Patriarch Sfeir can’t continue being whatever you want him to be.
There is a fine line between centrism and confusing indecision. Patriarch Sfeir, a venerable figure, is starting to appear more like the latter.
Mr. Sfeir is doubtlessly well intentioned, but he’s confusing the hell out of your average Lebanese Johnny. He is sounding more like a confrontation-weary politician who gives everybody a bit of what they want to hear, to the extent that both opposition and government have something to prove that the Patriarch is on their side.
The Clergy are supposed to live in shadeless worlds of black and white, right and wrong, but Mr. Sfeir is an exception: He’s keeping the same distance from everyone, he told us in last Sunday’s sermon. As a visibly confused writer puts it in the LF’s website: “How can you keep the same distance from right and wrong?”
Today was a classic example of Bkirki indecision. The Patriarch told Annahar that the by-elections are the government’s “duty”, but he stops short of condemning the President’s plans to prevent them from happening.
If the Patriarch can’t bring moral clarity to politics, then why involve him in the first place?
Hello, my name is Mustapha and I've been blogging about Lebanese society, business and politics since February 2005.
Mustapha,
Agreed…and for all of his worth and venerable status I blame him completely for Lahoud still being in office. A golden opportunity was missed to kick lahoud out in 2005, but when the pols from all corners of the spectrum looked to him for validation for any action agasint lahoud THIS old man of the mountain felt the honour and office of the presidency would be diminished if lahoud was forcible removed and SO it did not happen…instead lahoud is there to show us how much honour and dignity he has not only for himself but also for his office and for the people of lebanon.
Again, it is high time to get religion out of politics once and for all. When that happens the BATRAK can go back to the mundane life of celebrating mass
Shunkleash
Its all comes down to his warped sectarian view. He believes that the Presidency is a scared position bestowed by Jesus Christ himself and any attack against the deity-like (in his eyes) person occupying this position is a direct attack against Christianity. He disapproves protests against the President; does not want to have the President sidelined; will never issue specific, critical statements – just hollow generalizations.
Hopefully, the day will come when we won’t see Christian or Muslim clerics on the evening news.
Well said guys. Let’s see if we ever get to that day
Jad Aoun Says:
June 20th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Hopefully, the day will come when we won’t see Christian or Muslim clerics on the evening news.
YES
Agree. Sfair was the one who put a hold on March 14 plan to march to the Presidential and evict the Syrian-appointed president!
This is only slightly off topic, but I believe the day the majority voted Berry as head of parliament was the day Lahoud guaranteed no one will remove him.
Sfeir would have had a much weaker case (and following) if all the pro-syrians were being removed from the head positions regardless of their sects.
Yet another victim to our mentality of no winner, no loser.
At the risk of starting to look like a senile old man, the patriarch doesn’t want to choose right from wrong for the simple reason that in Lebanon, we don’t operate on a forumla of “right and wrong”.
“no winner no loser” guarantees that no one is ever right, and no one is ever wrong.
Time to do away with this crap. And time to stop protecting the presidential chair at all costs.
I’ll do one better: time for clerics to stop being involved in politics altogether.
Another Hasan Nasyallah if you ask me (minus the frothing at the mouth of course.)
I’d hate to take sides…
I am sure the Patriarch and the March 14 movement know more than any of us in here what are the real intentions behind the headlines.
Before we head to scoops about the news and state our opinions flagrantly, we should probably decide more carefully what topics we should discuss.
This headline is at it’s infancy, and already we took sides.
it doesnt matter Jester,its been evidently overwhelming already.Heres a clear description.Politicians is for politics as religious figures is to……?fill in the blanks,the two dont mix.
Perhaps Nasrallah wouldnt have such a large popular base,if he never did what God almighty intended for him to do…as if he has a hotline that reaches GOD.
Maybe thats what Lebanon needs,to divorce religion from politics,im with the europeans with this one.
Jester,
The problem in Lebanon is that no one wants to ever take sides. We’re so busy trying to find compromise and make everyone happy that our country is not functional.
It’d be nice for a change, some of the leadership to actually take sides and say “I am for this and against that.”
That’s how the democratic system works in the rest of world. In the US, you are either pro-abortion, or anti-abortion. You are either pro-war or anti-war. You are pro gun control or anti gun control.
And when you make your positions clear, the people can then choose whether to vote for you or not.
In Lebanon, the leaders are never pro or against anything.
I blame it all on Wadih-el-safi when he sang “Lebanon piece of the heavens”. He gave the representatives of the heavens on earth an infinit mandate over Lebanon. Until the Maestro rectifies his error and sings ” Lebanon piece of earth” that we will see the patriarchs, the muftis and the imams relegate the mandate to the mediocre human beings and resign from their responsibilities. Furthermore, GOD all mighty needs to reshuffle his cards and spare us his blessings! enough sending prophets and beloved sons and never-coming saviors to this part of earth, all your mighty for our sake send them somewhere else. The earth is immense and full of beautiful corners. I have a better suggestion; send them to Mars its even more safe for the sake of humanity.
Dory
Why would anyone give shit what a mufti, a patriarch or rabbi would say in this day and age is beyond me.
I love that secterian post:
When the patriarch is saying white like the majority, Mustafa is the first one to applause
When he is saying no when the majority says white, he is nearly treating him as senile.
Got the picture about how that vision is biast?
As much as I dont like his way of never directly answering vital questions, i think he is playing his role as the only cleric in lebanon who is on the same distance from both 8 and 14 because he knows how bad they both are. The patriarch was right not to let march 14 force lahoud out and inviting him at the same time to resign willingly. It will create a precedent very dangerous for the christians in lebanon and especially the maronite. For those who are asking for the end of confessionalism because they are disturbed of seing the patriarch on TV, i say better him than all the others ugly faces that calls themselves politicians. Maybe the reason behind this flip flopping is because both sides are totally WRONG!!!