Which form of secularism applies to Syria of tomorrow:

The debate on the Syrian street and over the social networking websites, regarding the future constitutional form and regarding the new constitution, revolves around the Syrian secularism. The issue is not limited to those who supported or others who opposed, however it is more important to find an awareness for the next social convention that would unite the Syrian people. 

The blurry concept of secularism

Today, we are suffering from a clear absence of intellectual elites in public life, either because of their deliberate exclusion or because of their preference to be isolated in their unreachable towers. At the same time, we must admit that researching the issue concerning secularism is not that simple. The reason is because of the considerable level of ignorance about this term. How can we convince everyone that secularism is not infidelity, and that the practice of religious rites is not opposed to secularism? 

It is also remarkable that many consider religious factions are considered as an element of democracy. This is done with some reservations regarding the secularism topic, with many who quite often fought against secularism, either out of ignorance or of intent.

Confusion between secularism and religion

Many people do not know that secularism as an ideology, accepts the functional specialization of religion. In this case, misunderstanding disappears, because this is a moderate model that suits the nature of our society. When religious authority is separated from the executive branch, this translates as a protection of both sides. It particularly protects the political power from the clerical control.

The state is based on three pillars: the land, the people and the political system. With regard to the Syrian people, it is mostly secular by virtue of sectarian diversity, but there are those who try to prove the opposite to pass hidden agendas. They ask questions such as, how is it possible that we are a secular nation, while all this extremism and terrorism had emerged from our society?! This is a legitimate question and I will address it, with further detail in a future article.

Secularism does not prevent us from showing religious symbols. This misconception, unfortunately, involves a confusion between atheism and secularism. Even in France, when the Act on the Prevention of Religious Attitudes was adopted, it was merely a circumvention of secularism, for security reasons.

Secularism of Syria

Secularism, as a concept on which the political system in Syria was established, did not get developed. We also did not benefit from its provisions because the political system failed to generalize the concepts of secularism. Are we in need to develop our political system to explicitly adopt secularism, along the lines of the French Constitution? This is something that most Syrians wish to see that their country is protected from extremism, however, we must consider that constitutions alone are not immune. In Turkey for example, the Justice and Development Party, led by Erdogan, destroyed Ataturk secularism!

A clear and explicit adoption of the constitution, of the state’s secularism, include several negative aspects.  In tomorrow’s Syria, where its constitution may stipulate its secularism, there are no religious institutions, for example, that do not pay their utilities. Religious issues are dealt with by independent entities.

Canned recipes about secularism may lead to an opposite understanding of what the original concept means, if it lacks awareness. The solution is to apply a form of secularism in Syria, which corresponds with our societal nature, and does not exclude anyone. This is because the legislative institutions in Syria proved its inability to keep up with the will of the community. The desired secularism must be subjected to conventional laws, to arrive to a properly secular Syria.