The Great Sanctuary

Historically, Armenians were known for many things. It’s our 3000 year history, religion, culture, politics, musicians, architects, food and many other things. It’s amazing how far we have gone as a culture, and how vastly we have spread all over the world. Nonetheless we are not known as the most social people out there. In most cases it seems like we tend to keep it to ourselves, or our kind for that matter.

I wanted to explore that theory and perhaps shed some light on the matter. Why do we shelter ourselves from others? What keeps us away from a vast variety of people that are not Armenian? Why is it that we find avoidance normal, and surround ourselves with people alike? These questions and many similar to them may never be answered, nor solved; however we, as intelligent human beings, can acknowledge the problem and address it on a different level, if it is a problem.

I talked to a good friend of mine- who is also a historian- about the matter. Is it a myth that Armenians are keeping to themselves and avoid others or not? Knowing that the topic was very vague, I did not expect a straight answer. To my great surprise, the historian brought up numerous examples of such matter from over 2000 years ago. I was shocked. Could it be that we are only realizing this now? And if not, why didn’t we change our ways?

According to the historian, Armenians have always been considered individualistic people. Historically, Armenians stood strong as a nation during the Kings time in 1st century BC. During King Tigrans ruling, Armenia and its people were as strong as never before and for that matter never since. So what changed since then?
Without a great leader, people had to resort to themselves for survival. Their families were the main priority. Trust was a luxury they could not afford. Pressured by several more powerful nations to give up their land, Armenians fought for it for thousands of years. But is it really where it all began?

Unfortunately this question may not have an easy answer. Nevertheless, judging by what we see on daily basis, Armenians shelter themselves for more obvious reason that we think. Because this phenomenon has been explored here in the US, we can confidently say that location away from home plays a great role in it. We shelter ourselves from others by creating a safe haven consisting of our family and friends. Perhaps one day we can expend our network by looking for a friend not just of our own culture, but others as well; then and only then we will be once again known as the people that once were considered the strongest ones. Imagine the world without prejudice; perhaps that’s all we can resort to at this time… Or is it?