No one can deny that Morocco is one of the most colorful and joyful countries around the world, a country that has indeed built a positive reputation vis-à-vis the aforementioned variables worldwide. In this vein, recently, some Moroccans felt the urge to speak up to talk about a different color that lives in the shadows of our society, far from the other colors that receive most spotlights, in a bet to lift the veil on some misunderstandings that exist in our society.
This color is Christianity. And in the past few months, a group of Moroccan people, who adhere to said faith, after feeling weary of living a “Schizophrenic” life being Christians at home while sweeping their faith under the carpet outside, publicly stated in a video broadcast on most well-known Moroccan news outlets that they are Christians. In the aftermath, the country whose people generally seem to be friendly to foreigner Christians suddenly showcased an amount of grudge against their fellow compatriots, whose mere rationale behind said video was a wiliness to live their faith without the need to conceal it.
“When I was young, even the teachers made me feel like an alien within my society,” said one Moroccan Christian.
Another Moroccan Christian further explains the extent to which this community suffers in the North African Kingdom stressing, “We are even summoned by the police sometimes, as though we have done something wrong.”
As the video emerged, many critical opinions have begun sharing their views on the matter, harkening to mind the thought-of inviolable concept of “the tolerant Morocco”, wondering whether Morocco is indeed as multicultural and tolerant as we take for granted.
The video has vastly snowballed to become Morocco’s topic of the town, dividing in the meantime Moroccans into two distinct groups; one that endorses the idea of “the Moroccan Christianity” as a giant step towards respecting cultural differences, including sympathizing with its adherents, whereas the second group shoehorned the opinion that the video was a subliminal deceit aimed to destabilize the belief of the Moroccan citizens.
While controversy is being sparked, Moroccan Christians persist in introducing their doctrine to the Moroccan public, becoming little by little more visible and hoping to be accepted as loyal citizens under the munificence of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.
Personally, the video and its ramifications have trigged many questions in my head. I wonder today if the existence of various religions in Morocco will be a positive or negative thing. Also, isn’t it possible that we could live side by side with people from all walks of religions without having to abhor one another? Shouldn’t we be more relativist in our way of regarding such matters?
