Christianity In The Middle East

Orientalism is defined as the simplistic view of the people and history of the Orient (generally, the region of the Middle East to East Asia), with no recognition of change over time of the diversity within its many cultures (243). In other words, it is a prescribed collective identity or stereotypical and underappreciated view for a wide range of cultures and nationalities that span across the region of the Middle East to East Asia. When these nationalities are lumped together as one (Arabs), little attention is given the fact that the Middle East is composed of 22 nations of North Africa which include Morocco, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Somalia and not all people living in these countries are not necessarily Arabs or Muslims (244). Unfortunately, in America and Europe the words “Arab” and “Muslim” often take on a similar meaning, and have a negative connotation ever since the 9/11 Terror attacks, however the two are extremely …show more content…
In fact, Arab is an ethnicity while Muslim, on the other hand, is a religion. Muslims are actually followers/believers of the Islamic faith. Notably, some Arabs may be Muslims however most Arab Americans and Arabs across the world are not Muslim. Most of the people in the U.S. that are Muslim, approximately 85%, are not from the Arab world. Interestingly, there are divisions amongst the expressions of Muslim faith just as there are in the Christian faith and consequently there are Muslim groups that only exist within the United States, the largest one being Islam among African Americans. Surprisingly, African Americans account for 90% of the people who convert to Islam in the U.S. and total roughly 5% of all African Americans in the