Magnetonium wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if some rebels will do indeed target Christians in Syria. And it has nothing to do with American "support" of the rebels (the "support" is theoretical at best). In reality, it has to do with animosity towards Christians in ALL Muslim-dominated lands (no exception) where violence plays a role. And no matter who wins the civil war in Syria, then you can bet your ass there will be repercussions and retributions by the winning side. But the same has happened in EVERY conflict which was based on religious and/or ethnic grounds, so this one is not particularly special so let's not blame America for it.
Magnet, the regime in Syria has never targeted Christians for their faith- to the contrary, being a minority themselves the Alawis rather respect other religious minorities. After all, they are sometimes accused of being crypto-christians, but also of worshipping the stars, and even to have retained ancient hellenic cults etc... I don't know on what all this is based, but the bottom line is that for the mainstream muslims they are
heretics.
Being a heretic is something much more offensive, in their view, than being an infidel Christian or Jew.
This is why historically Alawis had the worse and most dicriminated status in pre-colonial Syria, and explain their current attitudes given that most Sunnis haven't changed their mindsets.
In fact, when you study the history of Islam, you see that the conflicts between the different branches within Islam were by far the prime source of recurrent violence and perpetual wars in the region. Pogroms against Christians, Jews, even the Crusades all that pale in comparison.
This historical situation is reflected in Syria right now; so far most of the casualties are to be found among alawis, shias and the sunni populations- many Christians have been targeted and a lot lost their lives, but you get the feeling that they aren't the priority now. Though with Al Qaeda on board, this should only be a question of time if it is left unchecked.
On a side note, I must recall that the video of so called Christian rebels is a fake that never resurfaced, but admittedly quite a funny one. I mean the cross on the laptop looks badass