Armenian Genocide 2008
Mohammed Ali had a moment of ethnic honesty in 1976. Having just returned to the United States from Zaire, where he knocked out George Foreman in the now-canonized “Rumble in the Jungle,” Ali was asked for his impressions on Africa. After all, Ali’s forebears had lived in Africa until they were dragged out of their homes and homeland, and stuffed into slave ships headed for American plantations.
And yet the boxing champion of the world offered neither lament nor fury. His ancestral homeland hadn’t inspired him at all. “Thank God my granddaddy got on that boat,” Ali said.
On the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, should Armenians thank God?
I answer this question, and others, in an op-ed for the L.A. Times.
So … yes?
Seems to me that you can return to “western Armenia” as a tourist, and indeed you indicate that you have.
Is your main complaint that this ancestral land is still ruled by Turkey, or that Armenians no longer live there?
Do you think that the Armenian community should have a “right of return”? What prevents you from moving back there to Garin?
I am always vexed by the notion that nationalism requires residency. There is nothing about our creative expressions, religion, language, or music that requires residency. Those who invite us or any other member of a different nation to “return to our homeland” strike me as people with little idea of what “home” is.
While there is a genuine longing for reunion in all animals with memory, don’t we all sigh a bit of relief after a reunion when we return to our present life and engage in the Now? Spiritual connection with the land is a valid mental sensation, but it is far more the promise of connectivity to others that is driving us to gather in any place – historically supportive of our culture or not.
Armenia is a nation in our hearts. It is the role of the Diaspora to open our hearts to others, tell our stories, and yes one day walk in our historic lands. But not exclusively under the notion that our land defines us.
Garin wrote a beautifuul “Memorial Article for his great-grand-parents.”
In every soul there is a longing of somewhere more peaceful, more meaningful, and “Where there is no vision, the people perish (Proverbs 29:18a). May be we all are trying to recapture the lost bliss of the Garden of Eden, which, by the way, was located according to Bible description, within Armenian Highlands — two of the rivers mentioned springing up from Garden of Eden are Euphrates and Tigris.
I , like Garin, am of the first generation, born in Diaspora, of survivors of Armenian Genocide — my mother was 2 years old carried on the bask of her mother, and my father was 8 years old protected and guided by his 10 years old sister; I grew up not so much with fairy tales but with stories of survival and Bible stories, and firmly believed we too were God’s chosen people, since God had provided and protected my people just as he has done in the Bible and is still doing for the Jewish people.
It is important to keep the “Torch of Freedom” aflame and “Pass on the Torch” to next generations for spiritual support. Yes an earthly land is not essential for us Armenians, although we consider our Highlands sacred — God gave them to us but God also took them from us for a much greater reason, purpose and plans. How do I know this?
As an agnostic (ignoramus) scientist I was sweetly surprised to have a visit from my Good Shepherd LORD Jesus Christ, at the age of 50. And after 18 years of incessant questioning my LORD as to “Why the Armenian Genocide LORD? Were we so bad as the Indians of Americas that you would want us anihilate from off the face of the earth? You certainly have not anihilated us! Therefore you must have different and greater reasons and plans for us!” — He finally answered me.
This is not the place to go into the details, but I invite you to visit, read and study a free eCourse I am offering: “Armenian Genocide Biblical Insight: Role of Armenia, Turkey and Israel in God’s Prophetic Calendar for the ‘Time of Jacob’s Trouble’ (Jeremiah 30:7). hosted on my web site: http://www.cyberlinepublishers.com.
God bless Garin and you all.
Garin,
This was a very moving article, and extremely well written (as always.)