Meadmaker
Unregistered
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2004
- Messages
- 29,033
I had a disturbing conversation yesterday.
A recently hired coworker of mine is Chaldean. I had never heard of Chaldeans until I moved to Detroit, but there are a lot of them here. Chaldeans are an ethnic minority in Iraq. They are also found in Syria and Lebanon. Perhaps other places throughout the middle east. I don't really know. They speak a language fairly close to Hebrew or Aramaic. They are overwhelmingly Christians, members of the Chaldean Catholic Church.
They are closely related to Assyrians. My coworker described the difference between Assyrians and Chaldeans saying that the Assyrians had followed the Greek Orthodox path, while the Chaldeans were closer to the Roman Catholic path. Their languages were mutually comprehensible.
There is also a group of many thousand people called the Mandaeans, or I've seen it transliterated as Mendeyeen. This obscure group of people are actually spiritual descendants of John the Baptist, and are the closest representatives of the gnostics in our times.
None of these groups did well under Saddam. The reason there are so many Assyrians and Chaldeans in Detroit is that they came here fleeing persecution under Saddam. Now, though, things are even worse. Since the war, persecution has increased. Now, it seems, the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds you have heard so much about have launched a new wave of anti-minority violence. Angered by the words of the Pope, Iraqis have been attacking Chaldeans, Assyrians, and other Christians again. My coworker reported that his uncle, still in Iraq, was forced to flee Baghdad last week with his family. It seems that things are a little better in the north of Iraq, but he intends to move to Greece or America if he gets the chance.
We here so much about Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds that we forget that until recently, there were others in Iraq as well. The Jews have already been run out of Iraq, where there had been a significant Jewish presence since the time of Babylon. Literally a few dozen remain, according to a report I heard on the radio. My coworker predicts that in a few years, the Chaldeans, Assyrians, and Mandaeans will all be destoyed or exiled.
This story doesn't have much of a point. I won't say it's Bush's fault, or that only Bush can save them. It just seems like we know so little about these places that are so important to us. When hearing about what to do in Iraq, just remember that the people offering the "solutions" have probably never even heard of some of the people who are losing lives, homes, and ways of life.
A recently hired coworker of mine is Chaldean. I had never heard of Chaldeans until I moved to Detroit, but there are a lot of them here. Chaldeans are an ethnic minority in Iraq. They are also found in Syria and Lebanon. Perhaps other places throughout the middle east. I don't really know. They speak a language fairly close to Hebrew or Aramaic. They are overwhelmingly Christians, members of the Chaldean Catholic Church.
They are closely related to Assyrians. My coworker described the difference between Assyrians and Chaldeans saying that the Assyrians had followed the Greek Orthodox path, while the Chaldeans were closer to the Roman Catholic path. Their languages were mutually comprehensible.
There is also a group of many thousand people called the Mandaeans, or I've seen it transliterated as Mendeyeen. This obscure group of people are actually spiritual descendants of John the Baptist, and are the closest representatives of the gnostics in our times.
None of these groups did well under Saddam. The reason there are so many Assyrians and Chaldeans in Detroit is that they came here fleeing persecution under Saddam. Now, though, things are even worse. Since the war, persecution has increased. Now, it seems, the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds you have heard so much about have launched a new wave of anti-minority violence. Angered by the words of the Pope, Iraqis have been attacking Chaldeans, Assyrians, and other Christians again. My coworker reported that his uncle, still in Iraq, was forced to flee Baghdad last week with his family. It seems that things are a little better in the north of Iraq, but he intends to move to Greece or America if he gets the chance.
We here so much about Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds that we forget that until recently, there were others in Iraq as well. The Jews have already been run out of Iraq, where there had been a significant Jewish presence since the time of Babylon. Literally a few dozen remain, according to a report I heard on the radio. My coworker predicts that in a few years, the Chaldeans, Assyrians, and Mandaeans will all be destoyed or exiled.
This story doesn't have much of a point. I won't say it's Bush's fault, or that only Bush can save them. It just seems like we know so little about these places that are so important to us. When hearing about what to do in Iraq, just remember that the people offering the "solutions" have probably never even heard of some of the people who are losing lives, homes, and ways of life.
