The Quest for Honor

The concept of honor varies from one culture to another.  It has also changed over time.  Social scientists say understanding what honor means in other cultures is an essential part of effective global communication.

A social science experiment conducted by the University of Michigan a few years ago included directing a verbal insult at male students from the south and the north of the United States.  "We find huge differences in the way our southern and northern students respond to that," said Richard Nisbett, professor of social psychology at the University of Michigan.

What's An Insult?
"First, the attitude towards this on the part of the northern students is: 'What's your problem?' They don't get upset about it.  The southerners immediately look angry if you code their expressions.  It's not: 'What's your problem?' It's: 'You and I have got a relationship now.'"

And that relationship often includes retaliation on the part of the student who feels insulted.  The social consequences of this type of response are far-reaching. Statistics show that small-town murder rates among friends, lovers and acquaintances are three times higher in the South than in the New England and Midwestern states.  Nisbett attributed the violence to the South's unique concept of "honor" - most likely imported by swashbuckling English cavaliers in the 17th century.

Nisbett the concept was reinforced some 100 years later by immigrants from the Irish and Scottish borderlands, traditional livestock-herding communities. "Any culture where the care of animals is the basis of your livelihood has a tradition of macho men.  And the reason for that, we think, is because if I don't make it clear that I am a tough guy and you better stay away from anything that is mine -- my home, my honor, my animals -- you are a dead man," he said.

Honor In Mediterranean and Middle East Countries
Nisbett said similar notions of honor prevail in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries.   Bertram Wyatt-Brown, author of the book "Southern Honor," agreed.  He said that the ancient codes of honor that prize martial valor, family loyalty and male dominance remain powerful in rural societies all over the world.

"Almost every society that has very few cities and has a rural background and economy and very few institutions that you can depend upon -- institutions of law in particular, of ordinary justice -- resorts to this family-based code in which the head of household is the giver of truth. All must obey his commands and he must obey the commands of the whole community."

Wyatt-Brown said people in these societies are expected to observe traditional conventions very strictly.  Family lineage is very important: "If you were in an honor society, the first question you'd be asked as a stranger is: to whom do you belong? And if you don't have a family connection, they are going to be very suspicious because (they would think): how can we judge who the stranger is?"

Wyatt-Brown said that in modern western cultures, especially in large cities, personal achievements are more important than family ties: "So you are a physician, or a clergyman, or a businessman even, and they don't ask you, 'To whom do you belong,' but 'What do you do for a living?'"

Still, Hyatt-Brown said westerners typically value personal integrity, honesty and other moral virtues more than a person's social status.  Insults, encroachments on personal property and other perceived injuries are, for the most part, dealt with in a court of law.

Honor Societies
In honor societies, by contrast, people are more likely to resort to personal vengeance, often, said Wyatt-Brown, in the form of bloody retribution.  Seeking legal help and or pursuing negotiations with one's adversary may be perceived as a sign of weakness and therefore a cause for shame, and a loss of social status.  The whole family, sometimes an entire society, is obliged to respond to reclaim the honor of the insulted member.

"There's always revenge and then revenge on top of the retribution and it goes on and on, as it does in Palestine and Israel," said Wyatt-Brown, adding that many Arabs are angry at the West because they believe it has exposed their political and military weaknesses.

Loss of territories to Israel and perceived attacks on Islamic culture also insult Arabs' honor.  So their hunger for vengeance is strong.  Social scientists say this feeling is likely to persist until Arabs can regain their dignity and a sense of control over their lives.  The West can help by learning to understand and, more importantly, to show respect for these powerful and enduring notions of honor.

Christians are Leaving the Middle East

January 2006

The Cradle of Christianity Is Losing Its Christians

There are between 12- and 15-million Christians in the Middle East, almost half of them living in Egypt. The exact figures are hard to establish because of the lack of official records and continued migration. Lebanon, with slightly more than one-million Christians, has the highest ratio: about 30 percent of its population is Christian. Most other Middle Eastern countries are less then 10 percent Christian.

Church of Nativity, Bethlehem

Demographers say the Christian population has declined noticeably in most Middle Eastern countries since the beginning of the 20th century. Fred Strickert, professor of religion at Wartburg College in Iowa, says Christians became a minority in the Middle East after the spread of Islam during the 7th Century, but they continued to play an important role, until the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
 
"In 1908, there was an internal revolution. They called it the Young Turks' revolt. A new group of people came into power and many of them were very biased against the Christians," says Strickert. "They were attempting to draft them into the army and things like that. There was a mass migration from all places in the Middle East - Lebanon, Syria, and Jerusalem - and, by then, many of the Christians, partly because of Christian missionaries, had benefited from schools and hospitals, and sought better conditions in the West for economics. And so, there was a large migration at the very beginning of the 20th Century."
 
Strickert says emigration of Christians continued in the second half of the 20th century, due to armed conflicts, economic hardship or persecution. He says many Christians emigrated to the west, because it has been relatively easy for them. Most of them are educated, and, therefore, employable, and they have enjoyed support from Christians in the west. Low birth rates are another important cause of the Christian population decline in the region, says Strickert. For example, he says, Lebanon was more than half Christian in the 1920's and 1930's. Today, Christians account for less than one third of its population.
 
"In 1930, census was taken in Lebanon, and on the basis of that census, the government was arranged to have a certain percent of Christians, Sunni Muslims, Shi'ite Muslims, etc. and Christians had a significant number there. The Shi'ite Muslims, who were basically in the southern part of Lebanon, grew at a very rapid rate, simply because they had very high birth rate, while the Christians were dropping slowly."

Strickert says there also appears to be a decline in Christian populations in
Iraq and territories under Palestinian control.  A 2003 Israeli study shows that about 12.000 Christians fled historically Christian Palestinian towns, such as Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala, since the Palestinian uprising began in 2000.  Some Palestinians blame the Israeli government's security measures, such as building a security barrier between parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank.
 
"Bethlehem is especially hard hit by the wall," says Philip Farah, a Washington area Palestinian-American who left the region in 1975. "The wall cuts through a lot of people's properties. And if the property is cut by the separation wall, then they stand to lose the part of the property that is on the other side." Philip Farah says the security barrier, as well as Israeli checkpoints make it very hard for Christians from the West Bank and Gaza to maintain business, family and social ties with Christians in Israel. He says many who were able to leave, have done so.
 
Israelis say the number of Christians in Israel has not declined. There has actually been a slight increase, bringing the total number of Christians close to 120-thousand. "In Israel they [the Christians] have a small percentage of increase, that is 1.4 pecent of increase per year, which is about the same as that of the Jews in Israel," says Daphne Tsimhoni, a professor of modern Middle East History at Technion, Israel's Institute of Technology.
 
Leon Hadar, a Middle East analyst and author of the book, Sandstorm: Policy Failure in the Middle East, says attitudes toward Christians in Israel may be changing. "There is an interesting development, in which some of the Russian immigrants who came to Israel, probably around 300-thousand to half-a-million are not Jewish, says Mr. Hadar. "They are Christians. And it is quite possible that, if that community - we are not talking about an Arab-Christian community, but an Israeli Hebrew-speaking community - becomes integrated into Israeli society, Israel will become less and less of an exclusive Jewish state, and will become more open to integrating Christians into Israeli society."
 
Some observers say Christians in the Middle East have fared better under secular governments. Jonathan Adelman, professor of political science at the University of Denver, Colorado, says the rise of fundamentalist Islam is a concern.
 

Church Burning, Egypt 2013

"When they hear that Sharia law needs to be introduced, which basically means that Christians cannot testify in court as equals, that they are inferior - this is something that is very hard for any minority in the world, does not matter if they are Christians or not - very hard to understand or to accept in the 21st century, which is about tolerance and is about modernity. That's why we've had millions of them get up and flee to other parts of the world, where they don't feel threatened."
 
Jonathan Adelman and other analysts say the world should pay attention to the exodus of Christians from the Middle East, because many of those leaving belong to the educated middle class, and tend to be more open to the western democratic ideals. More importantly, adds Tsimhoni, the exodus of Christians represents a loss for Middle Eastern societies and they should make more effort to embrace them in their midst.