Muslims in Iraq Call for Christians to "Come Home"
Sunday, November 18, 2007 at 02:57PM Last week, Michael Yon posted a photo of Muslims and Christians together putting on the final touches of repair and raising a cross atop the steeple on St. John’s Catholic Church in Baghdad, one of those Churches damaged by terrorists. The image of Christians and Muslims working side by side respecting each others religions astonished many and shattered stereotypes we in the West have of Islamic intolerance.
On Thursday, both Multi-National Force-Iraq and Michael Yon featured articles and photos of the first Mass since the repair of the Church. Muslims attended Mass, showing solidarity with their Christian brothers, and were seated in the front, given a place of honor by Catholics. Some of Michael Yon's photos and commentary:
Today, Muslims mostly filled the front pews of St John’s. Muslims who want their Christian friends and neighbors to come home. The Christians who might see these photos likely will recognize their friends here. The Muslims in this neighborhood worry that other people will take the homes of their Christian neighbors, and that the Christians will never come back. And so they came to St John’s today in force, and they showed their faces, and they said, “Come back to Iraq. Come home.” They wanted the cameras to catch it. They wanted to spread the word: Come home. Muslims keep telling me to get it on the news. “Tell the Christians to come home to their country Iraq.”
Most Reverend Shlemon Warduni, Auxiliary Bishop of the St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Diocese for Chaldeans and Assyrians in Iraq officiated standing directly beneath the dome under the Chaldean cross. Speaking in both Arabic and English, Bishop Warduni thanked those American soldiers sitting in the pews for their sacrifices. Again and again, throughout the service, he thanked the Americans.
LTC Stephen Michael at St John’s. LTC Michael told me today that when al Qaeda came to Dora, they began harassing Christians first, charging them “rent.” It was the local Muslims, according to LTC Michael, who first came to him for help to protect the Christians in his area. That’s right. LTC Michael told me more than once that the Muslims reached out to him to protect the Christians from al Qaeda. Real Muslims here are quick to say that al Qaeda members are not true Muslims. From charging “rent,” al Qaeda’s harassment escalated to killing Christians, and also Muslims. Untold thousands of Christians and Muslims fled Baghdad in the wake of the darkness of civil war. Most of the Christians are gone now; having fled to Syria, Jordan or Northern Iraq.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen any fighting. I can’t remember my last shootout: it’s been months. The nightmare is ending. Al Qaeda is being crushed. The Sunni tribes are awakening all across Iraq and foreswearing violence for negotiation. Many of the Shia are ready to stop the fighting that undermines their ability to forge and manage a new government. This is a complex and still delicate denouement, and the war may not be over yet. But the Muslims are saying it’s time to come home. And the Christians are saying it’s time to come home. They are weary, and there is much work to be done.
Maybe some critics owe Laura Bush an apology for condemning her wearing of a khimār when she visited Saudi Arabia in October. You can see head coverings for women is a sign of respect and modesty, not oppression.
These Iraqis may be Christians and Muslims, but ethnically they are identical: they are Arabs. Literally, they are brothers and sisters.
PREVIOUS POSTS:
- Michael Yon on Christians and Muslims Working Together
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Reader Comments (6)
that is because many fled when Al Qaeda was operating in Iraq. That could be a sign things are calming down more and more.
"Maybe some critics owe Laura Bush an apology for condemning her wearing of a khimār when she visited Saudi Arabia in October. You can see head coverings for women is a sign of respect and modesty, not oppression. "
I'm not expecting apology from those folks any time soon.
Great news for the whole world in this little area of Doora. I was there in 2003 and these Christians are so precious. What most people do not know is that the Iraqi Church (and the chaldean Rite catholics in particular) are the only Church in existance that still speak Aramaic - the language of Jesus of Nazareth.
Please pray for the Church in Iraq.
Don't cry "I need help!" yet go home and turn on the television. The gods don't respect this.
There is no such things as a savior. This is yet another tactic they have employed as temptation, much like "earning" or distractions.
You have to save yourself.
The Man in the Moon clue:::A constant companion, the "Man in the Moon" clue needs to be viewed as a reminder, for this environment is one in which it is very easy to lose your way, either via temptation or distraction.
Look to the sky. Begin to associate the Moon with the clue they impart with this celestial feature. Use it as a reminder to pray, to be god-fearing, for this is a very antient clue and shows their great power.
We only see one side of the moon at all times, another clue from the gods:::There is a "dark side" we don't see.
The presence of California casinos is just like my cop example, like Italians and blacks, like so many other example indicitive of the god's methodology:::Use one disfavored to prey on another.
Just as the gods corrupted the Italians into the hunt with the Moorish invasion, so did they use the KKK as scapegoat, rednecks corrupted by 1906 to facilitate the act. It was the Italians who did the actual killings.
Expect redwhite&blue's offensives against Africans and descendants is a clue suggesting the non-Italian was signed on to Manifest Destiny positioning.
I suspect 1906's efforts were more involved, consistant with the morbid disfavor of Italians (see AIDS in Africa comments below), and is positioned responsible for the institutionalized abuses of blacks, why Africa was prevented from achieving economic self-sufficiency.
This is a war of good and evil, a war against god, for it is god who reincarnates people like me into black bodies.
And people like Italians, ironically!!!
The pinnicle of irony:::ED pharmeceuticals.
People injest this poison which will cost them their body/health TO DEFEAT FAVOR GRANTED BY GODS, indifference being their way of imparting wisdom to help you avoid this damaging behavior.
There is a BIG LIE here. Sigmund Freud proves it.
Wine proves it. Democracy proves it. Materialism/greed proves it.
The middle management tactic allows them to maintain this perception of an "absentee good (Christian) god", ensuring one of the goals of the United States remains useful::::NO FEAR!!!
The gods instruct Artificial Intelligence to employ evil as temptation. If people still believed in the Devil at least they would be on the lookout. Resign to be good.
Where does the Biblical number "666" ocurr within the context of The Beast, the San Francisco Bay Area???
The gods are sending a clue Yahoo is good with this Chinese censorship issue.
The American idea of freedom is a shock rocker anally masterbating with a crucifix. This is what the disfavored are free to view in this open society, and due to their disfavor a certain percentage will either be pushed into it or will comply, ensuring damnation. It's kind of like the KKK and Apartheid issue except this is for whites of the modern era::::Democracy ensures a false sense of security.
US popular culture is obsence. Intentionally. The gods are preying on the disfavored who remain, those foolish enough to participate.
The Chinese have favor and the gods allow the government to protect the citizens, but Chinese cut-off is fast approaching, for soon westernization will level this playing field as well.
This is yet another "BIG LIE" they sold to the disfavored, and it will ensure the homogination of Earth's cultures via westernization.
Don't cry, I believe you're from San Salvador and wish so much wasn't lost in translation, although I think I get the jist.
"Don't Cry" sounds like a wacko. Maybe if he got a decent translator, his piece might make sense, but otherwise he sounds like a ranting nut-case.