Faith offers solace to Armenian Americans

Kassakhian is a UCLA alumnus.

By Ardashes Kassakhian

Before our nation’s collective innocence was shattered on
Sept. 11, hundreds of Armenian American students at UCLA, along
with hundreds of thousands living in Southern California, were
preparing for a momentous event: the 1,700th anniversary of
Armenia’s adoption of Christianity as its official state
religion.

As our nation recovers from the horrific tragedies of a month
ago, individuals have turned to different sources to draw strength,
courage and guidance. Perhaps these individuals can look toward and
draw strength from the examples set by Armenia and its people.

For nearly two millennia, the Armenian people have turned to the
Bible for inspiration and spiritual guidance during good times and
bad. Their resilience and dedication to God has survived countless
invasions, continuous persecution, massacres and genocide.

The Armenian church categorizes itself as an Apostolic Orthodox
faith because the illuminated word of God was brought to the
Armenian people by Jesus’ two apostles: St. Bartholomew and
St. Thaddeus. St. Thaddeus’ remains are buried in an Armenian
monastery in present-day western Iran.

In 301 A.D., when Armenia adopted the Christian faith as its
official state religion, Armenians took an unprecedented leap of
faith. Nestled in the Caucasus Mountains and the Anatolian
Peninsula (in what is at times referred to as the cradle of
civilization), Armenians have prided themselves as being
descendants of Noah.

According to scripture, after the great flood, Noah’s Ark
came to rest upon Mt. Ararat, the highest point in historic
Armenia. But this blessed land for the Armenians would prove to be
a testing ground for their faith. Armenians were destined to be
conquered by more powerful and hostile neighbors as well as
invaders from the East.

Romans, Parthians, Byzantines, Mongols, Arabs and Turks all
attempted to impose their will upon the Armenian people. Yet the
Armenians never renounced their beliefs or their faith. Instead,
these invasions and massacres made the Armenian resolve
stronger.

In 1915, while most of historic Armenia lay under the rule of
the crumbling Ottoman Empire, Armenians, along with other Christian
minorities, were persecuted. They were singled out by the
government and became victims of the first genocide of the 20th
century.

More than 1.5 million innocent men, women and children were
martyred. Turkic nationalism and the religious fanaticism that took
hold of their overlords resulted in one of the greatest tragedies
of the 20th century, testing the faith of the Armenian people yet
again. Yet the Armenian nation survived a dispersal into a global
diaspora.

What little remained of the historic Armenian lands were
absolved into the Soviet Empire soon after, and for nearly 80
years, Armenian Christianity was attacked by the atheist ideals of
the Communist regimes. But once again, the church and the
people’s faith survived.

This year, Armenia celebrated it’s 10th anniversary of
independence from Soviet rule. Fittingly it’s also the
1,700th anniversary of its becoming a Christian state. Pope John
Paul II made a pilgrimage to Armenia to stand witness to this tiny
nation’s dedication to God through centuries of oppression.
He drew inspiration from their example of survival for the whole
world and all children of the Lord.

In these trying times, Armenian Americans are detached from
their historic homelands but are not detached from their Christian
faith. They continue to pray and worship and prosper spiritually,
knowing that the testing of one’s faith is a continuous
process.

Bearing witness to the attacks upon our nation and its
aftermath, I continue to pray for strength and guidance for the
victims of these horrors and our leaders during these troubled
times.

Let the Armenians’ tenacity to survive and the dedication
to their beliefs serve as a beacon of hope and a source of
inspiration for us as Americans and to the world as well. We can
and we will endure as a nation. We will rededicate ourselves to the
blessings of liberty and freedom and ensure that these ideals shall
not perish from this earth.