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Back to Mr Bush's "Crusade"
by Robert Thompson
Following the horrific events of 11th
September 2001, we all heard Mr George W. Bush declare his
"Crusade", which expression, to anyone with any connections
with the Middle East, can only mean an aggressive war by those
claiming loudly to be Christians against Islam.
Now Mr Bush's incredibly ill-chosen words
have had a disastrous effect on the indigenous Christians of Iraq, who
have been so severely attacked over this weekend because Mr Bush, the
arch-enemy of every Muslim, has claimed to be a Christian.
The genuine Christians who were celebrating vespers in four Churches in
Baghdad and one in Mossul were attacked just because they are
Christians.
We in the "West" know well that Mr
Bush seems to take no interest in Christians who have no vote in
the U.S.A., while doing all in his power to
pander to the prejudices of extremists with votes who also claim to act
as Christians.
Why does Mr Bush insist on being such a
puffed-up hypocrite? Why does he not apologise and
withdraw his claim to have declared war on Islam in the name of
Christianity?
It would bring some solace to our Christian
brethren, better late than never, if Mr Bush were to make a formal
apology to the world's Muslim communities for his terrifyingly unwise
and blunt declaration of hostility towards all followers of Islam.
This would remove the excuse so crudely given to certain extremists
within the Muslim majority in Iraq and elsewhere to persecute
Christians.
Being myself a committed practising
Christian having spent much of my life in close, very friendly and
respectful contact with many Jews and Muslim, I was horrified when Mr
Bush declared his "Crusade". I immediately foresaw
and foretold the danger which this could bring to my fellow Christians
in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.
As I have previously written, a former
Academic in the U.S.A. told me that Mr Bush probably did not know the
meaning of the word "Crusade" when he used it.
This makes it all the more urgent - after more than two and a half
years - for Mr Bush to apologise to all concerned and withdraw the
offensive declaration.
Perhaps all citizens of the U.S.A. of good
will, particularly the Christians among them, could lobby the
Republican Party to erase this danger so carelessly caused to the
Christians of the Middle East. If the Republicans fail to
act, I can only hope and pray that Mr Kerry and his team will do
what they can to reassure the world's Muslim faithful, and thereby the
Christian minority living among them, that they are not claiming to
fight any war in Iraq or elsewhere in their regions of the world on
behalf of Christianity against Islam.
It is obnoxious to note that the noisy
supposedly "Christian" lobbyists, so keen to criticise any
failing (however small) in the morals of those of whom they do not
approve, should over such a long period have failed to come to the
rescue of these helpless indigenous Christians in the Middle East.
It is arguable that they are racist and consider our brethren with
slightly darker skins to be unimportant.
We have at last a matter where Mr Bush can
either show some Christian humility and apologise, or prove beyond any
doubt whatsoever that he only claims to be a Christian when it suits him
for electoral purposes.
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