LESSONS FROM SYRIA’S CHAOS 25 Dec 2014

When we look at Syria in its 4th yr. of internal violence, one sees the full spectrum of war crimes: chemical weapons, targeting non-combatants, extermination of civilian groups, torture & external foreign assistance to keep the violence going. Pope Francis in his 2014 Christmas address denounced the religious violence in Syria. In general, the Word of God at Romans 8:6 applies: “For to be carnally minded is death: but to be spiritually minded is life & peace.” If the meek eventually inherit the earth, then by extension the violent will attract violence, and end up losing the earth.

EXPLAINING THE MESS. With 1,000 factions & numerous countries involved in Syria’s internal chaos, people can be forgiven for ignoring the violent mess that appears to be a nightmare without end. My recent posts have explained how Israel wanted a regime change in Syria so they could participate in a gas pipeline to Turkey. The govt. of Syria believes Israel is behind the destabilizing chaos. Where did the govt. of Syria come from & why has it not fallen like so many other Islamic govt.’s in what is called “Arab Spring”? The current president Bashar Al-Assad, replaced his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000. They are of the Alawite religion. The Alawites have control over Syria’s security apparatus, and the military is still loyal to them. The Russians, Iranians and Lebanese Hamas have provided support to keep Assad in power. While the Alawites are a secretive esoteric religion, the civil violence supports their view that the two basic options for Syria are to keep the secular Alawite controlled Syrian govt. or end up with some kind of violent extreme Sunni Moslem group. Moderate Syrian Moslems are in part continuing to support the Alawite regime, because they question the radical violent alternatives.

THE ALAWITE SYNCRETIC RELIGION. Readers will remember my recent articles about the satanic priests of Cutha becoming the Samaritans and later becoming the Druze religion. A similar process happened with predominantly Caananite descendants living along Syria’s Mediterranean coast, who in the process of becoming Moslems, created a secret gnostic society called the Alawites, now numbering 4 million in Syria, w/ another million worldwide. They call themselves “Assaris” & “Alawi”, & have other names attached to them. Their secret practices incl. rituals similar to Freemasonry, and incl. neo-Platonic ideas & Gnosticism. Some researchers trace their secrets back to ancient Babylon. They celebrate the Zoroastrian new year. (The 1860 book “The Asian Mystery” by Samuel Lyde reveals how the Alawite’s secret handshakes, passwords, & ceremonial costumes resemble Freemasonry. The higher levels of secrets are not known by the common Alawites.) Many (but not all) Sunni Moslems over the years have considered the Alawites as infidels. In 1970, the Al-Assad family (a leading Alawite family) took control over Syria. How did a small hated minority gain control of Syria?

FRANCE USES DIVIDE & CONQUER TO RULE SYRIA. In 1921, the League of Nations took Syria from the defeated Ottoman Empire (which had fought w/ Germany) and gave it to France. France had been studying the situation in Syria before they added Syria to the French Empire; and the future French governor had identified the Alawites as a minority that could be useful. A standard tactic by the French to control a territory was to agitate religious & ethnic differences within the population so that their rule was secure. (This is similar to how victims of MPD have conflicting personalities & need to depend upon the programmer for stability to function.) Instead of unifying against the French, the various factions could be turned against each other. The same tactic is used against the awake community. You will notice many people out there have directed loads of speculative slander against me (& everyone else of prominence in the truth movement.) Divide & conquer.

FRENCH SYRIA’S USE OF MINORITIES & WHERE WE ARE TODAY. France recruited the Alawites, Druzes, Christians & other minorities into the French Syrian military, & effectively banned the Sunni Moslem majority group from recruitment. Their units raised from minority groups were effective in defeating a Sunni revolt in ’25-’27. One of the sects of the Alawites was the Moon sect, whose traditional HQ was the village where the Assads lived. Hafez al-Assad’s family had collaborated with the French colonial authorities. In 1946, Syria gained independence, but the military continued to be minority controlled. Syrian politics were violent after independence. The Sunni groups were manipulated by Moslems that were under British manipulation. In the event, the Alawites established dominance over the Baathist party & then Syria. They pleased other minorities by declaring a secular govt. So now what is at stake in the fighting in Syria is the existence of these minority groups: the Christians, the Druzes, the Armenians, the Alawites, and others. The American govt. has been trying to overthrow the Assad govt. Strange how the American govt. is supporting violent extreme Islamic groups, over a govt. that promotes religious tolerance/freedom by basing the country on secular law. Considering how anti-Christian our American govt. has been in recent years, by profiling Christians as “terrorists” & other shocking moves, it is not surprising that the Obama administration has been providing weapons & money to extremist Moslems to overthrow a govt. that has allowed Christians to live in peace in Syria.

A HIGHER CALLING. Messiah was the titled “the prince of peace”. The opposite of anger is forgiveness, and forgiveness allows love to flow. Messiah said that God is love…so naturally God is forgiving. We can join the divine by having a forgiving spirit. That does not mean problems will evaporate…but He also gives us extra grace (cf. 2 COR 12:9). Christ wants to inspire us to resolve conflict with active love. One lesson from Syria is that violence only inspires more violence. Injustice inspires more injustice. “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brothers, love one another fervently with a pure heart…” 1 PTR 1:22. This verse is indeed an inspired message appropriate to this day and one of the spiritual lessons to learn from the chaos of Syria, where hate & violence have created more hate & violence. May the Prince of Peace rule in your heart today my friend.