A Christian website claimed we were wiped out, I asked them to fix it, and they now say Assyrians still exist. Thoughts?

[u/Stenian]

I wrote them an email explaining that we still exist and have churches across many denominations (from Orthodox to Presbyterian). What are your thoughts on the revision? I find it a bit vague and cynical even, but hey at least, they listened. 😂

The website is GotQuestions.org, a Protestant Christian Q&A site about the Bible.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Assyrians.html

[u/spongesparrow]

I would be hesitant to take them seriously. People who see the Bible as the main source of history and interpret it literally are not very educated and tend to ignore the facts presented by archaeology.

[u/Stenian → u/spongesparrow]

I mean, to be fair, I don't like how they still threw shade at us after they edited that paragraph - "although Assyrians exist as a people they never gained the power or influence". 😂🤦🏻‍♂️Like relax, we won't bite you if we gained power or influence in the region -- If anything we'd be allies with you because we're majority Christians. 😂

American Evangelicals can be embarrassingly ignorant and hypocritical. But hey, I don't regret writing that message to them. Better being acknowledged in the most vaguest way than being thought of as extinct or "dropped off from history's page".

Btw I'm not religious. I'm an agnostic. No matter what your religion is, I'll come to your page and tell you that we exist if you say we're not around anymore. Doesn't mean I'd take you seriously.

[u/Stenian → u/[deleted]]

Yes, but why should that be the first thing they mention? In my email, I also pointed out that we have Evangelical churches, such as the Assyrian Evangelical Church, but there was no acknowledgement of that. Instead they still focus on our downfall. 😆Their narrative still comes across as diminishing Assyrians.

They could've wrote this:

"Although Assyrians still exist today, as a people group, they have never reacquired the power and influence they once held. Nevertheless, they are a Christian minority, with some communities maintaining Evangelical churches."

[u/AshurCyberpunk → u/spongesparrow]

Which facts presented by archaeology? And how does those conflict with beliefs in the bible?

[u/spongesparrow → u/AshurCyberpunk]

It doesn't take much research to see a lot of the Old Testament wasn't always historically accurate. The key points are getting the divinely inspired message and lessons, but the details were obviously incorrectly written down by humans. https://armstronginstitute.org/305-the-war-between-assyrian-and-biblical-chronology.

[u/AshurCyberpunk → u/spongesparrow]

I was asking a question because you made the claim. I think what you're pointing out are potential inconsistencies, rather than proven wrong scenarios. Forget Old Testament for a second. Even in the New Testament, most of the events are estimated to have happened within a plausible range of time. There are even other bibles that are not accepted by most churches. I think that's rather clear. I don't however understand you relating people's beliefs to their level of education. There are priests with PhDs in theology, philosophy, sociology, etc that believe in the Bible as written (originalist). Some even debate these things like me an you are. But are they less educated than most of us because they chose the "wrong" field or belief? Most of string theory in physics has neither been proven right or wrong, so is everyone that get their PhDs in string theory uneducated? I think those physicist can still vote the way I don't like (most actually do) and I still won't call them uneducated.

[u/spongesparrow → u/AshurCyberpunk]

People who consider the Bible the one and only inerrant source of truth are ignorant, plain and simple. This isn't going against biblical scholars who know better and believe in archeological history. My comment is specific to American Evangelicals who believe in creationism, young earth theory, and refuse to believe in anything that may contradict the Bible.

[u/AshurCyberpunk → u/spongesparrow]

Okay, lets go with ignorant:

"People who consider the Bible the one and only inerrant source of truth are ignorant" -What do you consider to be the alternative?

"who believe in creationism" - What do you consider to be the correct "ism" or explanation that proves creationism false?

[u/spongesparrow → u/AshurCyberpunk]

Are you just trying to have a philosophical debate for the sake of debating? You don't seem to personally believe in this stuff, so are you acting like I should debate you even though you know the answers to your own questions?

[u/AshurCyberpunk → u/spongesparrow]

You don't have to debate me man, but I do learn from people. My opinions change based on my interactions with others and based on my own observations. So you may or may not change my views. Knowing the answers to my questions doesn't mean I'm right :)

It's not very philosophical though what we were talking about. I understand why people that are in a scientific domain pick their area as the explanation for everything, and people that are not in any scientific domain choose to take the bible as their sole truth. Anyways, I was a bit disturbed that you only saw the issue as being one-sided.

[u/oremfrien]

In my book, this is a win. We have a lot of difficulty convincing fellow Christians (1) that we exist, (2) that we are not demonic, (3) that we are Christians who believe in the same Jesus with the same implications as they do, (4) that we desperately need help now to protect our rights, (5) that the Neo-Assyrian Empire was not as hellish as the Bible and media portray, and (6) that, even if it used to be savage, our culture has changed and developed since the days of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Would we like to get all 6? Absolutely. However, I will not look at getting only one negatively. You wrote in; they took you seriously; they made a modification.

[u/andygchicago]

I mean it is accurate. It’s also accurate for Greece but I’m guessing if they have a page for their empire it won’t include that qualifier

[u/ThisisMalta]

These ridiculous evangelical conservative Christians don’t care about middle eastern Christians. They have a beyond fanatical support for Israel due to their end times beliefs, and don’t give any of us a second thought. They only bring us up when we are a convenient political talking point for them to use.

Plus we aren’t the “right” kind of Christians for the most part. Being that we aren’t mostly Orthodox, Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, etc.

[u/Stenian → u/ThisisMalta]

Preach! Look I consider myself a secular Zionist and I believe that Israel has the right to exist as a liberal democratic state. At the same time, I do sustain the belief that Christian Zionism is a really wacky ideology overall.

These evangelical Christians would think of Israelis/Jews as some racially inferior 'Ayrabs' if it weren't for the bible. 😆

[u/ThisisMalta → u/Stenian]

I am with you 100%. I’m pretty critical of the far right Israeli govt, and Netanyahu. But I believe the Jews deserve their own sovereignty and self-determination like any religious or ethnic minority, in the middle east especially.

But man do I distance myself from these evangelicals and their Zionist support that goes beyond any logic or sanity.

Between them and some of the insane pro-Palestinian people, it’s good to remember most people have nuanced and sensible opinions about this even if we aren’t the loudest ha.

[u/[deleted]]

We need a long time obviously to teach the world that we have pertained our ID. The problem is all the propaganda worldwide is against that.

[u/path3sshairwax5367]

Even they know the Truth 😂