Mandaeans Threatened With Extinction by War
Monday February 12, 2007
After being all but ignored since the beginning of the Iraq war, the dwindling Mandaean sect of Iraq is finally recieving long overdue attention from the press. The Mandaeans are the last surviving continuously practicing Gnostic religion. Mandaeans revere John the Baptist as a prophet and the founder of their sect, yet regard Jesus as his lesser student (and sometimes, as one who misuses the teachings of John). This has made them unpopular with Muslim extremists, who have persecuted them for centuries.
Ironically, they were afforded protection by Saddam Hussein (under whose rule many members vanished under suspicious circumstance), but in a 'liberated' Iraq, they are facing extinction. In fewer than twenty years, their numbers have declined from some 60,000 to fewer than ten thousand scattered around the world- a scattering that prevents the closed faith from creating new members the only way they can- through marriage and childbirth.
Comments
I wish that there were more that we could do to help these people. My only suggestion is that you contact your senators and congressperson.
There have been plenty of these sects to come and go throughout the years. The knowledge is important and must be passed-on, if only for posterity. This can be done through logs and books. However, it is not necessary that such a sect exist at all, if it is not by its very nature ‘popular’ in every sense of the word. To those who would be “shocked” or “dismayed” by such a cold, emotionless attitude, think your reaction through. Don’t enter something opposing my view just to do so, just to be ‘hip’, just to ’seem to care’. If you truly cared, you’d convert to Mandaeanism.
Your comment IS cold. You said it yourself, and yet is very typical of the western view of anything that is alien to their narrow belief system. You cant convert to Mandaeanism, you are either born into it or become one through marriage, did you even bother to read the entire paragraph?
J, the Mandaeans are not ‘unpopular,’ they are threatened by larger population that wishes to eradicate them. It seems to me that by dismissing the faith this way, you’re advocating for some sort of religious darwinism?
The Mandaeans people in Iraq are calling you respectfully, in the name of humanity, history, religion, and culture, to take the leadership, and requesting to protect the Mandaeans, a race threatened in their homeland. and help to organize a Mandaeans’ immigration to a country of safe heaven, where they can keep their original identity, human dignity, and their religious and cultural heritage and support them in this crucial moment, since they are not linked to any strong political institution, or a world religious authority on which they can rely, they are seeking your help to protect the Mandaean religion and their Aramaic language from extinction by finding safe heaven to them in any suitable place .