify as Arab as well but I find it somewhat silly.  My parents have more in common with a Lebanese Muslim than an American baptist.[/quote]
In the recent past Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan all have brutally oppressed their Christian minorities.[/quote]

Please give examples.  This is the second time you have alleged this and you cited it as the reason for Christian emigration.  If Christians were so oppressed in that area, why did so many Armenians emigrate to the Middle East when facing persecution in Turkey?

FYI, neither Christian nor Muslim Arabs were big fans of the Ottomans; Christians were not singled out by Ottoman authorities.

In fact, Christian emigration from the Levant began in the 19th century for economic reasons.  You can see this especially in the last names of prominent people from South America.

But you see it here too.  For example the Sununus of New Hampshire, whom I am sure our "I've never met a Christian Arab" poster does not recognize as Arab.[/quote]

Are you claiming that Middle Eastern Christians are not persecuted? This is easily disproven by anyone who can use google. [/quote]

There have been incidents in Egypt and of course ISIS was crazy.  But popular appeal of Islamic nationalism stuff came in reaction to the founding of Israel and loss of Arab territory (in which many Christians lived), particularly after 1967. Please cite evidence of Christian persecution before this, true persecution, not things like Muslims not being allowed to convert, which Arab Christians don't really care about.

DH is an Arab Christian, who lived in his Middle Eastern homeland the majority of his life.  He and his family have never felt persecuted, nor have they ever referred to any historical instances of Christian persecution. [/quote]

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