Modern liberalism, an attempt to empty societies of their values

Aleppo, Sweida (ST): Is the application of the terms modern liberalism and globalization launched by the West a solution for other peoples to rise and catch up with development, or are they new methods of influencing societies and cutting them off their history?

Dr. Abdul-Ra’ouf  Nahas from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Aleppo said that the West aims, through an organized policy under the slogan of modern liberalism, to spread ideas that distract a person from his legacy, customs and traditions under the pretext of development and modernity, overcoming old problems and maximizing his rights at the expense of the nation’s rights, indicating that modern liberalism is a project of disintegration and alienation of the individual from his religion and nationalism in an attempt to abolish civilization in all its aspects and the continuous influence on the mother tongue to marginalize it.

According to Dr. Nahas, the confrontation of modern liberalism  can be through returning to heritage, history and civilization, defending, empowering and preserving our language, in addition to preserving folklore in all its aspects.

Dr. Halim Asmar, professor of the Faculty of Education at the University of Aleppo, believes that liberal thought is free thought and is based on consciousness aimed at achieving different goals, but the problem lies in those who adopt it and finance its orientations and goals, especially after it has been adopted by contemporary globalization, indicating that the Syrians have privacy, experiences and traditions and cannot be abandoned.

Dr. Nasreen Al-Salama, Deputy Dean of the Second Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences in Sweida considered that liberalism works to empty societies of their values, principles and beliefs in order to facilitate their penetration and control by relying on the technological revolution, especially  social media targeting different groups of society,  their belonging, thought and culture.

According to Al-Salama, Syria is facing the danger of the penetration of modern liberalism in light of the cultural and intellectual war it is facing that coincides with the terrorist and economic war. On the other hand, the Syrian society possesses elements that can be invested in confronting this thought based on its originality, civilization, privacy, and its original positive traditions by preserving Syrian cultural and civilizational heritage and promoting positive values, customs, morals and traditions as well as promoting  people’s  awareness.

Social heritage researcher Muhammad Tarabaih pointed to the peculiarity of the Syrian society, where the individual is part of everything governed by principles, customs, traditions and manners, while modern liberalism focuses on the principle of the individual and his personal freedom, importance and material, intellectual and social ability in which he can achieve a benefit without paying much attention to the group during an attempt to separate him from his surroundings.

Tarabaih stresses the importance of the family’s role in upbringing and strengthening the original customs and traditions of children, with the need for the law to take its role in addressing phenomena that are outside the cohesion of society, its laws, customs and traditions.

K.Q.