Kuwaiti Activist Nasser Dashti: Syrian Crisis Proved Failure of Religious System - Refugees Flee to Europe, Not Arab World

Kuwaiti activist Nasser Dashti said that the secular system is better than the religious one "by light years." Speaking in a TV debate with Islamist Ali Abu Al-Hassan, who champions the establishment of an Islamic religious state, Dashti said that the refugees fleeing from Syria prefer to die at sea in an attempt to reach Europe than to live under Islamic rule in Mecca or Najaf. The debate aired on Al-Baheth online TV on October 16.

Following are excerpts

Nasser Dashti: The secular system is better than your religious system by light years. Reality is the proof of that: Even your Muslims dream of living in a secular state. The [refugees] from Syria did not choose to go and live near the Kaaba or in Najaf. They chose to risk getting themselves killed in the sea, in order to get to Sweden, Greece, or Germany. This reality hurts. The religious system has failed to offer an alternative. I believe that the religious system should be confined to the individual. The individual is free to practice the rites of his faith, which must not transform into a collective religion, because if it does, we will see a million groups like ISIS.

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