President Michel Suleiman stressed on Monday during a cabinet session that constructive dialogue is the only solution to resolve problems as Prime Minister Najib Miqati called for a productive government. The cabinet reconvened for the first time in almost four weeks and in the presence of newly appointed Labor Minister Salim Jreissati. Suleiman headed the […]
Editor’s Note: Stephen S. Schneck is director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America.
By Stephen S. Schneck, Special to CNN
For years, pollsters and political scientists have been stumped about Catholics.
On one hand, it’s been pretty clear that as American Catholics go, so goes the nation. George W. Bush narrowly won the Catholic vote in 2004 and won a second term. Barack Obama narrowly won the Catholic vote in 2008 and, with it, the White House.
It’s easy to see why Catholics are sometimes seen as the swing voters whose shifting political preferences swing elections.
Nevertheless, the idea of a Catholic bloc is patently ridiculous. As voters, American Catholics mirror the electorate as a whole, divided into Democrats, independents, and Republicans at about the same percentages as all Americans. And it’s hard to trace such political complexity to religious allegiance.
One explanation for why is the sheer number of Catholic voters and their now multigenerational assimilation into American society. About 35 million Catholics voted in 2008. That’s about 27% of all voters.
In the 19th century and for much of the 20th, Catholics self-consciously occupied a distinctive identity in America. Predominantly blue collar, they often lived in white ethnic neighborhoods, attended their own schools and colleges, established their own hospitals and charities, and experienced some level of discrimination.
In those years, Catholics associated overwhelmingly with the Democratic Party, which not only accommodated but promoted policies that advanced ethnic assimilation – everything from minimum wage laws to the GI Bill.
But by finally achieving that assimilation, Catholics in the last 50 years have lost much of their sense of special self-identity. For white Catholics, who are about 60% of the Catholic vote, their distinctiveness in class, education, income, and even ethnicity has grown increasingly ambiguous in America’s famous melting pot.
The melting pot has even transformed Catholics’ relationship to their church. Polling numbers released Friday by CNN about the White House contraception dust-up illustrate this: Only 11% of Catholics polled said they should always obey official church teachings on moral issues like birth control and abortion.
La mère de Langmann, était Anne-Marie Rassam. Avec les cinq Oscars remportés dimanche soir par le film français “The Artist”, “la boucle est bouclée”, a déclaré à l’AFP son producteur Thomas Langmann, dont le père Claude Berri avait lui-même remporté un Oscar en 1966 pour son court-métrage “Le poulet“. Dans le hall de […]
السؤال الكبير المطلوب من "حزب الله" الاجابة عنه: "هل قدر شيعة لبنان أن يبقوا أخصاماً لنصف اللبنانيين ومنبوذين من معظم العرب ويبذلون التضحيات لمواجهة غالبية دول العالم؟". تأسست استراتيجية "حزب الله" على مواجهة اسرائيل عبر مقاومة مسلحة استطاعت فرض انكفاء العدو الاسرائيلي عن لبنان عام 2000 وصموده في مواجهة العدوان على لبنان في […]
بدأ التردد الذي يعتري الموقف الأميركي إزاء الأزمة السورية والذي خيّم على مؤتمر «أصدقاء الشعب السوري» في تونس، يثير كثيراً من الشكوك والجدل لدى المعسكر المعارض لدمشق، ما استدعى لقاء جمع وزير الخارجية السعودية الامير سعود الفيصل مع نظيرته الاميركية هيلاري كلينتون على هامش هذا المؤتمر.يعزو خبير ديبلوماسي لبناني عائد من زيارة لواشنطن هذا التردد الأميركي الى إنقسام الادارة الاميركية الى فريقين: الأول، سياسي يؤيد المعارضة السورية ويدعمها في سعيها الى إسقاط النظام تحت شعار "تحقيق الحرية والديموقراطية للشعب السوري".
أما الفريق الثاني فهو عسكري، يبدي مخاوف وخشية من أن يكون البديل من إسقاط النظام، سيادة القوى الأُصولية المتطرفة التي يعتبرها متعارضة مع المصالح الاميركية ويضعها في خانة "الإرهاب"
وفي ضوء ذلك يقول هذا الديبلوماسي إن الأزمة السورية طويلة، وإن النظام السوري لن يسقط بسهولة، وإن حصل ذلك، فستكون له عواقب، خصوصاً اذا حلّت مكانه قوى متطرفة.
ويردّ الدبلوماسي نفسه صعوبة سقوط هذا النظام الى خمسة أسباب:
– الأول، دولي حيث أن موقف روسيا والصين الداعم للنظام لن يتغير، وهو ينطلق من إقتناع لدى موسكو وبكين مفاده أن سقوط النظام السوري سيعني سيطرة الولايات المتحدة الاميركية وحلفائها على منطقة الشرق الاوسط بكاملها.
Violence does not seem to be stopping any time soon in Syria and the country’s on the verge of a civil war if it hasn’t already sunk into one already. Indeed, the past few weeks have seen an escalation in violence whereas full scare battles have erupted between Assad’s troops and Syria’s proclaimed Free Army. As hundreds are killed every day, among which prominent foreign journalists and innocent civilians, Syria’s regime is becoming more and more isolated while the Syrian National Council seems to be paving the way for a new Syria.
Syria is surrounded by Turkey and Israel, whose political agenda differ immensely. Indeed, Turkey was the first to raise the tone against Assad at the beginning of the revolution, and has been reportedly fortifying the opposition’s ranks and assisting the Syrian free army troops. Nevertheless, Syria’s kurds might prove to be a pickle for the Turks who are on a collision course with Syria.
President Michel Suleiman revealed on Friday that he will propose a number of constitutional reforms to cabinet in the upcoming months. He said before the new council of Arab journalists in Beirut: “I believe in the Taef Accord as it is, but in order to fortify the agreement, some flaws in state need to addressed.” […]
The crisis that Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas has been causing for quite a while has come to end as he presented his resignation to Michel Aoun and later on Prime Minister Najib Miqati formally received from the “Change and Reform” bloc the resignation of the Labor Minister. President Michel Suleiman has also accepted the minister’s […]
It appears that violence is not going to stop anytime soon in Syria. Veteran American journalist Marie Colvin, who reported for London’s Sunday Times, and French freelance photojournalist Remi Ochlik were killed in the latest onslaught of the district, French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said. US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland condemned the "tragic incident" […]
“The efforts in the next stage should focus on turning the state from a state of personal benefits and sectarian and regional division of shares into a state (that works for the) public good and whose doors are open for all competencies in state institutions seeking to achieve sustainable development,” Suleiman told his visitors at […]
Population Movements to Keserwan - The Khazens and The Maans
ما جاء عن الثورة في المقاطعة الكسروانية
ثورة أهالي كسروان على المشايخ الخوازنة وأسبابها
Origins of the "Prince of Maronite" Title
Growing diversity: the Khazin sheiks and the clergy in the first decades of the 18th century
Historical Members:
Barbar Beik El Khazen [English]
Patriach Toubia Kaiss El Khazen(Biography & Life Part1 Part2) (Arabic)
Patriach Youssef Dargham El Khazen (Cont'd)
Cheikh Bishara Jafal El Khazen
Patriarch Youssef Raji El Khazen
The Martyrs Cheikh Philippe & Cheikh Farid El Khazen
Cheikh Nawfal El Khazen (Consul De France)
Cheikh Hossun El Khazen (Consul De France)
Cheikh Abou-Nawfal El Khazen (Consul De France)
Cheikh Francis Abee Nader & his son Yousef
Cheikh Abou-Kanso El Khazen (Consul De France)
Cheikh Abou Nader El Khazen
Cheikh Chafic El Khazen
Cheikh Keserwan El Khazen
Cheikh Serhal El Khazen [English]
Cheikh Rafiq El Khazen [English]
Cheikh Hanna El Khazen
Cheikha Arzi El Khazen
Marie El Khazen