I recently had a telephone conversation with my brother and I had wanted to share what I had learnt from that conversation. However some other things caught my attention and I believe it is more imperative to talk about them.
The civil war in Syria has been raging on for a long time now. In fact, the conflict has been ongoing for the past three years. The United Nations has organised a conference known as Geneva 2 to which it has invited the President of Syria, Bashir Al-Assad, the different warring factions that are looking to replace him, the US and other powers. Iran, Al-Assad's main backers were initially invited but the invitation was withdrawn after pressure from the United State. While I do think dialogue is a good thing, I understand that one of the stated aims of the conference is to create a transitional government. I do not understand if this means that they want to replace Al-Assad or they want to put in place a process that will lead to elections and democracy. From the comments made by Al-Assad, he is not willing to accept any members of the opposition as ministers. The opposition have also said that the only thing that will satisfy them is Al-Assad stepping down. I don't know if they both mean it or it's just posturing on both sides to strengthen their negotiating positions.
The problem I have with the negotiations going on at the conference is the same problem I have had with the United Nations, the United States and other powers from the beginning. While all the talk is about finding a solution to the conflict, no one has said anything about the plight of the Syrian Christians being killed by the Islamist groups that are trying to replace Al-Assad. These groups, some of whom are Al-Quaeda linked have been killing Christians and no one has taken them to task about it. The United States and other seem more concerned about entrenching democracy at the expense of religious freedom. They seem in a hurry to negotiate with people who want to impose Shari'ah law on the whole country regardless of whether they are Muslims or not.
In September 2013 the Al-Quaeda linked jihadist group Al-Nusra Front invaded the Christian city of Ma'loula and occupied it till they were dislodged in October by the Syrian Army. While they were there they killed innocent people, raping women. According to reports, nuns who were kidnapped from the city are still missing today. I fear that the United Nations, the United States and other powers are guilty of trying to impose an unsustainable picture of their idea of what democracy is all about on the country without thinking about religious freedom or thinking far enough ahead about the consequences. We only need to look at Iraq, Egypt, Libya just to mention a few where the democratic ideal has failed.
Now is the time for us to remember our brothers and sisters over in Syria because we might not share the same ethnicity on earth, we share the same ethnicity in Christ. we need to let them know that they are not alone. We need to raise an awareness of what is happening to them and what would happen if Islamists were to end up ruling the country. We also need to pray for them. The world would be a sadder place if Christianity were allowed to be extinguished from Syria or the Middle East. We all have a duty toward them to see that this does not happen.
The civil war in Syria has been raging on for a long time now. In fact, the conflict has been ongoing for the past three years. The United Nations has organised a conference known as Geneva 2 to which it has invited the President of Syria, Bashir Al-Assad, the different warring factions that are looking to replace him, the US and other powers. Iran, Al-Assad's main backers were initially invited but the invitation was withdrawn after pressure from the United State. While I do think dialogue is a good thing, I understand that one of the stated aims of the conference is to create a transitional government. I do not understand if this means that they want to replace Al-Assad or they want to put in place a process that will lead to elections and democracy. From the comments made by Al-Assad, he is not willing to accept any members of the opposition as ministers. The opposition have also said that the only thing that will satisfy them is Al-Assad stepping down. I don't know if they both mean it or it's just posturing on both sides to strengthen their negotiating positions.
The problem I have with the negotiations going on at the conference is the same problem I have had with the United Nations, the United States and other powers from the beginning. While all the talk is about finding a solution to the conflict, no one has said anything about the plight of the Syrian Christians being killed by the Islamist groups that are trying to replace Al-Assad. These groups, some of whom are Al-Quaeda linked have been killing Christians and no one has taken them to task about it. The United States and other seem more concerned about entrenching democracy at the expense of religious freedom. They seem in a hurry to negotiate with people who want to impose Shari'ah law on the whole country regardless of whether they are Muslims or not.
In September 2013 the Al-Quaeda linked jihadist group Al-Nusra Front invaded the Christian city of Ma'loula and occupied it till they were dislodged in October by the Syrian Army. While they were there they killed innocent people, raping women. According to reports, nuns who were kidnapped from the city are still missing today. I fear that the United Nations, the United States and other powers are guilty of trying to impose an unsustainable picture of their idea of what democracy is all about on the country without thinking about religious freedom or thinking far enough ahead about the consequences. We only need to look at Iraq, Egypt, Libya just to mention a few where the democratic ideal has failed.
Now is the time for us to remember our brothers and sisters over in Syria because we might not share the same ethnicity on earth, we share the same ethnicity in Christ. we need to let them know that they are not alone. We need to raise an awareness of what is happening to them and what would happen if Islamists were to end up ruling the country. We also need to pray for them. The world would be a sadder place if Christianity were allowed to be extinguished from Syria or the Middle East. We all have a duty toward them to see that this does not happen.
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