First, let's get some facts straight. The Mashrou' Leila band, created in 2008, that's more than a decade ago, mind you, has already performed at Baalbeck International Festival in 2012 and in several cities worldwide. Their songs have always been controversial and satirical in their lyrics, tackling taboo subjects like LGBT rights as well as politics, immigration, war, and security. So what's bringing that buzz on the Lebanese scene, that seems to be getting out of hand? Haven't the organizers considered the show before publishing the final agenda? The Festival is prepared months in advance...
Second, let's recap fairly quickly what Christianity is about. Jesus preached Love. Forgiveness. Tolerance. Acceptance. Peace. He never rallied nor levied armies to enforce his "rule". The people who followed him, and the first were women just as a side note, did it of their own free will. And the disciples/followers were free to part ways whenever they wanted. Christianity, as preached by Jesus, was never about forcing people to change their faith, and although he did recommend preaching the Word, I am pretty sure there was no mention of the Crusades, nor enforcing Christianity on other populations by the sword. I'm just saying...
Third, getting to the current grotesque situation, where paranoia and extreme feelings are being fueled. Any message of hatred towards any expression of thought is not right. End of discussion. Simply because our constitution, with all its flaws, does guarantee the right of each of its citizens to practice their own beliefs. That implies that respect for the Other is a given, regardless of gender, color, race... and also religion. I am not going to delve into legal matters here because we do have a panoply of outdated and controversial laws when it comes to civil rights. Let's remain focused on the subject at hand, which is the urgency to stop the KKK animosity speeches that have been unleashed in such a snowball effect that I was wondering this evening, where is the Lebanon I know?
The Lebanon of Abbas Beydoun, Alexandre Najjar, Amin Maalouf, Elias Khoury, Hoda Barakat, Joumana Haddad, Khalil Gibran, May Menassa, Rabih Alameddine, and so many others... where has it gone?
How is it possible to be witnessing this rise of intolerant hate speeches and frankly alarming obtuse and idiotic talks about homosexuality and religion?
How can we, who claim to be the descendants of the Phoenicians, who were explorers and merchants, have such stuck-up minds in modern times?
Art's essence is to provoke new thoughts and explore new horizons and that's the real beauty of it. If mankind would only repeat what it knew at its beginnings, no scientific nor mindful advances would have ever been achieved. We would still be living in caves with no electricity nor running water and we would probably believe that Earth is flat. The intellectual curiosity pushed mankind to look beyond the walls of what is known and to expand the commonly established horizons. And we discovered that pushing these limits is exhilarating: it allows not only for stretching them but also for the creation of new ones. That's what we recognize as evolution. And a species that remains the same and doesn't change is doomed and would not sustain the strain of time, be it physically or mentally.
Besides, a God that will need mortals to defend his/her honor or being, how can it be a God? If you really believe in an Almighty Supra Being, the thought of you taking arms or actions to defend it is beyond insanity. How come when the other "insulting / disrespectful behavior" was perpetrated against Christian symbols, property and else, no Christians raised their finger? Isn't it weird that all of a sudden so many find it right to involve masonry, homosexuality, and other topics to rally more people and spread the very contrary of the Christian faith?
