Archive for November 2006

Christian-Kurd is a Myth and Media Constructed Term

If search engines existed some 50 years ago, and you were to google the term ‘Christian Kurd’, you would most likely get an error message from the engine, asking you to refine your search or try again. What if you try that search today? Go ahead and google it now. You will surely get some results back,  regardless of how accurate these links are.

So what happened? Why, all of a sudden, do we have a new group of people amongst us, so-called ‘Christian Kurds.’ Sure, there are always Kurdish families converting to Christianity and the minority who had been Christian from before, and this is a normal thing for any nation, not just the Kurdish.  But we need not be fooled. This new group name is a hypothetical one.   It is a myth.   It is basically a new naming, created to dissolve the Assyrian name. Some people, sadly enough, are falling for it.  I am here to wake them up.  In other words, and although Christian Kurds may exist, and we are happy they do, when it comes to this naming, it is more of a political ploy against the historical and geniune ‘Assyrian’ name!

If you were to do an official census, or population sample of the Assyrian nation, two hypothetical group categories would surely not exist: ‘Christian Kurds’  and ‘Muslim Assyrians’, excluding any odd outliers here and there. Why would we not find such groups in our Assyrian population?. Two reasons.   First, virtually every Assyrian is a Christian; although not every Christian is Assyrian of course.   Second, virtually all Kurds are of the Muslim faith, and those who adhere to the Christian faith are in small numbers (although their numbers could be on the rise.)   Based on these two assertions, what can we conclude? We can conclude that virtually every Assyrian is a Christian, whether by faith or by birth, and anything contrary to this is not to be taken seriously.  In other words, if you are Assyrian, how can you be a ‘Christian Kurd’ It just defies simple logic. And we say this not to confuse the two groups, but actually to seprate them. Just in case someone tries to use the group name ‘Christian Kurd’ to refer to the Assyrian people.   Even if an Assyrian was a Muslim before and has converted to Christianity, he would be called ‘Christian Assyrian’ and not ‘Kurdish Assyrian’!

Why would we worry about this?  Because we need to.   It is a serious issue.   If you follow the news and latest developments, you will realize that there are many attempts to erase our identity and slowly but steadily dissolve our name within other names. Calling us ‘Christian Kurds’ is one of them.  This issue is not just serious, it also just as funny.  It may be easy to try and alter events in history, but how can anyone dare to alter an entire history!  Well, it seems like some people and groups are trying to do it, but failure is their fate.

Unfortunately, these attempts to eradicate our identity and existence, will not totally fail. They will see some limited success.  After all, our nation, much like every other nation, has its own ignorant and traitors.  Traitors who won’t hesitate to willingly be converged with another group.  They will be fooled by more power, money, name etc. They will be fooled using Christian and religious reasoning.  They will be fooled into thinking that being ‘Assyrian’ is no longer viable or worth it in this world.  They will be deceived into thinking that being ‘Christian’ is all that matters.  Funny how every other nation can have a nationality and a religion, but not the Assyrian nation! And if these so-called ‘Assyrians’ insist on having a name beside their religion, they are more than welcome to adopt the Kurdish name. Ha Ha Funny!

In other words, it is OK to be a ‘Christian Kurd’ but not OK to be ‘Assyrian Christian.’   Is this the most absurd logic you and I have seen, or what? You see, once you deconstruct it, it will be easy to understand, and laugh at too. The good news is, this is not the first time that someone has tried to dissolve us.  And I guarantee you, it will not be the last. Saddam did it, with his attempts to Arabize our name.  Failure, of course, was his fate.   And so will be the fate of anyone else who tries to alter our name and history.  But we still have to reach to some ignorant Assyrians, who will be fooled.  They are a minority, nevertheless, we still have to reach to them and save them.

I, and many others would have no problem living alongside the Kurds in Northern Iraq.  However, the problem we have, is when the Kurds try to impose their will on us.   As well as when they try to use money to lure our people.  What else is left? A ‘Christian Kurdish’ list in the next Iraqi election headed by Mr. Sargis Aghajan?   Well, given how the current events are going, that could very well become a reality.  That is, if such a list ever becomes a reality, and an Assyrian was to vote for it, they would be voluntarily converting from Assyrianism to Kurdism. But don’t be fooled. If such a list was to become a reality, it may not even have the Kurdish name on it.  It may simply be under a Christian name.  This will help unite Christians under one name, and in turn divide and weaken the Assyrian name.

Again, the good news is, we are well ahead of the game, although not all Assyrians are. The term ‘Christian-Kurd’ is a media-constructed one, and is nothing more than wishful thinking on their part.   As a matter of fact, it is also the result of ignorance and laziness on their part. Even big network stations like CNN, Fox etc. do not bother to do their homework, to find out who this new group of ‘Christian Kurds’ really are!  Bill O’Riley and Larry King need to interview an Assyrian or two, for a better PR score for our name and nation. Until then, it is in our hands to let the world know that there is no such thing as ‘Christian Kurd’  The real term is ‘Assyrian’, with no need to even put the word ‘Christian’ alongside it, since its already implied.

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