Not much. Though this Times review of Parisian exhibit seems to think so. The money quote is still…
On one news channel Jack Lang, the former culture minister who is the director-general of the Institut du Monde Arabe, called Christianity an “essential component of the Arab world,” and warned of an “emergency” for eastern Christians, who constituted 20 percent of the region a century ago, but make up no more than 4 percent now [my emphasis], according to the Pew Research Center. Their continuing migration, and persecution, threatens the diversity and the vibrancy of the Arab world itself.
And let’s start budging the idea of Muslim egalitarianism a bit by rethinking the word “tolerance.” “To tolerate” is actually a fairly unpleasant word when used in other contexts; it means to put up with, to be able to stand. Saying you tolerate an — I dunno — asshole brother-in-law or a friend’s semi-racist ideas, is not a description of a pleasant condition or emotion. And though “tolerated” is a good, very general, description of the position of non-Muslims in Muslim history — they were “put up with” — let’s hold Islam up to the brighter lights of words like “accepted” or “included” and see how well the myth of tolerance holds up.
Roger Anis’s “Blessed Marriage,” taken in Cairo, addresses contemporary Christians in the Middle East. Credit Roger Anis
–
Comment: nikobakos@gmail.com
–
Jadde: from Bosnia to Bengal 
Leave a Reply