Maha Bitar, Nabiha Hanna
Some are surprised by the current sectarian immersion of the Syrian people, considering sectarianism anew phenomenon, ignoring the history of sectarianism stretching back approximately 1,400 years.
Chronic sectarianism has continued to undermine the morals of this people ever since. Sectarianism has no connection to the recent wave of fundamentalism, as attempts at sectarian fundamentalist expansion and tyranny have not ceased for 1,400 years. This expansion has witnessed many periods of decline and many periods of expansion. Today, we are witnessing a period of expansion.
Sectarianism is inherent to every sect. There is no sect that is not sectarian. Religion is the source of sects, and thus the source of sectarianism. Sectarianism cannot be limited to a specific sect; everyone is sectarian, and sectarian manifestations vary from one sect to another, depending on the sect’s structure. Protestants exhibit fewer sectarian manifestations than Catholics, and Shiites exhibit fewer sectarian manifestations than Sunnis. The matter is not personal, but rather related to the structure of the faith. Protestants are more open-minded than Catholics and less restrictive of the individual. The same is true between Shiites and Sunnis. Sectarianism, a coercive practice imposed by religious affiliation, leads to factionalism, and factionalism leads to conflict and tension, then to fighting and annihilation. No sect can fight alone; rather, it requires a partner and comrade to share the struggle on the battlefield. It is difficult to say that Sunnis have historically been the sole victims of fighting. Everyone has been a partner in shameful sectarian fighting. No sect has historically adhered to any ethical code in its practice of sectarian fighting, and no sect has been deterred from using whatever means available to it to subjugate the other sect. These are not angels, but devils. Examples of this are numerous, from Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, etc. Anyone who truly wants to combat sectarianism must eliminate sectarian, even religious, affiliations from their human existence. Sectarianism will remain in Syria as long as Syrians rely on religion to define their affiliation. A Syrian is Syrian, not Christian, Alawite, Sunni, etc. The same applies to ethnic racism. A Syrian is Syrian, not Arab, Kurdish, or Assyrian. It will take decades, even hundreds of years, for us to become a society. We are now groups living side by side, not with each other, unfortunately. Facebook Twitter Email Share