Peacemaker Hind Kabawat continues to speak out about the conflict in Syria. In a post for CNN, Hind writes about Christians in Syria and the “deep ambivalence” many of them are feeling what is happening in the country. She writes:
“[Many Christians] believe the present regime — corrupt and repressive as it has been — is the only true guarantor of secularism in Syria and, with it, the acceptance of the Christians as equals to their Muslim neighbors. Further, many Christians firmly believe that what will replace the regime is a fundamentalist Muslim theocracy that will strip Christians and other minorities of their political and civil rights, including their right to practice their religion in peace.
I sincerely believe they are misguided in this belief, and one of the principal tasks of the Syrian revolution going forward is to convince the Christian community to forsake such fears in favor of building a new Syria, democratic and secular, with their Shia, Sunni, Alawite, Druze and Kurd brothers and sisters.”
Hind’s article includes examples of government violence against Christian activists, as well as moments of interfaith solidarity. Read the full text at CNN or on the blog marcgopin.com.