Why are Lebanese secular compared to other Arabs?

[Enlightened Follower]

For instance, there are Lebanese that openly call themselves Muslim but they will drink, fail to pray, and wear short sleeves. Where as other Arabs like Iraqis and Gulf Arabs have the Janbiya(Bedouin headgear) and various other cultural attitudes and beliefs that facilitate in this case a closer association to Islam in comparison many Lebanese have abandoned the hijab and adopted feminist and liberal oriented lifestyle i.e. liberation from religion as opposed to following it. A close friend of mine told me that Lebanese were embarrassed to call themselves Arab with one person going as far to only eat French food to associate with another culture. I went through a quick search of each region and found these photos in the first search results:

Lebanese:

 

Iraqi:

 

Gulf Arabs:

 

Jordanian:

 

Egyptian:

 

Palestinian:

 

Syrian:

 

North African Arabs:

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2016 by Enlightened Follower

[Enlightened Follower]

@Ibn Al-Shahid@Laayla

[Enlightened Follower]

" Muslims in Lebanon are also less likely to identify primarily with their religion, rather than with their country, with equal numbers saying they think of themselves first as Muslim (30%) and saying they identify primarily as Lebanese (30%). Elsewhere, majorities or pluralities of Muslims identify more strongly with Islam than with their nationality — in many cases by lopsided proportions. Even in Turkey — a country with a long-running tradition of secularism — Muslim identifiers outnumber those who identify primarily as Turks by 13 percentage points. "

Even the Turks seem to be more religious than the Lebanese.

Source: http://www.pewresearch.org/2006/07/26/lebanons-muslims-relatively-secular-and-prochristian/

 

Edited December 8, 2016 by Enlightened Follower

[Enlightened Follower]

George Clooney's wife Amal Clooney from a Sunni Muslim background (from her mother's side) married to George Clooney who is nonreligious/agnostic:

[alirex]

If they take survey for Nation - Religion in india then for sure there will be a 3rd bar which indicates - Confused first

[Ron_Burgundy]

Because they like to move it move, ya like to..... move it.  

Edited December 8, 2016 by Ron_Burgundy

[Qa'im]

Lebanon is a state that the French colonizers established for minorities in the Levant. They were more well-received in Lebanon than they were in Syria for example. Beirut became "the Paris" of the Middle East, and a lot of Lebanese people speak French and have French names. Some of the biggest fashion designers in the world are Lebanese. The Americans also established an English university in Beirut in the late 19th century.

[Hassan-]

Because not all Lebanese people are Muslim. 1/3 of Lebanon are Christians, 1/3 Sunni Muslims and the rest Shias. Because of the diversity of religions in Lebanon, Lebanese people adapted to live with and respect the culture of the Christian people that want to be more secular. This secular culture started to effect the Muslims slowely, so they started to adapt to the secular life with the Christians. On top of that, one of the rules in Lebanon is that our president must always be Christian. The Shia and Sunni politicians came to an agreement on this because the Shias don't want a Sunni president to spread Sunni ideology in the country and vice versa, so they decided a Christian president that will enforce secularism will be the best option for the country.

[Enlightened Follower]

5 minutes ago, Hassan Y said:

Because not all Lebanese people are Muslim. 1/3 of Lebanon are Christians, 1/3 Sunni Muslims and the rest Shias. Because of the diversity of religions in Lebanon, Lebanese people adapted to live with and respect the culture of the Christian people that want to be more secular. This secular culture started to effect the Muslims slowely, so they started to adapt to the secular life with the Christians. On top of that, one of the rules in Lebanon is that our president must always be Christian. The Shia and Sunni politicians came to an agreement on this because the Shias don't want a Sunni president to spread Sunni ideology in the country and vice versa, so they decided a Christian president that will enforce secularism will be the best option for the country.

Of course, but at least maintain your identity as opposed to assimilating to the dominant culture.

This why Muslims might decline in Western countries because they will assimilate into the majority secular culture.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Enlightened Follower

[Hassan-]

25 minutes ago, Enlightened Follower said:

Of course, but at least maintain your identity as opposed to assimilating to the dominant culture.

This why Muslims might decline in Western countries because they will assimilate into the majority secular culture.

Most Shias in Lebanon put there religion above everything still, only the minority have fallen into the secular culture.

[Enlightened Follower]

Lebanese Laïque Pride

 

Source:

http://mayazankoul.com/laique-lebanon/

Edited December 8, 2016 by Enlightened Follower

[JasmineAila]

Scandinavian seems more Religious than those on the chart, in term of "values": human rights awareness, security, prosperity, etc. It's hideous to think that Arabian are more Islamic than non arab. 

tell me what is better than secularism in diversity If you live with hinduis, buddhis, konghucu, protestant, catholic, adventis, indiginious etc in a country for a long term? It leads to the peace.

N trust me there are a lots of agnostics in Ina, and also ignorant muslim extrimists for these past 5 years (imported, as an influence of Arab spring). they came in Paki earlier i guess.

one doesnt simply walk to Netherfield.

Edited December 8, 2016 by JasmineAila

[Enlightened Follower]

4 minutes ago, Hassan Y said:

STALKER 

No just good at navigating social media and seeing trends i.e secular Shia Lebanese journalists.

Here's another example:

Seemingly very pro Shia but overwhelmingly secular.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Enlightened Follower

[Enlightened Follower]

46 minutes ago, kirtc said:

go to dubai and see what arabs do there behind closed doors.

Of course, but that's not the dominant culture only rich families and wealthy Sheikhs engage in that behavior.

[Enlightened Follower]

13 minutes ago, JasmineAila said:

tell me what is better than secularism in diversity If you live with hinduis, buddhis, konghucu, protestant, catholic, adventis, indiginious etc in a country for a long term? It leads to the peace.

 

That is known as religious pluralism not necessarily secularism.

For instance, Muslim majority states can form pacts ensuring the religious rights of various minorities you don't have to have a secular government for that, for instance, Iran.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Enlightened Follower

[Hassan-]

21 minutes ago, Enlightened Follower said:

No just good at navigating social media and seeing trends i.e secular Shia Lebanese journalists.

Here's another example:

Seemingly very pro Shia but overwhelmingly secular.

Well I already explained to you why Lebanese people are secular. There are plenty of Shias that are really secular like for example Haifa Wehbe who is a really popular singer known by everyone in the middle east. However these secular Shias are the minority in Lebanon, most Shias are not secular.

[JasmineAila]

Ina is constitutionally a secular nation. they embrace pancasilais democrasy (Pancasila). but the gov only recognises only six formal religions. | freedom of religion is a basic need, a civil right. supposed to b no limitation.

not really, 

Infact, shi'ite muslim gather secretly, do rituals exclussively. Many ahmadiy lose their job, face difficulty in public service. and so so. 

[sidnaq]

well lebanon, i dont know, but this shows me why the islamic revolution was necessary in iran to revive the iranian islamic spirit.

[Enlightened Follower]

6 minutes ago, kirtc said:

this thread is kind of pointless

How so?

[Enlightened Follower]

2 minutes ago, kirtc said:

it seems you just want to criticize lebanese 

No I would like some answers to common misconceptions.

I have many Lebanese friends that I know and I wanted to have clarity on them compared to other people in the Middle East.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Enlightened Follower

[Ibn Al-Shahid]

5 hours ago, Enlightened Follower said:

@Ibn Al-Shahid

Sorry fam, can't really help you as I never lived in Lebanon.

[Sumerian]

In Lebanon, the Shi'a are the most religious, generally.

[Martyrdom]

More like:

Lebanese

 

Gulf Countries:

 

 

 

 

[realizm]

On 08/12/2016 at 7:09 PM, Enlightened Follower said:

George Clooney's wife Amal Clooney from a Sunni Muslim background (from her mother's side) married to George Clooney who is nonreligious/agnostic:

Druze from her father.

 

Funny statistics as from personal experience I have never seen a country where people identify to their religious group as much as Lebanon. Wonder where those surveys were done.

Edited December 10, 2016 by realizm

[Enlightened Follower]

8 hours ago, realizm said:

I have never seen a country where people identify to their religious group as much as Lebanon. Wonder where those surveys were done.

No it says if you would rather choose your nationality or religious group i.e. what is more important, you might identify with both.

[David66]

Hello,

14 hours ago, realizm said:

Funny statistics as from personal experience I have never seen a country where people identify to their religious group as much as Lebanon. Wonder where those surveys were done.

I wonder how it was prior to the Lebanese Civil War.

All the Best,

David

[realizm]

1 hour ago, David66 said:

Hello,

I wonder how it was prior to the Lebanese Civil War.

All the Best,

David

Just as it is today, from what I was told.