Well, I’m not sure what you were expecting him to say, but I think the point he made about being a friend of Israel or being a friend of Palestine not getting in the way of honestly appraising the actions or attitudes of either side is a very, very good one.
I have not heard so many self-identifying Arab Christians talk much about the Qur’an or Shari’a. I know a few of almost every church where there are Arabs (Orthodox, Catholic…haven’t met any Protestants in person yet), and they are mostly concerned with the welfare of their families and communities, and the surest way to put that in jepoardy would be to say that the Qur’an and Islam are evil or what have you. Most of them want to be left in peace rather than fight with the majority unless they absolutely have to (as was the case in the Lebanese civil war, for instance). I don’t doubt that Abouna Chacour probably had his community in mind with every word he said in front of the microphone. You can say it is servile and disappointing, and maybe you’re right, It is also, rightly or wrongly, a fact of life that comes with being a minority. If you think this is sad, you should see some of the videos available of interviews and public statements from Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church…by no means is it a church of wimps, but the position they’re in (which is not all that unlike that of the Palestinian Christians, despite the Copts’ much larger numbers) is absolutely soul-crushing, because there is very little being done or that can concievably can be done in the future. They are outnumbered, and not by reasonable people, but by a bunch of crazy idiots like the Islamic terrorist groups that are the cancer of their part of the world.
I agree with your other point about how Christians everywhere should support each other. I sign the petitions, donate to some organizations (and spread them around as much as I can; see signature), but what else is there? Should I pick up a gun and kill a Muslim? I don’t want to do that. A million dead Muslims doesn’t change the dynamics of power in the terrorist-occupied Middle East. It just makes us as bad as the terrorists are to begin with. It is not the Christian way. As I wrote in another thread where you raised the same point (see
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=5895390#post5895390), it is definitely a fine line we walk all the time (and when I say “we”, I mean Christians all around the world, not pampered Westerners like me), but we should try to stay on the right side of it. Support Christian relief organizations, support the upkeep of churches and the rebuilding of communities, support the struggle for basic human rights that are denied…other than that, what can we do? I know it probably doesn’t mean much to you as an atheist, but the FIRST answer I would give if I were talking to a fellow Christian is to pray. Pray all the time. That’s the sum of all that we can do.
