Ask sacha anything

[sacha]

I have been here for only a very short amount of time and thus I feel a bit silly making this thread, but I have nothing to do right now and I figured 'why not, I will do one' because people have asked me many questions in the Chat-box I wish I could elaborate on more.

I do not want to go too personal but I do not mind a few questions in that realm, if I do not like it I will simply not answer it. It is fine to ask me about anything else, but I will mention about Syria my opinions are a bit non-mainstream for Syrians considering I am 1. A christian minority 2. From one of the most liberal areas of the country and 3. Have been through lots of school outside Syria (Lebanon, France and Italy for different periods of time), so keep this in mind :-)

But do not be afraid, I like to speak about things that are somewhat controversial, and history, science etc as well

[Incal]

Do christians and muslims get along in Syria?

[Kess]

Did you study (college level) in the US or Syria?

[Avicenna]

Do you value conservative tradition more or liberalism?

[Italicus]

What is your favorite country beside Syria?

[sacha]

Do christians and muslims get along in Syria?

The treatment of Christians in Eastern Syria is disgusting, but my sect and the ones that we are closest to are concretated in the West, so I do not have personal experience and I do not want to speak about things I do not know very much about. So I would say, yes, the average Muslim and Christian get along with each other, but the majority live apart from one another.

In my area, I would not say there is no issue but I have never personally had an issue. In the rural areas and of course the areas that were controlled/are controlled by extremists, there are a lot of problems. The thing with the majority of Christians and Muslims is that we are not 'integrated,' but we coexist; neighborhoods will be either heavily Christian or Muslim of a specific sect. If you are a Christian, you want to go to a Christian doctor; if you are Shiite, you want to go to Shiite doctor, et cetera.

Still, there will always be a gap in the opportunities/connections you can make, because people in the government will always favor their own sect. Christians occupy a lot of skilled worker positions like doctors and pharmacists because we have a lot of parental and societal pressure to succeed at school, and we also therefore have more opportunities to study abroad or immigrate especially to Europe. I would say this contributes to a bit of resentment between populations.

While there will always be extremists who hate one another, normal people will not turn their noses up at someone of a different religion/sect-- I lived in a Christian area but surronding it was some very Alawite areas, and I remember we would often have Muslim guests at our holiday celebrations and parties, especially Christmas. Generally Alawites are secular though so it is a bit of a different environment. I think many of the issues are between Sunnis who are very anti-government and Christians who will support the government because it protects us... these kind of disputes escalate and it creates a lot of tension.

[Victor]

The treatment of Christians in Eastern Syria is disgusting, but my sect and the ones that we are closest to are concretated in the West, so I do not have personal experience and I do not want to speak about things I do not know very much about. So I would say, yes, the average Muslim and Christian get along with each other, but the majority live apart from one another.

In my area, I would not say there is no issue but I have never personally had an issue. In the rural areas and of course the areas that were controlled/are controlled by extremists, there are a lot of problems. The thing with the majority of Christians and Muslims is that we are not 'integrated,' but we coexist; neighborhoods will be either heavily Christian or Muslim of a specific sect. If you are a Christian, you want to go to a Christian doctor; if you are Shiite, you want to go to Shiite doctor, et cetera.

Still, there will always be a gap in the opportunities/connections you can make, because people in the government will always favor their own sect. Christians occupy a lot of skilled worker positions like doctors and pharmacists because we have a lot of parental and societal pressure to succeed at school, and we also therefore have more opportunities to study abroad or immigrate especially to Europe. I would say this contributes to a bit of resentment between populations.

While there will always be extremists who hate one another, normal people will not turn their noses up at someone of a different religion/sect-- I lived in a Christian area but surronding it was some very Alawite areas, and I remember we would often have Muslim guests at our holiday celebrations and parties, especially Christmas. Generally Alawites are secular though so it is a bit of a different environment. I think many of the issues are between Sunnis who are very anti-government and Christians who will support the government because it protects us... these kind of disputes escalate and it creates a lot of tension.

Alawites are as much "Muslim", as Mormones are "Christian". None of real Muslims consider them to be so. They're esoteric sect, far away from Islamic teaching, but that's good.

[sacha]

Alawites are as much "Muslim", as Mormones are "Christian". None of real Muslims consider them to be so. They're esoteric sect, far away from Islamic teaching, but that's good.

Yes, that is why I mentioned them by name; they drink, party et cetera, not very Muslim. By 'Muslim' I meant Sunnis/Shias, but living in an Alawite area influences the culture of I suppose 'actual' Muslims to be a little more liberal at least in what I have noticed.

[Victor]

Yes, that is why I mentioned them by name; they drink, party et cetera, not very Muslim. By 'Muslim' I meant Sunnis/Shias, but living in an Alawite area influences the culture of I suppose 'actual' Muslims to be a little more liberal at least in what I have noticed.

Bashar Assad is one of them Just like huge part of Syrian elites.

[Incal]

Alawites are as much "Muslim", as Mormones are "Christian". None of real Muslims consider them to be so. They're esoteric sect, far away from Islamic teaching, but that's good.

Assad is Alawite if I'm not wrong.