The Christians of Syria: Syria’s Future is in Their Hands

Washington — In assessing Syria’s future and the importance that the minorities play in defining not only Syria’s vision but the means by which we can achieve that vision, the Christians of Syria stand tall.

Today, Syria, under the rule of Assad, is the best place for Christians because Assad has made it a point to protect Syria’s Christians. But the Christians of Syria must realize that the Assad regime will not last forever and at one point must put their allegiance behind a fair and pluralistic system of democracy.

Christianity in Syria is very ancient. In fact, one of the earliest Christian communities ever to be established after the resurrection of Christ was in Damascus. During the Byzantine era, Damascus was the city of enlightenment for Christians and many Christians prospered through learning and openness. The fact remains that the Christians of Syria have been living on these lands long before Islam and Muslims came to be.

Under the Patriarch of Antioch, who escaped Turkey’s Antioch in the 1930’s to find refuge in Syria, the Christian community has prospered physically and theologically. Syrian Christians feel equal to the Muslims of Syria in the physical sense and that security is essential to their self-existence as a minority always haunted by zealous Muslims who either want to convert them to Islam against their will or, if less evil, will make their lives miserable enough to escape to Europe or the United States in search for refuge from harms way. Up to 2 million Christians have found their way out of the Middle East in the last 20 years alone due to unbearable socio-economic and religious conditions. In reality, that is an immeasurable loss for the people of the Middle East because Christians are our only bridge to knowledge, civilization, and hope for a better future.

However, the silence can only go on for so long. Many compelling reasons exist today for the Christians of Syria to support change. Like all other Syrians, the Christians suffer from the ills of Ba’athism and socialism and more importantly the ills of misguided Assad policies that are bringing economic and political disasters to Syria.

The fact that Assad supports Hezbollah or Hamas and that Assad is supporting terrorists in Iraq who may in fact be behind the killing of many Christian Iraqis, all this should be reason enough for the Christians of Syria to think about supporting a regime that obviously is only interested in its own survival. Furthermore, Assad’s policies are creating an environment that encourages extremism in Islam, which sooner or later may be the biggest threat for all Syrians.

It is important for the Syrian Christians to realize the magnitude of their influence to save Syria not only from Islamist extremism but also from injudicious policies of Assad who might be destroying Syria faster than one can imagine. This is your country and we need you to protect it by giving yourself a chance for a better political process to shape our future all together.

Reform Party of Syria

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