I'm a believer. I confess myself to the Divine principles, to the three holy books of Monotheism, to the spirit of reformation in general and to humanism in special.
I'm not a role model of a believer. I'm not perfect. I'm striving. Every day, every second. Trying to adapt the Divine recommendations for a fulfilled life on earth - due to the temporary existence in this body.
So if I would wear a frontlet with the inscription 'The Lord Is My Shepherd' defending my family, my fellows, my ground, my home, all what is worth to defend and even to die for against a real ugly enemy most people might think for themselves watching that: Tough guy, fighting with God by his side. A few might see in me a religious weirdo.
But almost no one might see in me a potential extremist agitating under a spiritual umbrella. OK, waving a huge banner 'Death To All Who Won't Follow My Faith!' written on it the reactions from the outer sphere would become increasingly sceptical up to alarming, yes. But I'm not waving a banner like that.
The freedom fighters and FSA soldiers are besides their destination as defenders of the Syrian people human beings like you and me, they believe in the words of the Prophet Mohammed - Peace Be Upon Him - worshipping God also by praising His name. The name of Allah appears in the Arabic language very often, in connection with adresses of welcome, greetings, congratulations as well as in situations the people are searching inner protection, to strengthen themselves and to overcome their fear for example in perilous moments.
A closer look to the YouTube archives of the Syrian revolution offers the proof: regime guards are firing in the crowd and the fleeing civilians are shouting 'God Is Great'. A grenade explodes in the neighborhood recorded by a young Syrian commenting the impact with the words 'God Is Great'.
The mentioned examples are far from being a sectarian threat.
And the freedom fighters and FSA soldiers carrying a flag 'There's No God But God' with them are also far from being that.
This inscription is the first half of the Islamic confession of faith. And not a slogan some radical reactionary hardliners created somewhere in the Afghan mountains.
The Hezbollah has an emblem. The Al Qaeda has an emblem. Even the most wanted splinter groups of the global organized crime do care about their branding and PR. But a simple banner with those words even the Christians and the Jews couldn't counterargue is in no way the evidence for an existence of religiously motivated fanatics.
Just take a walk through a town in the middle of Europe, choose a Catholic dominated one, and register how many people are wearing a cross on a necklace. Are they radicals? Are they a threat? They're not. They're only showing to which faith they confess.
Sadly the global perception witnessing Muslims expressing their faith is still connecting a relation to 9/11 and other terrorist attacks abusing the Islam as compurgation. The threat an unethical minority is spreading makes many of us literally blind for distinguishing normal expressions of faith from hate-motivated slogans.
Every religion can be abused as compurgation. For those arguing that the Christians are merely seen as kind of Canadians among the Monotheists (due to their grace of charity): remember Breivik? Yes, this Norwegian manifestation of an ego-shooter referred in his bewildered appearing notations to the Christian-occidental faith.
The Syrians have actually no one but themselves and their faith. The whole world is stuck in geopolitical proxy wars unable to help the people on the ground effectively. By generalizing the Syrian people as potential religiously motivated terrorists the global community hits them twice in the back: one time for neglecting their justified freedom of practicing their faith and the other time for declaring them as backward in relation to its' own standards - a dangerous stance by the way.
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