Clash of Religions? Lebanese attitudes toward Christians

1. Heather Turner ht9378a@student.american.edu American University: School of International Service United States Foreign Policy Clash of Religions?Lebanese attitudes toward Christians

2. Research Question & Hypotheses • Research Question: What are the socio-economic characteristics of Lebanese who are intolerant of Christians? • Ho: There is no statistically significant relationship between the attitude towards Christians and the independent variables of religiousity, Muslim identification, education level, and threat perception. • Ha: There is a statistically significant relationship between the attitude towards Christians and the independent variables of religiousity, Muslim identification, education level, and threat perception.

3. Literature Review • Schbley: Torn between God, Money, & Family: The Changing Profile of Lebanon’s Terrorists • Used: Field research, survey data • Hypothesis: Religious zealots who are wealthy are more likely to commit suicide terrorism • Found: Increased wealth leads to less likelihood of martyrdom • Fair-Shepherd: Who Supports Terrorism? Evidence from 14 Muslim Countries • Used: Pew Global Attitudes Data Set 2005 • Hypothesis: Certain socio-economic traits lead to propensity to terrorism across 14 Muslim nations • Found: Females, young, & perception that Islam is threatened – most likely to become terrorists

4. Data • Pew Global Attitudes Data Set • September 2007 • Dependent Variable • What is your attitude towards Christians? • Independent Variables • Gender (Nominal) • Age (Ordinal) • Religiousity – How important is religion in your life? (Ordinal) • Muslim Identification – Are you Muslim? (Nominal): • Marital Status – Are you currently married, widowed, divorced, separated, or have you never been married? (Nominal) • Education Level – What is your highest level of education completed? (Ordinal) • Income Level – In which income level does your household fall? (Ordinal) • Threat Perception – How do you think people in other countries around the world feel about Lebanon? (Ordinal)

5. Descriptive Statistics

6. Descriptive StatisticsDependent Variable: Favorable or unfavorable view of Christians?92.6% = Favorable view7.4% = Unfavorable view

7. Bivariate Analysis*** = statistically significant at 1% level, ** = significant at 5% level, * = significant at 10%

8. Graphs: Significant Bivariate Variables

9. Probit Analysis (DV: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable view of Christians?)1 = Favorable, 2 = Unfavorable

10. Findings • Findings: • 94% of Lebanese hold favorable views of Christians • 6% of Lebanese with unfavorable views of Christians • More likely to be Muslim, less educated, less religious, and less threatened by outsiders. • Other independent variables found to be statistically insignificant • Reject Ho and Accept Ha • Ha: There is a statistically significant relationship between the attitude towards Christians and the independent variables of religiousity, Muslim identification, education level, and threat perception.

11. Policy Implications • Positive Implication: • Muslim-majority nation is largely tolerant of Christians • Profile of intolerant 6%: • Confirms stereotypes in regards to: religion & education • Option: • Education – promote & fund • A more educated population is a more tolerant population