For the last couple of days I've been pondering the following two articles. The first is Muslim Scholar Upholds Christian Presence in Middle East. The Muslim scholar was invited to a Vatican conference on the Middle East. He said at the conference that :
But the more interesting article was the linked one at the end of the first, introduced this way:
"The emigration of Christians is an impoverishment of the Arabic identity, of its culture and authenticity," said Sammak, who is an advisor to Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri. He added that maintaining the Christian presence in the Middle East was a "common Islamic duty as much as a common Christian duty."How often do we hear this sort of thing? Maybe some Muslims, just like some non-Christians see the value of Christianity among them, even though they do not wish to take that step themselves.
But the more interesting article was the linked one at the end of the first, introduced this way:
Those who have studied the roots of the violent conflicts in the Middle East have usually found that they stem not mainly from religious differences, but from the creation of terrorist organizations by secular agents sent to the Middle East from communist nations to exploit those historic differences to advance their own agenda of world domination.What's disturbing in this second article is the inference that Russia has taken up the old USSR's unfinished business. While everyone is looking at Islam, those that pull the strings continue their work, unnoticed.
For background information about how terrorists in the Middle East have been supported by communist states, see William F. Jasper’s exposé, “No State Sponsors, No Terror,” published here on August 18, 2009.