As we constantly observe our social environment without perspicacity, we naively think that our presumptions – sometimes assumptions – are utterly irrelevant for they do not fit reality. Thus, we condemn ourselves to the deactivation of a vital mental faculty: perception. The problem is not that our acuity of sight or general perceptive abilities are weakening, and decreasing by that our levels of understanding; actually, it has more to do with the means, the savoir-faire, and the point of our perception. In order to realize what is truly happening, a slight but significant “change of perspective” should be made. As we all know, cause and effect are two sides of one fact; therefore, we cannot reverse this order of things by considering the effect as the cause, or vice versa. More to the point, and with reference to Bergson: “the eyes see only what the mind is prepared to comprehend”. In other words, we either wrongly perceive, or do not perceive at all, what our mind do not know or is not even capable of knowing. Hence, an adequate and sufficient mental supply is a fundamental prerequisite to the efficiency of our perceptive mechanism and analytical process.
As far as Lebanon is concerned, we can easily affirm the immense diversity and strong intersection characterizing its society. De facto, and within the borders of confessionalism – by definition, the Lebanese political system – individualizing us among our fellow Arab States, we cannot ignore the fact that diversity is a very fragile notion that should be managed with wisdom, care and understanding. If not, this richness might turn against us by becoming a source of worry, disturbance and conflict. As a result, this issue remains utterly crucial when it comes to religious, cultural, and political questions, respectively. First of all, the simple affirmation of belonging to a nation is irrelevant without the core condition Renan used to talk about: “the nation is the embracement of a common legacy and a shared desire of persistence”. In reality, the Lebanese melting pot isn’t fully comparable to the one in USA; ours consists of discernable confessional groups, placing religion as their primary refuge, if not, by chance, equally with their national belonging. We’re not getting far from our subject; all I wanted to say is that we’d better perceive the other from the positive angle of “one nation”, instead of building a wrongly based preconception. At the end, the other should not be perceived as an opposite for his only difference; we all agree that he’s not a substitute, but he’s somehow, complementary. Secondly, and as previously said, diversity could show its cruel and merciless side for the one foolishness of its mismanagement. In fact, we’re hardly the directors of our own fate; because of our radical confessional belongings and blended political connections, our nation has been destined to be, unhappily, the arena of some powerful and decisive international poles. As a consequence, numerous conflicts might have been, somehow, quasi-generated by the influence of some foreign third-parties. The problem here is that people fight for the only shallow causes they perceive, ignoring their real source of existence which far more deep-rooted than they think. It is also miserable to know that when it comes to motions of resolution, people in charge continue to approach, merely, the artificial side of the conflict.
In conclusion, perception remains a very subjective activity, highly relative to the viewpoint of its architect. To be precise, our fellow citizens should not be perceived as an inner threat anymore; instead, we shall all find a common ground upon which our common desire of a durable persistence can rest. Finally, it’s impossible to standstill, witnessing the disintegration of a society where identities are tightly held in an atmosphere of panic and distress… That would expose us to a real outer danger of peril: the seizure of a shattered sovereignty, or like ancients used to say:”divide et conquere”. It’s time to wake up people! Lebanon might have been a historical refuge to regional minorities, but he has never been, and never will be a public hotel to anyone!
THE FALSE PERCEPTION OF A GREAT NATION
As we constantly observe our social environment without perspicacity, we naively think that our presumptions – sometimes assumptions – are utterly irrelevant for they do not fit reality. Thus, we condemn ourselves to the deactivation of a vital mental faculty: perception. The problem is not that our acuity of sight or general perceptive abilities are weakening, and decreasing by that our levels of understanding; actually, it has more to do with the means, the savoir-faire, and the point of our perception. In order to realize what is truly happening, a slight but significant “change of perspective” should be made. As we all know, cause and effect are two sides of one fact; therefore, we cannot reverse this order of things by considering the effect as the cause, or vice versa. More to the point, and with reference to Bergson: “the eyes see only what the mind is prepared to comprehend”. In other words, we either wrongly perceive, or do not perceive at all, what our mind do not know or is not even capable of knowing. Hence, an adequate and sufficient mental supply is a fundamental prerequisite to the efficiency of our perceptive mechanism and analytical process.
As far as Lebanon is concerned, we can easily affirm the immense diversity and strong intersection characterizing its society. De facto, and within the borders of confessionalism – by definition, the Lebanese political system – individualizing us among our fellow Arab States, we cannot ignore the fact that diversity is a very fragile notion that should be managed with wisdom, care and understanding. If not, this richness might turn against us by becoming a source of worry, disturbance and conflict. As a result, this issue remains utterly crucial when it comes to religious, cultural, and political questions, respectively. First of all, the simple affirmation of belonging to a nation is irrelevant without the core condition Renan used to talk about: “the nation is the embracement of a common legacy and a shared desire of persistence”. In reality, the Lebanese melting pot isn’t fully comparable to the one in USA; ours consists of discernable confessional groups, placing religion as their primary refuge, if not, by chance, equally with their national belonging. We’re not getting far from our subject; all I wanted to say is that we’d better perceive the other from the positive angle of “one nation”, instead of building a wrongly based preconception. At the end, the other should not be perceived as an opposite for his only difference; we all agree that he’s not a substitute, but he’s somehow, complementary. Secondly, and as previously said, diversity could show its cruel and merciless side for the one foolishness of its mismanagement. In fact, we’re hardly the directors of our own fate; because of our radical confessional belongings and blended political connections, our nation has been destined to be, unhappily, the arena of some powerful and decisive international poles. As a consequence, numerous conflicts might have been, somehow, quasi-generated by the influence of some foreign third-parties. The problem here is that people fight for the only shallow causes they perceive, ignoring their real source of existence which far more deep-rooted than they think. It is also miserable to know that when it comes to motions of resolution, people in charge continue to approach, merely, the artificial side of the conflict.
In conclusion, perception remains a very subjective activity, highly relative to the viewpoint of its architect. To be precise, our fellow citizens should not be perceived as an inner threat anymore; instead, we shall all find a common ground upon which our common desire of a durable persistence can rest. Finally, it’s impossible to standstill, witnessing the disintegration of a society where identities are tightly held in an atmosphere of panic and distress… That would expose us to a real outer danger of peril: the seizure of a shattered sovereignty, or like ancients used to say:”divide et conquere”. It’s time to wake up people! Lebanon might have been a historical refuge to regional minorities, but he has never been, and never will be a public hotel to anyone!
Paul M. Klimos
May 25th, 2009.