. . . we don't want the Holy Land to become just a Christian theme park or a Christian world Disneyland.

The Christian Communities in the Holy Land are facing a crisis.  In 1999 the public television program Religion and Ethics, with Robert Abernathy, hosted a discussion about the decline of Christians in the Holy Land. The following is an excerpt from that discussion

Kim Lawton( a frequent commentator on issues of faith and spirituality, appearing on outlets including MSNBC, CNN and the BBC): "The Christian decline can be attributed to at least two factors: higher emigration rates and much lower birth rates . . .  The impact of both has been dramatic. In 1945, about 30,000 Christians lived in Jerusalem. Today, fewer than 10,000 Christians live there, less than 2 percent of the city's population. Jipna, where tradition says Mary and Joseph stopped to rest on their way to Bethlehem,was once an all-Christian village. Now it's a virtual ghost town.

Christianity has even diminished inBethlehem, where Jesus was born. For most of the centuries after the Nativity, Bethlehem was overwhelmingly Christian. Today, Christians make up only about a third of the local population."

Reverend Mitri Raheb (of the Christmas Lutheran Church, Bethlehem):"And we don't want the Holy Land to become just a Christian theme park or a Christian world Disneyland."

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And the sad thing is that much more energy is wasted trying to place the blame for this situation on one group or another. Some try to place the blame on Palestinian Muslims by alleging Muslim acts against Christians such as threats, roadblocks to permitting Christians buying land, arson attacks on Christian property, rapes, forced marriages and, in the case of at least one Muslim convert to Christianity, murder.

Others try to place the blame on Israelis by alleging discrimination in education, employment and public services that Israeli-Arabs face, as well as the spillover effects of Israeli policies with respect to Palestinians. 

Still others would add that the morale of Christians in the Holy Land being undermined by the long history of fractious - at times downright hostile - relationships between Christian denominations.

The fact is we don't have the time for these blame games.  We need to focus on actions that will help the Christian Communities in the Holy Land. And we need to do so NOW!  Before they disappear.

The Christian Communities in the Holy Land are a double minority: a minority in Israeli society and a minority in Muslim society. As we have learned, minorities that stand alone suffer in a myriad of ways in the face of greater and lesser denials of social justice. Alone, a minority is just a minority in any society, with all that implies in terms of the ability and resources available to rectify these injustices. 

But with the help and support of the larger Christian communities outside the Holy Land, that is with your individual help and support and that of people just like you, the Christian Communities in the Holy Land will be able to find and implement solutions, and they will be better able to weather the bad times until those solutions take effect. It will help them overcome the demoralizing and debilitating feelings of neglect and isolation.

What the Christian Communities in the Holy Land need and want is for the Christian Communities outside the Holy Land to be with them.  To engage with them spiritually and emotionally.  To care and to show it.


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