Act now to save the Middle East’s Christians

It is hard to believe that at one time nearly the whole of the Middle East and much of north Africa were predominantly Christian. Think of the great Christian cities such as Alexandria, Damascus, Edessa, Constantinople and Carthage. Monasticism, the great civilising force, in both east and west, took its rise to the dusty end of the Mediterranean and some of the church’s greatest theologians came from there. What changed the picture? In a word, Islam. The arrival of the newly Muslim Arabs disrupted the flow of history in the Middle East and beyond. The Christian cities capitulated one by one. Some communities were destroyed in the conflict, others were dispersed. For those that remained, a system of discrimination was set in place: they had to pay special taxes, wear distinctive dress, they could not build new churches. In due course, they were excluded from holding office. From time to time there were riots and massacres. These, as well as the process of attrition brought about by living under the dhimma (the system by which certain non-Muslims were allowed to live in the Islamic domains), progressively reduced the strength of the Christian communities.

An Egyptian holds a cross and the Koran following religious clashes that left at least thirteen people dead in Cairo, March 2011 Photo: AFP/Getty

In spite of the strictures, Christians were able to maintain their relative strength, in some cases for centuries. In Egypt, the Coptic population did not fall below 50 per cent until after the pogroms of the 14th century. Christians were able to make notable contributions to science, philosophy, government, architecture and the arts. But all the while their mentality and that of their rulers were formed by the unequal relationship.