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Is it best for Christians to leave the Muslim world?

| Wednesday, 11 Nov. 2010 | 18:06 - 19:00 GMT

We're asking this question as there appear to a number of different groups of people who would answer this question with 'yes'.

1) Muslims who want Christians gone. 2) Muslims who regret the attacks, but think that for Christians to leave is the easiest way to difuse the tension. And 3) Christians who feel it is no longer safe for them to stay in the Muslim country where they live.

Do you agree with any of those points of view? Or should everything be done to ensure that Christians can continue to live safely in the Muslim world?

Ben's original post:

Half of all Christians in Iraq have fled the country since the invasion in 2003, after today’s attacks in Baghdad the remaining 450,000 must be living in fear for their lives.

Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Athanasios Dawood in Britain is urging Iraqi Christians to fee their homeland.

I say clearly and now — the Christian people should leave their beloved land of our ancestors and escape the premeditated ethnic cleansing. This is better than having them killed one by one.
We’ve spoken about the issue on the programme before but the situation is obviously deteriorating. Are Christians the most oppressed minority in the Middle East? Many church leaders inside Iraq are urging the two thousand year old community to stay but others are urging them to flee. What do you think? Should they leave?

Your comments

  1. Comment sent via Facebook

    Nyagah on Facebook - It is the American occupiers who should leave Iraq. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ has been paid to misinform us. Before the occupation Christians and Muslims lived peacefully.

  2. Comment sent via SMS

    Any society that persecutes and drives away it’s rich cultural minorities, is doomed to degeneration and civil strife within itself..... Israel, iran, afghanistan, iraq, pakistan,and many more. What a shame. Banks, amsterdam

  3. Comment sent via BLOG

    Lubna on the blog - I've said it before like a billion times, and here I am saying it now : ALL Iraqis are in grave danger regardless of their ethnic and religious backgrounds.

  4. Comment sent via BLOG

    Lincoln on the blog - It is not just discrimintions against other religions, its when the muslims resort to violence and killings, burning down of churches and so forth thaat it makes outside entities live an unbearable way of life, accordingly they either leave or continue to be harrased.

  5. Comment sent via YOURSAY

    Pancha Chandra on the blog - So much is being done by the international community to help Iraq to stand on its own feet. It is imperative that the Christians stay and help rebuild the country. Running away will only exacerbate the situation.

  6. Comment sent via BLOG

    Downtown 6 on the blog - when you always find a common ground on which you agree, then it's obvious that you both will have nothing to argue about

  7. Comment sent via YOURSAY

    Dorothy in NC emailed - Christians shouldn't have to move out of Muslim countries. With that logic, every Muslim in England would have to move back to the Middle East or Indonesia. Countries or cultures shouldn't be defined by their majority religion; that's becoming a problem here in the US with the far right trying to define us as a Christian country

  8. Comment sent via YOURSAY

    Michael in Liberia called to say - I'm a Muslim, i don't think Christians should leave. I believe in democracy. Don't understand why they can't live together. They should find a way.

  9. Comment sent via BLOG

    Afrane Akwasi on the blog - If the Christians leave then it would be an indictment on the unity we all seek to have in the world.

  10. Comment sent via SMS

    Iraqi christians are in a dilema, they are seen as colabrators to Saddam by either side. Mustapha Kawoje. Nigeria.

  11. Comment sent via SMS

    Is it then ok for mainly christian countries to drive out muslims?

  12. Comment sent via BLOG

    Linda on the blog - This sort of advice can not be generalised, one size does not fit all, and I think it rather simplistic to imply that it can.

  13. Comment sent via YOURSAY

    Rob emails - Iraqi people need to learn how live with each other, then they will be prosperous as a nation.

  14. Comment sent via BLOG

    Ibrahim on the blog - the locally-inflicted troubles in the Middle East are mainly due to corrupt leadership that is not accountable or responsible to its people. All the peoples living under these regimes are at risk, more so the minorities.

  15. Comment sent via host

    Hello, it''s Ben S here in London. Today we''re asking Is it best for Christians to leave the Muslim world? We''re on air now - you can listen here: - and let us know your thoughts by filling in the box.