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by defrost 47 days ago
> a christian nation not that long ago?

Gosh .. Leaving aside a history of human occupation going back to 5,000 BC or so and looking just at more recent history, Lebanon came under Ottoman rule in the early 16th century and that "proto state" became a concentration area for Lebanese Maronite Christians who (IIRC) made up only 25% or so of the population.

I think it would be better described as a nation with Christians (and other faiths) rather than as a purely Christian nation.

There's also the post WWI Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, administered by France, followed by the post WWII new Lebanese state that gained gained independence from Free France - that was a balancing act between multiple religious groups and also hardly a purely Christian nation.

As to the question asked, Hezbollah was founded in 1982 directly as a result of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

That's a very light on detail overview - it's just cans of worms all the way down.
2 comments
DanielHB 47 days ago
I talked to a Lebanese born person once and apparently they have a parlament with reserved seats for each major religious group.

Apparently that was the only way they managed to keep the country stable. But it is baffling to have religion so entrenched on the constitution.

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jameshilliard 47 days ago
> keep the country stable

Well, that part didn't exactly work out in practice.

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DanielHB 47 days ago
More stable than outright civil war.
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modo_mario 47 days ago
>who (IIRC) made up only 25% or so of the population. >I think it would be better described as a nation with Christians (and other faiths) rather than as a purely Christian nation.

The total was the majority of the population and yes it wasn't a purely christian nation. https://www.economist.com/sites/default/files/images/print-e... You can similarly describe various countries as multifaith but in practice it happens rarely. Very few people descibe israel as such for example.

At the end of the day if hezbollah is vanquished and for that the frontier is shifted why is the expectation not that a new one in kind props up outside of this new frontier?

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