N open question
I sit today and type this freely in my office in a Christian church. Later on, I shall return to a house where my neighbours know I am a Christian, and will not treat me any differently because of it. In the time it takes me to write and publish this post, the chances are that another Christian will perish in Mosul. Christians have been hounded from their homes and those who have been unable to flee are being forced to recant their faith or face the most drastic of consequences. The image on the right below shows the Arabic letter ‘N’ for ‘Nazarene’ daubed on the outside of a Christian house in the city, marking it out for eviction or destruction.
Oddly, I had heard nothing about the letter until I saw it in the glowing, sanitized form you see on the left. When I asked a friend why he had replaced his profile picture with it, he explained all about the unfolding story in Mosul. A significant number of other people have done the same – replacing their own photo with this symbol as a gesture of ‘solidarity’ with their Christian brothers and sisters in Iraq. Like the girls who once held up placards declaring “I am Malala” it is a means of shrinking the distance between ‘them’ and ‘us’ and declaring that we stand together. It has clearly worked to raise the profile of the story – since I find myself writing about it today. That said, it makes Twitter a confusing place since so many profile pictures look the same.
The letter N – here and there
To what extent does it actually work as a gesture of solidarity, I wonder? Will they ever know about it? Does it matter if they do? The ‘intrusion’ of this symbol into our lives here is an appropriate one in so many ways I am sure. That said – it can make for some banal juxtapositions, as seen in the Tweet below. The content of the tweet seems at odds with the symbol of suffering and courage which adorns it. Then again, is that the point?
These are genuinely open questions, and I would welcome your answers!
