More questions than answers …
2015 was a dangerous year, 2016 will be a decisive one. The choice is simple. Either we take action to come together and agree a new world order, or we will witness the gradual disintegration of the world as we know it.
Irrespective of the outcome, an era has come to an end.
Who would have thought that in today’s globalized and increasingly secularized world, the persecution of religious minorities is still a subject that influences geopolitics? More than ever before, the survival of Christian minorities in the Middle East is being threatened by the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
Is there a global conspiracy to chase the Christian minorities out of their ancestral homes, or is it that no one really cares?
Legitimate questions arise in questionable times. Are we watching Samuel Huntington’s famous theory of clash of the civilizations unfold? Will the 21st Century be religious or not? Is one group challenging the right to exist of another group? Are fear and hatred taking over peace and human compassion? Are we moving towards a partitioning of the world in zones of influence, along the spirit of the Cold War? More cynically are we moving towards a clash between a Judeo-Christian civilization on the one hand, and an Islamic civilization on the other?
The answer to all these questions is “maybe”.
The picture is not clear yet. All what we can say, is that the world tomorrow will be different than the one we have known so far.
What is also certain is that any action and any resulting reaction will have long-lasting effects on the future of humanity as a whole.
The media is littered with stories about Christian minorities from Syria, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine being chased away from their ancestral land by radical fundamentalists in the name of obscure and medieval causes. They are forced to leave their homes, their families and their friends, their culture and their heritage to seek refuge elsewhere.
While this tragedy is unfolding on one side of the Mediterranean Sea, we are watching in horror while the Western world is being attacked. Starting with the tragic events on 9/11 in New York and Washington D.C. followed by the horrific attacks in Madrid in 2004, London in 2005, Brussels and Ottawa in 2014, and more recently in Paris and San Bernardino in 2015.
How did we get here? What went wrong? And is there a captain in the ship?
We watch with amusement heads of states making speeches, meeting, issuing warnings, proposing to amend constitutions, threatening to strip us of all sorts of freedoms and liberties, in the name of security, public order, and other grandiose ideals.
At the same time, they keep a straight face, and their speeches are all politically correct.
Do tell us who is behind this war? Who is responsible for this terror? Who is financing it? And what are we doing to stop it?
In the name of what are Christians being persecuted in the land of Christ?
So many questions to which nobody wants to give a straight answer … in an era of communication and so-called transparency and accountability.
In the absence of an answer, and in a moment of despair one may be inclined to think like George W. Bush: “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”.
In the face of tragedy, there is no room for political correctness. It is time to act and to act courageously and decisively.
“Without courage all virtues lose their meaning” Winston Churchill.
Erik W. Chiniara
2015 was a dangerous year, 2016 will be a decisive one. The choice is simple. Either we take action to come together and agree a new world order, or we will witness the gradual disintegration of the world as we know it.
Irrespective of the outcome, an era has come to an end.
Who would have thought that in today’s globalized and increasingly secularized world, the persecution of religious minorities is still a subject that influences geopolitics? More than ever before, the survival of Christian minorities in the Middle East is being threatened by the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
Is there a global conspiracy to chase the Christian minorities out of their ancestral homes, or is it that no one really cares?
Legitimate questions arise in questionable times. Are we watching Samuel Huntington’s famous theory of clash of the civilizations unfold? Will the 21st Century be religious or not? Is one group challenging the right to exist of another group? Are fear and hatred taking over peace and human compassion? Are we moving towards a partitioning of the world in zones of influence, along the spirit of the Cold War? More cynically are we moving towards a clash between a Judeo-Christian civilization on the one hand, and an Islamic civilization on the other?
The answer to all these questions is “maybe”.
The picture is not clear yet. All what we can say, is that the world tomorrow will be different than the one we have known so far.
What is also certain is that any action and any resulting reaction will have long-lasting effects on the future of humanity as a whole.
The media is littered with stories about Christian minorities from Syria, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine being chased away from their ancestral land by radical fundamentalists in the name of obscure and medieval causes. They are forced to leave their homes, their families and their friends, their culture and their heritage to seek refuge elsewhere.
While this tragedy is unfolding on one side of the Mediterranean Sea, we are watching in horror while the Western world is being attacked. Starting with the tragic events on 9/11 in New York and Washington D.C. followed by the horrific attacks in Madrid in 2004, London in 2005, Brussels and Ottawa in 2014, and more recently in Paris and San Bernardino in 2015.
How did we get here? What went wrong? And is there a captain in the ship?
We watch with amusement heads of states making speeches, meeting, issuing warnings, proposing to amend constitutions, threatening to strip us of all sorts of freedoms and liberties, in the name of security, public order, and other grandiose ideals.
At the same time, they keep a straight face, and their speeches are all politically correct.
Do tell us who is behind this war? Who is responsible for this terror? Who is financing it? And what are we doing to stop it?
In the name of what are Christians being persecuted in the land of Christ?
So many questions to which nobody wants to give a straight answer … in an era of communication and so-called transparency and accountability.
In the absence of an answer, and in a moment of despair one may be inclined to think like George W. Bush: “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”.
In the face of tragedy, there is no room for political correctness. It is time to act and to act courageously and decisively.
“Without courage all virtues lose their meaning” Winston Churchill.
Erik W. Chiniara