05 تشرين الثاني 1997
As clergymen and religious figures gathered in Beirut yesterday to voice their concerns and aspirations regarding the state of family values, the ever-present subject of government corruption and socio-economic policy did not escape attention.
One dividing line in recent weeks has been the degree to which those upset with “moral decadence” in the media have linked top government figures, active in the sector, to the programming that some have found objectionable.
Addressing a two-day conference on ‘The family: reality and prospects’, acting Druze spiritual leader Bahjat Ghaith described the country’s media and advertising agencies as “the authorities’ means of spreading their venom”.
“Society’s moral values are being poisoned by the media and advertising channels which were monopolized (by government officials) under a customary method of political cover,” Ghaith added.
Ghaith hoped that top officials, whom he called “the country’s ruling family”, would be replaced with those who could better serve the public if they did not correct their immoral conduct soon.
“Officials, who divide political powers among each other, should reform and cease to carry out corrupt policies which serve their personal interests while burdening the country with accumulating debt, uncontrollable chaos, and moral corruption,” Ghaith said.
The “ruling family”, he explained, should protect people’s interests, watch over their affairs, and dominate aggressors, “not their own people”.
“Officials are the head of a body whose ailments and problems are reflected on all other parts of a body – the Lebanese family – which cannot tolerate further political, socio-economic and moral disasters,” added Ghaith.
Following weeks of statements by politicians and religious figures denouncing “moral decadence” in the media, the information ministry on Monday formally requested stations to respect public mores and standards of decency in their programming selections.
Beirut MP Salim Hoss yesterday addressed a question to the government about the matter.
While the political content of Ghaith’s speech was criticized by some academics for deviating from the conference’s subject of discussion, other religious personalities attacked non-traditional lifestyles and education.
Their criticism of government policy avoided the role of officials in policy-making.
Head of the Higher Shiite Council sheikh Mohammed Mehdi Shamseddine described the conference, organized by the Imam Mousa Sadr Centre for Research and Studies, as a “current necessity and not a mere cultural curiosity”.
Shamseddine complained that the family, a social institution based on faith, was transformed into a means of fulfilling personal desires.
“The marriage contract which, unlike other contracts, includes the meaning of reverence and worship, has become a morality-free concept of commitment between men and women,” Shamseddine said.
Talking about his fears of family values becoming a “notion of the past instead of a continuous development”, Shamseddine listed four evils which he believes pose a serious threat to society: calls for secular law, a corrupt media, a lack of religious education and late marriage.
“Covered by calls for secular law, demands for the liberalisation from marriage ties represent an invasion of people’s private life which is based on sacred values.
“The government should neither interfere in people’s personal affairs, nor bring up the issue of establishing a secular law again,” he added.
Shamseddine insisted on people’s rights to sue the media and advertising agencies or companies which produce or promote “immoral” products, all of which he said have an adverse influence on society’s values.
“Since our society’s family values are threatened with destruction and disfigurement, and fabrication of false cultural standards under the cover of art and civilization, we completely support calls for legal action against concerned institutions,” Shamseddine said.
Condemning sex education, he said the country needed regular religious education to be a main subject in schools.
“While sex education induces the practicing of illegal sexual activities, religious studies should be a basic subject in schools and not be limited to exposure on Fridays or Sundays,” he said.
Poor economic conditions, Shamseddine added, should not be used as an excuse to delay early marriages, which are an “absolute necessity”.
“Couples who fear the responsibility and expense of having children can always delay, programme or control reproduction in accordance with their financial circumstances.
“The government should also assist young couples by producing proper housing policies to encourage early marriage,” Shameddine added.
Echoing Shamseddine’s worries, north Lebanon and Tripoli mufti sheikh Taha Sabounji condemned arguments for instituting civil marriage.
On behalf of mufti of the republic, Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, Sabounji rejected the notion that secular law was necessary for “social cohesion, the unification of laws, the protection of personal liberty, and preservation of democracy”.
Another culturally- hazardous development, according to Sabounji, was the transformation in social values inspired by foreign influences. “In their desire to imitate foreign cultures and pursue false liberal movements, family member acquire freedom at the expense of familial ties and moral restraints,” he added.
However, Beirut archbishop Boulos Matar, speaking on behalf of Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, argued that sub standard government performance – not foreign immorality – was behind the state of social disorder.
“War-induced poverty, a lack of policies on housing, education, and medicine, and a short age of government social support programmes, reduce the number of new families and disintegrate existing ones, Matar said.
Letters to the two-day conference from both Iranian president Sayyed Mohammad Khatami and pope John Paul I addressed similar issues, insisting that the co-existence and cooperation between Muslim and Christian communities was the only way to maintaining family values.
