Another Take On Why Christians Are Leaving The Middle East

When we are asked why Chrisitans leave countries like Lebanon and Syria for other pastures in Europe and America, the standard reply is that because they’re a minority among ever assertive Islamic majorities.

But one response we don’t hear as much is this: Because Christian clerics in the East wield too much power over the lives of people, as argues Jill Hamilton in the Guardian:

Religious laws have exclusive jurisdiction in marriage, divorce, separation, child custody, alimony, maintenance, adoption, guardianship, child custody and division of property. Catholics cannot terminate a marriage unless they find grounds for annulment. Only the Orthodox churches allow divorce.

Even though divorce and remarriage are now tolerated in most parts of the western world, the Christian courts are unlikely to be high on the agenda of the two-week conference of Middle Eastern patriarchs and church leaders which begins in Rome tomorrow

Which makes for a really cool argument: We have to have civil law in Lebanon to prevent Christians from leaving the country.