Threat of preservation of Yazidis – missionary work and Christianization as a challenge of modernity

2019/06/56454-1561797477.jpg
Read: 3448     13:00     29 Июнь 2019    

Let's start with the fact that the fact that the Yazidis of Armenia and Georgia have managed to preserve their faith, their unique culture and will remain as a community in the years of the Soviet Union is a miracle. After all, they were cut off from their brothers in Iraq by the "iron curtain" for decades and simply could not even communicate with them, let alone maintain spiritual ties and make pilgrimages to their shrines.

The Soviet atheist state denied any religion, and Yazidism is no exception. But Yazidis kept their faith in families, in communities precisely because it was based on oral tradition and the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation. Besides, were closed from external influence, the priesthood of the Yazidis (otherwise known as the caste of sheikhs and Pirs). Even the fact that marriages among the priestly caste (sheikhs and peers) and laity (Madame) was banned - this played a role in the preservation of the faith.

But today the Yazidis are again faced with the urgent task of preserving their faith. Paradox: in the years of persecution and in the years of state atheism Yazidis managed to maintain their faith, but the challenges of the new time with the development of the information society, "opening of borders", increased migration (including labor), the destruction of the traditional way of life lead to the fact that more Yazidis, especially young people become Christians.

Moreover, the Yazidis are leaving not only for traditional Christian concessions in the South Caucasus (the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church), but also for Protestant Christian denominations, whose centres are located in the West, primarily in the United States (Jehovah's witnesses, Pentecostals, etc.). Yazidis for many of them become the object of purposeful missionary work.

It is clear that the financial resources, organizational structure and opportunities for missionary propaganda among these denominations are not comparable with the capabilities of the "counter-propaganda" of the Yazidi community.

The money allocated for missionary work from abroad is huge by the standards of the region, literature is distributed, groups are created in social networks, premises are bought and rented, missionaries are trained by experienced psychologists, etc.

It is also necessary to keep in mind the following feature of a number of Protestant concessions with centers in the US and EU countries – they pay more attention to "global strategic planning" and to convert as many people as possible in certain regions. Under this, certain resources are allocated for missionary work and propaganda.

It should be taken into account that in the region of the Middle East and South Caucasus, the mission of Protestants is faced with quite stable and numerous traditional concessions, which are sharply negative to attempts at proselytise from the outside. For example, the mission of Protestant denominations among Muslims is associated with certain difficulties and risks. "Obsessive missionaries" may be trite to beat up and then kill him.  A "report on the mission in the Region" is necessary.

As a result, Protestant missionaries in the Middle East and the Young Caucasus are looking for the most peaceful and non-conflict groups. Therefore, again the object of the mission are Yezidis as friendly, absolutely peaceful and non-conflict people. After all, the missionaries know that the Yazidis can not be afraid of the reaction "in the spirit of ISIS."

At the same time, attracting new converts to these denominations often follows the principle of the "pyramid". Ie neophytes adjust to the fact that he began to engage in missionary work in the traditional environment. The more new members from among the tribesmen he is in his new religious group will attract, the higher it will be its status. This is another fundamental difference between Protestant concessions and the Georgian Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches, where new converts are not required to be missionaries and attract new members.

In addition, Protestant concessions enjoy the fact that the Yazidis have very close friendships and family ties. And Yazidis here have become the easy target for proselytizing.

As a result – in some Yazidi villages of the Republic of Armenia, Christians (including Protestant denominations) sometimes include up to 60% of young people. It's almost a disaster. After all, it is clear that it becomes a problem for a young man or girl to create a full-fledged Yazidi family, if in fact the spouse is no longer Yazidi.

 "Reproduction" of Yazidis faithful to their faith stops. Before the people who carried their faith through the Millennium is the prospect of just disappear, dissolve.

The Christianization of the Yazidis becomes a challenge for the Yazidi community a clear answer to which is yet to be found. This is particularly devoted to the material of Yuri Dasni "Yazidis between Islam and Christianity"
"Until the end of the 20th century, among the Yazidis living in Christian countries, there were practically no phenomena of apostasy or were very rare. This is due to the fact that the Church is fundamentally opposed to the violent conversion of adherents of another religion, believing that a person should realize the truth of Christianity and come to Christ himself. Although this principle is not always observed by the Church and secular persons supporting the Church. There are cases when apostasy is associated with the missionary activity of Christian preachers, who use in their sermons methods of persuasion about the progressiveness of the Christian religion, promises to a person to improve his social status and other benefits. Another reason for apostasy is the personal fear of isolation or the feeling of being an outcast in Christian society, as well as possible reproaches or ridicule from colleagues, friends or neighbours. However, in contrast to Islam, apostasy in Christian countries is not associated with violence. To date, no facts of coercion or threats by Christians against Yazidis are known. On the contrary, apostasy comes from the Yazidis themselves. Being in Christian countries are tolerant and even in comfortable conditions, Yazidis have to feel for yourself the greatness of the culture of the Christian society and humanity of the Christian religion, and in the process of adaptation in the Christian society began to accept Christianity.

The main reason for the apostasy among the Yazidis was the desire for cultural adaptation to Christian society. Some Yazidis see Christianity as the highest expression of human culture clearly dominating Islamic culture, others see apostasy as the easiest way to achieve social equality and career advancement, others as a result of assimilation and, as a consequence, indifference to Yazidism. From a human point of view, it is important that this does not happen by force, but comes from the desire of the Yazidis themselves – they themselves go to Church and ask for baptism. Known cases when parents have their children baptized, while they themselves remain the Yazidis. Over the past 20 years, thousands of Yazidis in Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Europe have voluntarily converted to Christianity.

The exact number of Christians among the Kurds is unknown, such censuses have not been conducted, but it is assumed that there are tens of thousands of them, and their number is growing every year. It is noteworthy that the Yazidis do not adhere to one Christian trend, among them there are Orthodox, Pentecostals, Jehovah's witnesses and Catholics.

Along with the spread of apostasy, the growing intermarriage is another threat to the existence of the Yazidi religion. Previously, the Yazidi clergy categorically treated marriages with Gentiles, these marriages were also considered apostasy, and for this it was supposed to be an exception from the adherents of religion. With a sharp increase in the number of these marriages, the priests retreated, these people continue to remain Yazidis and the attitude of society towards them does not change. Another issue, children from mixed marriages – they are not considered Yazidis by religion. It is possible that these children spiritually feel their involvement in yazidism, their desire can be understood, but still, according to Yazidi canons, their path to religion is closed. Despite this, there are many cases where children from mixed marriages still call themselves Yazidis. 

In view of the fact that kinship and spiritual cohesion of the Yazidi community is strong, and the tradition of unique, almost all of the former Yazidis after baptism continue to consider myself world. They both wear a cross and observe Yazidi customs, go to Yazidi temples, in the morning to worship the light of God – the sun (Shams), i.e. basically retain their ties with yazidism and on occasion emphasize their Yazidi origin (for example, the famous singer Zara).

To the question: is apostasy a sin? Sheikhs and peers definitely answer – Yes. According to the Yazidi belief, every Yazidi must live righteously, not to commit sin.  The Covenant between God and Yazid is made directly "without intermediaries", including without sheikhs and feasts, so if Yazid went to apostasy, he will be responsible to the Lord. No one can punish the apostate, much less forgive him sin, except God himself, since the sacrament of forgiveness belongs exclusively to God and only he is subject to the fate of man. 

But it is difficult or almost impossible to return to yazidism. Yazidi law tolerates only "innocent" people (those who convert to another religion by force or adopt it for fear of their lives or their loved ones); such apostates are usually re-admitted to the community after expressing a desire. So, after returning from ISIS captivity, Yazidis forcibly converted to Islam were subjected to a special redemptive rite. As for the Yazidis who voluntarily adopted another religion, the ritual of their return in Yazidism is not provided, as well as there is no special procedure for their exclusion or punishment for apostasy.

Ezdin Safari





Tags: #yazidisinfo   #yazidi   #yezidi   #yezidiculture  



Threat of preservation of Yazidis – missionary work and Christianization as a challenge of modernity

2019/06/56454-1561797477.jpg
Read: 3449     13:00     29 Июнь 2019    

Let's start with the fact that the fact that the Yazidis of Armenia and Georgia have managed to preserve their faith, their unique culture and will remain as a community in the years of the Soviet Union is a miracle. After all, they were cut off from their brothers in Iraq by the "iron curtain" for decades and simply could not even communicate with them, let alone maintain spiritual ties and make pilgrimages to their shrines.

The Soviet atheist state denied any religion, and Yazidism is no exception. But Yazidis kept their faith in families, in communities precisely because it was based on oral tradition and the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation. Besides, were closed from external influence, the priesthood of the Yazidis (otherwise known as the caste of sheikhs and Pirs). Even the fact that marriages among the priestly caste (sheikhs and peers) and laity (Madame) was banned - this played a role in the preservation of the faith.

But today the Yazidis are again faced with the urgent task of preserving their faith. Paradox: in the years of persecution and in the years of state atheism Yazidis managed to maintain their faith, but the challenges of the new time with the development of the information society, "opening of borders", increased migration (including labor), the destruction of the traditional way of life lead to the fact that more Yazidis, especially young people become Christians.

Moreover, the Yazidis are leaving not only for traditional Christian concessions in the South Caucasus (the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church), but also for Protestant Christian denominations, whose centres are located in the West, primarily in the United States (Jehovah's witnesses, Pentecostals, etc.). Yazidis for many of them become the object of purposeful missionary work.

It is clear that the financial resources, organizational structure and opportunities for missionary propaganda among these denominations are not comparable with the capabilities of the "counter-propaganda" of the Yazidi community.

The money allocated for missionary work from abroad is huge by the standards of the region, literature is distributed, groups are created in social networks, premises are bought and rented, missionaries are trained by experienced psychologists, etc.

It is also necessary to keep in mind the following feature of a number of Protestant concessions with centers in the US and EU countries – they pay more attention to "global strategic planning" and to convert as many people as possible in certain regions. Under this, certain resources are allocated for missionary work and propaganda.

It should be taken into account that in the region of the Middle East and South Caucasus, the mission of Protestants is faced with quite stable and numerous traditional concessions, which are sharply negative to attempts at proselytise from the outside. For example, the mission of Protestant denominations among Muslims is associated with certain difficulties and risks. "Obsessive missionaries" may be trite to beat up and then kill him.  A "report on the mission in the Region" is necessary.

As a result, Protestant missionaries in the Middle East and the Young Caucasus are looking for the most peaceful and non-conflict groups. Therefore, again the object of the mission are Yezidis as friendly, absolutely peaceful and non-conflict people. After all, the missionaries know that the Yazidis can not be afraid of the reaction "in the spirit of ISIS."

At the same time, attracting new converts to these denominations often follows the principle of the "pyramid". Ie neophytes adjust to the fact that he began to engage in missionary work in the traditional environment. The more new members from among the tribesmen he is in his new religious group will attract, the higher it will be its status. This is another fundamental difference between Protestant concessions and the Georgian Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches, where new converts are not required to be missionaries and attract new members.

In addition, Protestant concessions enjoy the fact that the Yazidis have very close friendships and family ties. And Yazidis here have become the easy target for proselytizing.

As a result – in some Yazidi villages of the Republic of Armenia, Christians (including Protestant denominations) sometimes include up to 60% of young people. It's almost a disaster. After all, it is clear that it becomes a problem for a young man or girl to create a full-fledged Yazidi family, if in fact the spouse is no longer Yazidi.

 "Reproduction" of Yazidis faithful to their faith stops. Before the people who carried their faith through the Millennium is the prospect of just disappear, dissolve.

The Christianization of the Yazidis becomes a challenge for the Yazidi community a clear answer to which is yet to be found. This is particularly devoted to the material of Yuri Dasni "Yazidis between Islam and Christianity"
"Until the end of the 20th century, among the Yazidis living in Christian countries, there were practically no phenomena of apostasy or were very rare. This is due to the fact that the Church is fundamentally opposed to the violent conversion of adherents of another religion, believing that a person should realize the truth of Christianity and come to Christ himself. Although this principle is not always observed by the Church and secular persons supporting the Church. There are cases when apostasy is associated with the missionary activity of Christian preachers, who use in their sermons methods of persuasion about the progressiveness of the Christian religion, promises to a person to improve his social status and other benefits. Another reason for apostasy is the personal fear of isolation or the feeling of being an outcast in Christian society, as well as possible reproaches or ridicule from colleagues, friends or neighbours. However, in contrast to Islam, apostasy in Christian countries is not associated with violence. To date, no facts of coercion or threats by Christians against Yazidis are known. On the contrary, apostasy comes from the Yazidis themselves. Being in Christian countries are tolerant and even in comfortable conditions, Yazidis have to feel for yourself the greatness of the culture of the Christian society and humanity of the Christian religion, and in the process of adaptation in the Christian society began to accept Christianity.

The main reason for the apostasy among the Yazidis was the desire for cultural adaptation to Christian society. Some Yazidis see Christianity as the highest expression of human culture clearly dominating Islamic culture, others see apostasy as the easiest way to achieve social equality and career advancement, others as a result of assimilation and, as a consequence, indifference to Yazidism. From a human point of view, it is important that this does not happen by force, but comes from the desire of the Yazidis themselves – they themselves go to Church and ask for baptism. Known cases when parents have their children baptized, while they themselves remain the Yazidis. Over the past 20 years, thousands of Yazidis in Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Europe have voluntarily converted to Christianity.

The exact number of Christians among the Kurds is unknown, such censuses have not been conducted, but it is assumed that there are tens of thousands of them, and their number is growing every year. It is noteworthy that the Yazidis do not adhere to one Christian trend, among them there are Orthodox, Pentecostals, Jehovah's witnesses and Catholics.

Along with the spread of apostasy, the growing intermarriage is another threat to the existence of the Yazidi religion. Previously, the Yazidi clergy categorically treated marriages with Gentiles, these marriages were also considered apostasy, and for this it was supposed to be an exception from the adherents of religion. With a sharp increase in the number of these marriages, the priests retreated, these people continue to remain Yazidis and the attitude of society towards them does not change. Another issue, children from mixed marriages – they are not considered Yazidis by religion. It is possible that these children spiritually feel their involvement in yazidism, their desire can be understood, but still, according to Yazidi canons, their path to religion is closed. Despite this, there are many cases where children from mixed marriages still call themselves Yazidis. 

In view of the fact that kinship and spiritual cohesion of the Yazidi community is strong, and the tradition of unique, almost all of the former Yazidis after baptism continue to consider myself world. They both wear a cross and observe Yazidi customs, go to Yazidi temples, in the morning to worship the light of God – the sun (Shams), i.e. basically retain their ties with yazidism and on occasion emphasize their Yazidi origin (for example, the famous singer Zara).

To the question: is apostasy a sin? Sheikhs and peers definitely answer – Yes. According to the Yazidi belief, every Yazidi must live righteously, not to commit sin.  The Covenant between God and Yazid is made directly "without intermediaries", including without sheikhs and feasts, so if Yazid went to apostasy, he will be responsible to the Lord. No one can punish the apostate, much less forgive him sin, except God himself, since the sacrament of forgiveness belongs exclusively to God and only he is subject to the fate of man. 

But it is difficult or almost impossible to return to yazidism. Yazidi law tolerates only "innocent" people (those who convert to another religion by force or adopt it for fear of their lives or their loved ones); such apostates are usually re-admitted to the community after expressing a desire. So, after returning from ISIS captivity, Yazidis forcibly converted to Islam were subjected to a special redemptive rite. As for the Yazidis who voluntarily adopted another religion, the ritual of their return in Yazidism is not provided, as well as there is no special procedure for their exclusion or punishment for apostasy.

Ezdin Safari





Tags: #yazidisinfo   #yazidi   #yezidi   #yezidiculture