Saint Ananias church. Source: Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0]. Translated by Pascale Menassa
This article forms part of a special series focused on Oral Culture and Identity in Syria. It is the outcome of an ongoing partnership between SyriaUntold and openDemocracy’s North Africa West Asia in a bid to untangle the roots of sectarian, ethnic and other divides in Syria.
We hear expressions like “God help every man according to his religion,” “No matter how sweet, a Muslim cannot be trusted,” and “A Kurd is as stubborn as a mule” all the time. But, we often start any sentence about religion with “Thank God we live in a country without sectarianism and we do not know racism,” and “All are good people,” to end the religious discussion and to feel satisfied that we are not sectarian and we respect others, regardless of their belonging!
