Confessionalism in Lebanon: the influence of religion in the country

Today, Lebanon is going through a deep economic, political and social crisis that has very ancient roots in the confessional system. Despite being a country that sought, through this system, the end of the Civil War and the balance between clans and religious confessions to avoid possible conflicts, today, this same system is influencing the fragmentation of society and the State ( Mendoza, 2022).

Religion has traditionally been an important factor in the division of the Lebanese population, as well as in the separation of state power and communities. In such a way that the granting of judicial power to religious authorities dates back to the days when Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire, a practice that continued during French colonialism (Lion Bustillo, 2018, pp.72-73).

At present, the influence of religion in the life of the Lebanese is so great that even the government is dominated by those political elites that emerged from sectarian militias linked to religions that, in a certain way, want to ensure the subsistence of their interests and the can. This is why, in 2019, the population rose up in protests that shook Lebanon, fueled by social weariness towards the confessional system and the influence of the religious elite in the social, political and economic structure (Mendoza, 2022).

The author Gustavo de Aristegui mentions that the demographic composition of Lebanon, religiously fragmented, is both a blessing and a misfortune (Priego & Corral, 2007, p.58). For this reason, this article aims to understand this element that enriches Lebanese society, while making it more fragile, that is, the religious influence in Lebanon.

The Lebanese Republic is a State (10,452 km2) in the Middle East, located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, bordering Syria and Israel. It has a population of 6 million 830 thousand inhabitants and approximately 1.9 million refugees (Office of Diplomatic Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, February 2022, p.1). Although the country is home to great ethnic and cultural diversity, the real national division is seen at the religious level. For this reason, in Lebanon there is no official religion since all are recognized by the State seeking equal importance and influence in decision-making.

In the middle of the 20th century, religion in Lebanon penetrated into all spheres of the life of the population and formed a system of political structure that has no analogues anywhere in the world (Jalloul, 2008, p.179). The Lebanese State is based on a Confessional system, which supposes the social, economic and even political stratification of the country. It is necessary to mention that the author Hana Jalloul, in her article The political feudalism of the Lebanese confessional system (2008), defines Confessionalism as that system of government that:

It makes a proportional distribution between communities (whether religious or ethnic) in relation to the percentage of the population. It is based on four fundamental elements, proportional distribution of political posts between communities according to their numerical representation; a great coalition between the leaders of the different communities in relation to common policies whose purpose is based on serving everyone; autonomy of the communities where each one is free to decide on matters related to their community in matters such as personal status; and finally mutual veto power if there are decisions to the detriment of any community (p.176).

According to the above, at first glance, the main division in Lebanon would be between Christians and Muslims. According to data from 2010, the former constitute 54%, while the latter 40.7%; 2.3% of the population profess other religions, and 3% declare themselves non-believers (Expansión, 2022). However, the 1926 Constitution officially recognizes 18 religious communities.

On the one hand, Christians are subdivided into ten different types of religious communities that coexist among themselves: Maronite, Latino, Greek-Orthodox and Greek-Catholic, Melkite, Armenian Orthodox and Armenian Catholic, Syrian-Orthodox and Syrian-Catholic, Assyrian, Chaldean, Coptic Orthodox and Protestant. Similarly, Muslims are subdivided into Shiites, Sunnis, Ismailis, Druze, Alawites, and Nusari. (Office of Diplomatic Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, February 2022).

The existence of many different religious communities is an important feature of Lebanese society. Which, as mentioned above, was developed by the legislators of the Ottoman Empire, through the Millet, to continue, later, underpinned by the regulation of French colonialism (Jalloul, 2008, p.176). Likewise, after the country's independence in 1943, the religious leaders of Lebanon signed the National Pact, which reinforced this system by establishing a sectarian confessional representation to occupy positions of power (Lion Bustillo, 2018, p.76).

The distribution was made based on the only official population census in 1932 and, at that time, it was the Christian elite that was overrepresented, therefore, they enjoyed all the privileges. This is how the unequal distribution of power among religious diversity caused the outbreak of the Civil War that devastated the country from 1975 to 1989 (Bonet, 2019).

Consequently, the Taif Accords (1989) were signed, bringing the end of the Civil War that destroyed the country for fifteen long years. Likewise, a confessional system was re-established, correcting the inequalities in representation of religious communities that had not been contemplated in the National Pact of 1943. In turn, there was a proportional distribution of key positions in the government between them. (García Campello, 2005, p.467).

Since then, one of the areas most affected by religious diversity and the confessional system has been Lebanese political life. It is worth mentioning that, in order to maintain a peaceful coexistence, democracy in Lebanon has a very particular electoral system based on the equality of religious diversity (Priego & Corral, 2007, p.69). Representation in Parliament is proportional between Christians and Muslims. In addition, the main positions of institutional representation are distributed, the president must be a Maronite Christian; the prime minister a Sunni Muslim; and the president of Parliament, a Shiite Muslim (García Campello, 2005, p.467).

Thus, contrary to what happens in other countries, the deputies do not really represent the political parties, but rather their religious communities. In fact, the logic of voting is more focused on religious and local affinities than on ideological ones (Priego & Corral, 2007, p.70).

Most of the country's politicians believe that their political-social model owes its longevity and productivity to a close relationship with the influence of religious diversity. Therefore, they argue that this model guarantees interaction between all confessions and the adoption of legislative acts that take into account the interests of all communities (Treviño & Barakat, 2020).

However, certain academics affirm that this system has only paralyzed state reforms for almost 30 years, keeping in power the political elite of the most important families that represent each religious community in the country. These elites have continuously dominated the political scene, since its consecration as a Plurinational Nation-State, and have benefited from this system (Jalloul, 2008, p.178).

Similarly, while it is true that the Lebanese confessionalism that is currently known arose from the need to maintain a balance between the various religious communities that coexist in the country to avoid future conflicts, the fragile calm has been continuously broken by various tensions. . The rise of Shiite fundamentalism, the assassination of Hariri or the crisis between Israel and Hizbollah over the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers are examples of this (Priego & Corral, 2007, p.59).

As a consequence of the above, "today, religious communities are more isolated from each other due to internal political problems, which has led to community conflicts" (Jalloul, 2008, p.179), for which , in October 2019, the population demonstrated against a system that, instead of improving their situation, continues to deteriorate. This event is known as the spontaneous revolution (thawra in Arabic), which spread throughout the country to demand the end of the ruling political class, sectarian political parties and better transparency in the management of funds. In addition, the movement demanded a change in the confessional system and the influence of the religious elite in the social, political and economic structure (Mendoza, 2022).

In conclusion, the great influence that religion contains in the political, social and economic life of Lebanon has caused an internal fragmentation that is reflected in social weariness towards a system that has fueled corruption and the domination of a minority in power. . Therefore, it has made it possible to paralyze true change in the country for more than thirty years.

Similarly, this division into religious communities has plunged Lebanon into millions of dollars in public debt. Not to mention that, of the 18 recognized religions, only those that have a majority population have political influence to make decisions for the benefit of their society, creating unequal treatment towards religious communities with minorities or towards the population that is not found. in favor of fragmentation.

Although, as mentioned at the beginning, religious diversity, on the one hand, enriches the population because it generates a multiculturalism, it also fragments it and prevents a peaceful and tolerant treatment between communities.