❊ Why Won’t The Lebanese Accept That They Like The Sectarian System?

The stubborn reality getting in the face of a dream..

There’s a popular trend making the round on twitter where people write: #uniteLB followed by some nice sounding vision of a Lebanon free of sectarianism (samples). The Facebook page “the people want to topple the sectarian order” has more than 10,000 “likers”. These are just the newest manifestations of a very old dream for many Lebanese (Remember this catchy campaign from 2006 ?).

To many people, it seems like everyone around them supports a Lebanon free of sectarianism. So why won’t it happen?

The classic explanation we give is this: There’s a conspiracy between the clergy and the politicians to keep the status quo because they have too much vested interests. But the unfortunate, less celebrated reality is that the Lebanese themselves are pretty content with the current system.

If you ask the Lebanese people: “Is the sectarian system a bad thing for Lebanon?”, you’ll likely get an overwhelming positive response. This explains what appears to be a Lebanese consensus being manifested in Twitter and on Facebook and among the educated class.

But switch the question and you get a completely different picture. For example, try asking any of the following questions: “Do you support banishing the calls to prayers from Lebanese Mosques because they annoy non-Muslims?” or “Do you think St. Maron should be a national holiday?” or “Should the Lebanese President and other politicians use public money to travel to unveil a statue in the Vatican?”

The reality is that Christians like the sectarian system because it preserves their cultural singularity in a Muslim region. Sunnis like the sectarian system because they’re afraid of globalization and because it guarantees that politicians will allow them to fast in Ramadan and celebrate Eid. Shiaas like the sectarian system because it’s helping them preserve Hezbollah’s resistance.

Add to that traditionalists of all sects who simply believe in the righteousness of their religion, and you understand why a “revolution” against the sectarian system won’t happen anytime soon.