Religion in government in Lebanon

[rug]

by Maureen Fiedler | Nov. 3, 2014

Imagine this: Suppose the U.S. Constitution required that the president of the United States be a Presbyterian, the speaker of the House be a Catholic, and the president of the Senate be Jewish? Sounds preposterous, right?

Well, come to Lebanon! Here, the president of the country must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the Parliament must be a Shiite Muslim. It's part of what's called the National Pact. But that's just the beginning of religion/state intermingling in this fascinating country. (FYI: These three religious traditions are numerically the largest in this country.)

I am visiting Lebanon for a week to explore its "God and government" connections for the radio show I host, "Interfaith Voices."

I came here knowing about this National Pact, but as I talked to Lebanese citizens here, I began to realize just how intertwined religion and state are in this country. For example, if you want to find a government job, there is no neutral civil service exam. Instead, most people approach a cleric in their faith tradition and seek his help in finding employment. Why? Priests and imams have connections in the government here, and favors are often exchanged when needed.

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/religion-government-lebanon

[Jim__]

1. There has to be a better way than drawing national boundaries by committee.

From wikipedia:

Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the League of Nations mandated the five provinces that make up present-day Lebanon to the direct control of France. Initially the division of the Arabic-speaking areas of the Ottoman Empire were to be divided by the Sykes-Picot Agreement; however, the final disposition was at the San Remo conference of 1920, whose determinations on the mandates, their boundaries, purposes and organization was ratified by the League in 1921 and put into effect in 1922.

According to the agreements reached at San Remo, France had its control over what was termed Syria recognised, the French having taken Damascus in 1920. Like all formerly Ottoman areas, Syria was a Class A Mandate, deemed to "... have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory." The entire French mandate area was termed "Syria" at the time, including the administrative districts along the Mediterranean coast. Wanting to maximize the area under its direct control, contain an Arab Syria centered on Damascus, and insure a defensible border, France moved the Lebanon-Syrian border to the Anti-Lebanon mountains, east of the Beqaa Valley, territory which had historically belonged to the province of Damascus for hundreds of years, and was far more attached to Damascus than Beirut by culture and influence. This doubled the territory under the control of Beirut, at the expense of what would become the state of Syria.

As a consequence of this also, the demographics of Lebanon were profoundly altered, as the added territory contained people who were predominantly Muslim or Druze: Lebanese Christians, of which the Maronites were the largest subgrouping, now constituted barely more than 50% of the population, while Sunni Muslims in Lebanon saw their numbers increase eightfold, and the Shi'ite Muslims fourfold. The Modern Lebanon's constitution, drawn up in 1926, specified a balance of power between the various religious groups, but France designed it to guarantee the political dominance of its Christian allies. The president was required to be a Christian (in practice, a Maronite), the prime minister a Sunni Muslim. On the basis of the 1932 census, parliament seats were divided according to a six-to-five Christian/Muslim ratio. The constitution gave the president veto power over any legislation approved by parliament, virtually ensuring that the 6:5 ratio would not be revised in the event that the population distribution changed. By 1960, Muslims were thought to constitute a majority of the population, which contributed to Muslim unrest regarding the political system.

[Fumesucker]

2. Probably not many Pastafarians in government service in Lebanon