The nations in the Middle East have ancient Christian communities -- the kind fundamentalists often prefer to ignore -- the Chaldeans in Iraq, Maronite and Melkite Catholics and Greek Orthodox in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and on the West Bank, the Armenian Apostolic Church throughout the region and Coptic Christians in Egypt. These communities trace their faith to the apostles. Their liturgies, scriptures and traditions are the oldest, and many believe that they reflect the most authentic ethos of Christianity. When they hear that they must be "saved" or "born again" from the mouths of people whose version of Christianity was shaped by televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart, Jim and Tammy Bakker and Jerry Falwell, well, they get a little offended.
PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE, UM, BIBLES