Re:Saudi Arabia and Iran: The Cold War of Islam
by gotchange on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @02:00PM
(#11669186)
Lebanon was a Christian-majority country prior to the mass wave of immigration in the 19th & 20th centuries and if we overlook this historical fact, it still retains a sizable population of Christians that makes the idea of an Islamic theocratic or fundamentalist rule highly unlikely but I agree with you that the main prob with Lebanon political system is its deep-rooted Confessionalism resulting from Taif Accord and political factions capitalizing and exploiting this system and this includes Iran-backed Hezbolla or Saudi-backed Future Movement.
Re:Saudi Arabia and Iran: The Cold War of Islam
by nailer on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @02:18PM
(#11669319)
For anyone else wondering: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessionalism_(politics)
Lebanon has been a highly secular state with a varied population when it comes to religion (Christians, Sunnis, Shiites, Druze). Unfortunately Hezbollah now has far more influence than it should have, which is what is ruining Lebanon in my opinion.
My country Tunisia is slowly shifting towards a pseudo-secular republic. The constitution currently lists Islam as the country's religion, but freedom of religion is guaranteed. The majority are Sunnis, but there are some Shiites, Abadis, and a small historically Jewish population based on the island of Djerba.