After spending a week in the Middle East (MENA for Middle East and North Africa) here are a few of the things I’ve learned, confirmed, or reaffirmed:
*The MENA social and political turmoil the West calls “revolutions” can more accurately be described as “evolutions.“
*"Arab Spring” is a misnomer in that the social unrest in various countries in the region are not just Arab and not characterized by much that fits a metaphor like spring.
*Some protestors may want religious rule, but most want personal freedoms, economic opportunity, justice, and liberation from corrupt regimes.
*Much of MENA government-aided or generated turmoil the West assigns to religious influence is actually rooted in the classic triumvirate of power, politics, and greed.
*“Regional culture” exists but not generally to the level people in the West believe—the political and social culture of each MENA nation is different from other nations.
*The dominant religions of MENA are not impregnable socially or spiritually, meaning followers may turn and are turning to other faiths.
*The Christian Church exists in MENA as a minority religion, but while suppressed, oppressed, and in some countries persecuted, the Church is also resilient, strong, and unbowed.
*People are becoming followers of Christ in every MENA country and the Church is growing faster in Iran and Algeria than most other countries of the world.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2012
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