The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

=> being a traitor

being a traitor
Posted by AssyrianMuslim (Guest) - Wednesday, January 16 2008, 22:19:18 (CET)
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I've been called all kinds of names in my life and none of them bother me in anyway, but this term "traitor" for some reason always gets to me. Another one of those called me a traitor to "Assyrians" and I am trying to make sense out of it. Traitor to what being "Assyrian"? Who said I am not Assyrian except for that is what such people automatically think. A traitor to Christianity, maybe but definetly not to being "Assyrian" if it means heritage, background or how one feels about something. We been over this before and it's worth doing it again. Most of the modern people who are familar with Assyrians do not see us as an actual ethnic group but rather a religious community. When those scholars or historians make such comments, the "champions of Assyria" get frustrated and label them as "conspirers" or "haters" of Assyrians for refusing to recognize them as ligit descendants of the ancients. Being ligit descendants is not the issue for me even though I still have difficulties with as to why these "chamipons" did not exist even 125 years ago but suddenly one is a "traitor" for even slightly disagreeing with their thinking. If leaving the Christian faith makes me or anyone a traitor to being "Assyrian", then it is natural to only recognize them as a religious community of what ever Middle Eastern country they reside in.

They can have one of the two but not both. They can't expect to keep everyone in their denomination, religion or even have the same ideas and expect it to just be fine and dandy. They are either a religious community which uses "Assyrian" as their religious name just as they claim of "Chaldean" or "Jacobite". If, on the other hand, they want the world to recognize them as direct descendants of the ancients, they have to be prepared to accept all who label them as descendants of the ancients. They don't have to agree with such, or even be friends but they shouldn't be shocked or try to deny others the right to a title or label; unless of course it is the British made label and it only applies to the Syriac speaking Christians. One can never be a traitor to an "Assyrian" nation because such thing doesen't even really exist except as a religious community.

I have no problem talking or even being friends of other faiths or beliefs, but who am I to say who is an Assyrian or who isn't? And if becoming Muslim makes me a traitor to being Assyrian, what about the Assyrians who chose Christianity and didn't keep anything alive from their ancient culture? The same thing could be said about them, but that wouldn't be fair. In the same case it would be absurd to not accept the fact that there will be people of other beliefs. Would they rather have someone remain part of their faith even if the person doesen't believe and even have a person remain within their faith no matter how bad one behaves, or have a person who is just as passionate and loves his/her heritage regardless of whether that person is Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Ashurist or whatever? I would think that it would be better to accept all and accept the contribution of all who want to be part of the "Assyrian Nation". Then they would at least not be laughed at and seem like a bunch of nazis.

It really makes no difference to me because I don't expect permission from them of what to call myself but they can't blame people who chose another belief and deny they, yet label them as traitors or using that as a way to prove that one loses his/her identity after conversion. It is they who reject those and basically kick them out of the community and then label them as sell outs. There aren't any Assyrians in my city that I know of except for a few familes of which most been here for over 20 years and I still love my heritage and the ancient Assyrians. In the end, God will not judge me for being Assyrian, Chinese or Israeli but based on what I did in this life. I don't see myself as a traitor to Assyrians for leaving the Christian faith regardless of what others may think. I don't think the ancients would care about that anyways. I just thought I bring this issue up agains since it is very very common among today's "Assyrians" to call people names for making the slightest change.



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