Monday, September 16, 2013

Syrian Conflict and the Threat to Christians


I read this article about the conflict in Syria.  Specifically, this article talks about the threat to Christians posed by the Syrian rebels.  This article offers a shocking perspective that needs to be heard.  The situation in Syria is a perfect example of how often there are no “good guys” in war.  We forget the wars are made up of opposing forces, and within each force are thousands of real people, with real families and stories, and many different motivations, some evil and some noble.  Many people in the west believe that the U.S. should back these rebels, about whom little is known but much is feared.  On the other hand, the evil of the regime being rebelled against is relatively well known.  This government suppresses human rights and has used chemical weapons on its own civilians.  Should America back the government?  Most certainly not.  Should America support the rebels?  This is a much more complex question, one made up of many sub-questions.  Do the most privileged people in the world have the moral obligation to defend some of the most underprivileged?  Is an American life worth more than a foreign life?  Will intervention do more harm than good?  Are we even wanted?  Do we truly wish to back a rebel force this late in the game, a force known to be backed by Al-Qaeda and obviously leaning towards the extremist philosophy that has given America so much trouble?  I do not know the answers to all of these questions, but I do not think American military intervention is necessarily the proper course.  The situation is messy, the morality blurry, the goal unclear, and the risks high.  That being said, it’s hard to say that we as a nation have no moral duty to protect human rights wherever humans are.  I do not know the solution, but it would be nice to find a middle ground of aid without creating violence or taking sides.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/chaldean-catholic-leader-if-syrian-army-flees-aleppo-christians-will

1 comment:

  1. Yes, we often think that since Christianity is one of the world's most practiced religions, no Christians are persecuted. As you pointed out, this is simply not true in several areas of the world, including in Syria and even in Egypt and Iraq. You are right, the lines of war and who suffers are hard to decipher. But I think that we should just all agree that it makes everyone suffer, even the "enemies."

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