Quote:
Originally Posted by lagdonk
What you just said is rife with misconceptions and misleading, loaded statements, if I'm understanding it correctly; but no matter, I don't want to derail the thread. A glance at this simple Wikipedia demographic overview is the briefest corrective I can offer.
Please explain.
My opinion was gleaned from a Lebanese woman's autobiography I once read. She claimed that Lebanon made a relatively sudden transition from its' historical position as a predominantly Christian country into a Muslim one in part from refugee problems in the Middle East in a matter of decades.
The link you provided appears to corroborate her opinion. Take a look at your wiki's paragraphs on the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It says 100,000 Palestinians fled into Lebanon and were not allowed to return home.
Also the section Demographics/Refugees says over the past 60 years there has been a decline of Christians relative to Muslims for various reasons including emigration of Christians (What was the cause?) and a higher birth rate among the Muslim population.
Your link. Read it for yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon
Don't forget to check out the "Refugees" section of your link.
Check out the "Demographics of Lebanon". The Maronites, a Christian group (I believe they also have a sect in Cyprus), until relatively recent times have dominated Lebanese government. "In the last 3 decades, lengthy and destructive armed conflicts have ravaged the country."
Currently religious balance is a "sensitive political issue" and a "national census has not been taken since 1932."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Lebanon
See "Religion in Lebanon". As soon as you include the diaspora Lebanese the Christians are in the majority. Civil war between the Lebanese military and Islamic extremists have caused a lot of Christians to flee Lebanon per the "Religion in Lebanon" wiki here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maronites_in_Lebanon