الإحباط المسيحي: Did it ever end?

[Bala Habal]

During the Syrian era, there was a phenomenon called الإحباط المسيحي (Christian disaffection), which had started during the 80's really.

The Christians had exited the war badly bloodied (Shouf, Sharq Saida) and at each others' throats (LF-Army war). They were insecure and hopeless, and the strong wave of immigration from the war continued through the 90's.

Starting in 2000, the Maronite church began to speak up and the Qornet Shehwan Gathering was founded supposedly to attend to these fears.

Some of the reasons put forth for this phenomenon included:
1. The exile of General Aoun
2. The imprisonment of Dr Geagea
3. The exile of President Gemayel, and then the fact that even after his return, his party was run by a Syrian/Lebanese government-backed leadership far from the base
4. Oppression of Christian youth and student activists.

After 2005, everything seemed to be fixed. General Aoun returned, Dr Geagea was released, and the Kataeb and LF got represented in government, while General Aoun's candidates swept the Christian regions. These parties are now free to campaign and run for elections without the Syrian-Lebanese intelligence forces clamping down.

We all know the developments of the past 5 years, so I won't list them here.

But do you think الإحباط المسيحي ever ended? Why or why not? If so, does the continued Christian exodus indicate that immigration is motivated mostly by economic factors that affect all Lebanese (rather than political reasons specific to Christians)?

[Tayyar Keserwen]

Honestly, i don't give a flyin **** about el masi7ie anymore.

La 2i7bat w la ballout, Alla la y2imoun, they deserve what they get from now on...

What do you expect when half of Aaley and Chouf christian voters still vote for Jumblatt lists after callin them Jins 3atil...

Let them reap what they sow...

[Dark Angel]

Originally Posted by Tayyar Keserwen

Honestly, i don't give a flyin **** about el masi7ie anymore.

La 2i7bat w la ballout, Alla la y2imoun, they deserve what they get from now on...

What do you expect when half of Aaley and Chouf christian voters still vote for Jumblatt lists after callin them Jins 3atil...

Let them reap what they sow...

after calling them jins 3atil? wlak he slaughtered them, killed their families and loved ones with axes and hachettes, and they still knelt down on both knees and kissed both his feet before and after voting for him.

give them some time, they will begin nagging again about the corruption in the government, about the displaced, about being forced to migrate elsewhere.


jumblat was slightly wrong in his judgment, the Christians in Lebanon are not just jins 3atil, they are jins akhou *******.. and i am saying that despite having a major Christian block that supported us in this election.


that said it is worth it to stop for a second in attempt to understand the behavior of the Christians. is this the effect of ignorance? arrogance? spite? maybe a mixture of all; all the way from bkerki, LF, phalanges to the regular voter.


the Christian frata, which now include bkerki, would rather commit collective suicide than to see FPM succeed. and you know what? they did.

[Revolution1989]

Originally Posted by Dark Angel

[the Christian frata, which now include bkerki, would rather commit collective suicide than to see FPM succeed. and you know what? they did.

I would make a big distinction between the politicians and Bkerke, who are utterly irrelevant, except in their "propped-up" role of alternative to GMA, and the Christian masses that voted for them out of ignorance, religious extremism, corruption, or simply to see FPM fail...

The former made a logical and rationale choice, the latter, I don't understand

[Danny Z]

Originally Posted by Revolution1989

I would make a big distinction between the politicians and Bkerke, who are utterly irrelevant, except in their "propped-up" role of alternative to GMA, and the Christian masses that voted for them out of ignorance, religious extremism, corruption, or simply to see FPM fail...

The former made a logical and rationale choice, the latter, I don't understand

As much as there are sunni sectarianism in Lebanon that hates FPM because they want to share the country with Sunnis, there are Christian extremist that hate the guts of the Sunnis and shiites and want to eat them alive, but those extremist Christians before they can jump on the throats of the muslim would want to get rid of FPM because this moderation represents the majority of the Christians while the extremist sunnis "love" those extremist Christians now because of this common moderate enemy called FPM.
Thank you FPM otherwise the extremist Christians and Muslims would be jumping on the throats of each other like they did in the 70s and 80s.
So those masses did not vote out of ignorance, the feeling of hate between Christians and Muslims was never subdued in Lebanon thanks to the clergy that forbids mingling and marriage among sects and thanks to the warlords who managed to create physical barriers between Muslims and Christians by killing and driving them out of their homes. Add to all the formula those who benefit from rising corruption are also rising and wouldn't want reform and these are from all sects.
It is a sick society, it needs a match and lots of benzine.

[sarhay]

Originally Posted by Danny Z

....
It is a sick society, it needs a match and lots of benzine.

Actually, Benzene by itself will have more enduring effect for generations to come!!!

[Robin Hood]

Originally Posted by Tayyar Keserwen

Honestly, i don't give a flyin **** about el masi7ie anymore.

La 2i7bat w la ballout, Alla la y2imoun, they deserve what they get from now on...

What do you expect when half of Aaley and Chouf christian voters still vote for Jumblatt lists after callin them Jins 3atil...

Let them reap what they sow...

Mechkeletkoun ento l masa7iyye is that most of you still beliebe in a Western Christian Lebanon and a lot of you prefer criminals over decent people (look at Batroun).

[J_Raad1450]

Originally Posted by Dark Angel

after calling them jins 3atil? wlak he slaughtered them, killed their families and loved ones with axes and hachettes, and they still knelt down on both knees and kissed both his feet before and after voting for him.

give them some time, they will begin nagging again about the corruption in the government, about the displaced, about being forced to migrate elsewhere.


jumblat was slightly wrong in his judgment, the Christians in Lebanon are not just jins 3atil, they are jins akhou *******.. and i am saying that despite having a major Christian block that supported us in this election.


that said it is worth it to stop for a second in attempt to understand the behavior of the Christians. is this the effect of ignorance? arrogance? spite? maybe a mixture of all; all the way from bkerki, LF, phalanges to the regular voter.


the Christian frata, which now include bkerki, would rather commit collective suicide than to see FPM succeed. and you know what? they did.

Thank you for speaking our minds.

[sarhay]

Originally Posted by Robin Hood

Mechkeletkoun ento l masa7iyye is that most of you still beliebe in a Western Christian Lebanon and a lot of you prefer criminals over decent people (look at Batroun).

Christian have no problem and throughout history eastern Christians never develop intimate relationship with Western Christendom. You should not negate the fact that during the civil war Christian were driven to believe in such mirage due to the severity of the onslaught on their existence. It is the absence of reciprocity in the middleast that induce such unhealthy relationships between Muslims and Christian for many centuries. This unfortunate pattern also apply to within the various Islamic branches/sects.

[Bala Habal]

It seems to me from the responses so far that there is no Christian consensus on whether or not there is Christian إحباط, but there is understandable bitterness (that I share) about the elections.

Perhaps X or one of his merry band of moderators can help keep us on track by adding a poll: إحباط or no إحباط?