The Maronites have long claimed to be champions of freedom and liberty in this otherwise tyrannical Middle East, but this freedom that they claim to champion is so qualified and compromised that it really misses the point of human freedom as it is understood the world over.
As merchants and traders, the Lebanese in general, and the Maronites in particular, will sell their mothers to make a quick buck. Success in Lebanon is solely determined by how much money you make. Any other contribution to humankind is considered a waste of time. Such is the Mediterranean. The Maronite sense of freedom is therefore a relative one, not an absolute one. They have no sense of the real meaning of freedom. As often as they compromised with their surroundings, less in order to survive and more in order to make a buck, the definition of freedom in the mindset of the Maronite mountain brute is really a very narrow one when it is compared, for examples, with the notion of freedom in the West.
For the Maronites, especially those like President Sleiman, Batrak Rahi, General Aoun, and many others in the contemporary Maronite political and religious pantheon, who generally have espoused compromise with the Muslims in order to be accepted and tolerated as second class citizens - i.e. Dhimmis - the notion of freedom is as primitive as the ability to ring their stupid church bells on Sundays, or wear a visible cross, or any such narrow ability at exercising religious rituals, as if one's freedom is limited to the exercise of religion.
By contrast, the notion of freedom in the West is a much more elaborate and broad concept, whereby it is the individual - not the minority group, or the sect, or the clan.... - that is the central object of freedom. Moreover, individual freedom, as exercised in the West, extends to any realm of human existence: Speech, conduct, association, thought, expressions of any sort, political action, and so on, including freedom from oppression, freedom from curtailing any expression, and freedom from any invasion by government or any similar entity. The only limits to such freedom are when it encroaches on the freedoms of others. Unfortunately, none of the elements of this broad individual freedom has ever existed in Lebanon.
Lebanon is still a heavily religious society, ruled as much by the religious orders as by secular institutions. It is still a place where expression is often repressed because "it harms the dignity of the State, or the President, or this or that religious cult". Lebanon is a place where speech is self-controlled, association is heavily discouraged, artistic expression is censored, and none of the daily activities that Westerners take for granted are allowed, if not by law, then by custom and social pressure.
An example would be that unless you are a member of the 18 religious cults recognized by the Lebanese constitution, you would have no legal existence in Lebanon. If you are a Hindu, a Buddhist, an atheist, a Bahai, or even a member of your own cult... the Lebanese government would, first, not accept you as a full fledged Lebanese citizen, and second, you would not be allowed to advertise or speak up about your beliefs. All the talk about freedoms in Lebanon is hot air, and I, as a Lebanese, feel as stifled and repressed as an individual as one would be in Saudi Arabia. The superficial expressions of freedoms, as women in bikinis on the beach, are not real freedom. They are, at least in Lebanon, mere marketable consumer images to use in advertising for tourism, because once that woman returns to her home after the beach, she is treated like cattle by the men in her family, regardless whether you are in Christian or Muslim areas of Lebanon.
Another example is the press in Lebanon. The claim is that the press is free. But if you look carefully, you would realize that every newspaper that is published in the country is owned and run by a political or religious group. Every party has its own mouthpiece. There are no really "independent" newspapers in Lebanon. So when the press speaks in Lebanon, it is usually for one political leader to attack his opponent, and never to express objective and independent ideas. Second, in order to be allowed to publish a newspaper in Lebanon, you have to be first a member of the "Press Syndicate" which, not surprisingly, is the club of existing newspapers owners, i.e the politicians and religious bosses. So, if they see you as a threat to the established order, they will not accept you as a member of the Syndicate, and you cannot start a newspaper. The club is closed to newcomers, existing members pass on their positions and newspapers to their sons and daughters, as they do their political power by the way, and no outsider ever makes it in the club. In fact, newspapers in Lebanon do not sell very well because people are poor and of course because of the Internet. Yet, no less than 20 newspapers are published every day in Lebanon on a population of 3.5 million. Why? Because these newspapers do not survive on market dynamics; they survive by losing money thanks to the funding of the owner politicians.
Back to Motherfucker Batrak Rahi. He now is the latest in the Christian "leadership" to take the side of the Syrian regime, even though it is the same regime that nearly annihilated the Christians of Lebanon between 1970 and 2005 with massacres, shelling of cities and Christian neighborhoods and villages, kidnappings, murders and assassinations, and on and on. He probably thinks he can better "protect" his fucking flock of Maronite mountain brutes by kissing ass to the Assad regime. When he, Aoun, and others are asked why, they will tell you that Assad is better than the alternative, namely the scarecrow of fundamentalist Sunnis taking over and making life even more dangerous for Christians. In other words, choosing the least tyrannical of two options seems to be the modus operandi of these imbeciles.
But there is no way that countries like Syria, Egypt or Libya or Tunisia.... where anti-tyrannical regimes revolutions are under way, will be governed by something like the Taliban. This is nothing more than a scare tactics. People who think this way - the Dhimmis - are still thinking with 19th century mentality.
But surprised we are no longer. We have gotten used to these Maronites turncoats who have taken their people from one disaster to another over the past 100 years, and who are losing Lebanon every day. From Emile Bustani to Sleiman Frangiyeh to Amin Gemayel to Michel Aoun, Emile Lahoud and Michel Sleiman... every single one of them betrayed his people and the principles on which this fucking cult claims to have as far as Lebanon's independence and existence.
Batrak Rahi: كس إمك وإم هلكنيسة الشرموطة تبعيتك
Your church has never done anything for its people, othern than collude with the politicians to keep people chained by ignorance and despair. No wonder Lebanon - all 1 million of its Maronites - is producing saints like it produces hashish. Every year, the Vatican beatifies or sanctifies some moron monk or nun from ther Maronite Church. More than any other country - large or small - in the world. This is not a sign of sanctity. it is a sign of backwardness and primitiveness. The more advanced a nation is, the less its reliance on religion. Unfortunately for Lebanon, it is still living in the neolithic.
Mabrouk
Hanibaal
Al-Rahi Says Israeli Withdrawal before Hizbullah Lays Down Arms
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Sources told the newspaper that al-Rahi’s statements will have an impact on the Christians in Lebanon and they will confuse them.
Former Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir also expressed his dissatisfaction with al-Rahi’s statements.
The daily said that the ex-Patriarch might outspokenly object to them in the next Maronite Bishops Council meeting.
Al-Rahi told al-Arabiya on Thursday that sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites may emerge if the Syrian government is overthrown.
“If the regime changes in Syria, and the Sunnis take over, they will form an alliance with the Sunnis in Lebanon, which will worsen the situation between the Shiites and the Sunnis,” al-Rahi said.
He warned that the Christians will pay the price if the Muslim brotherhood succeeded Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In addition, the Patriarch voiced support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri “on condition that it is not politicized
Asked about Hizbullah’s arms, he responded: “The international community must pressure Israel to withdraw from the occupied Lebanese territories … and fulfill the Palestinians’ right of return, and consequently Hizbullah will have to lay down its arms.”
Concerning the Syrian people uprising, al-Rahi urged the international community to grant Assad more time to implement reforms and resume dialogue with the opposition.
“Assad cannot make miracles… The Lebanese have suffered from the Syrian regime’s meddling, however, I want to be objective,” he added.
Al-Liwaa newspaper noted that LBC wondered if the Patriarch will reiterate his stances during his visit to Washington, or if his stances in France will affect it, “especially since his stances in Paris were not welcomed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the French officials.”
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