The Levantine cities were mercantile in nature; people dealt with
one another according to a clear protocol, preserving a peace conduciveto commerce, and they socialized quite a bit across communities. This
millennium of peace was interrupted only by small occasional friction
within Moslem and Christian communities, rarely between Christians and
Moslems. While the cities were mercantile and mostly Hellenistic, the
mountains had been settled by all manner of religious minorities who
claimed to have fled both the Byzantine and Moslem orthodoxies. A
mountainous terrain is an ideal refuge from the mainstream, except that
your enemy is the other refugee competing for the same type of rugged real
estate. The mosaic of cultures and religions there was deemed an example
of coexistence: Christians of all varieties (Maronites, Armenians, Greco-
Syrian Byzantine Orthodox, even Byzantine Catholic, in addition to the
few Roman Catholics left over from the Crusades); Moslems (Shiite and
Sunni); Druzes; and a few Jews. It was taken for granted that people
learned to be tolerant there; I recall how we were taught in school how far
more civilized and wiser we were than those in the Balkan communities,
where not only did the locals refrain from bathing but also fell prey to
fractious fighting. Things appeared to be in a state of stable equilibrium,
evolving out of a historical tendency for betterment and tolerance. The
terms balance and equilibrium were often used.
The Levantine cities were mercantile in nature; people dealt withone another according to a clear protocol, preserving a peace conduciveto commerce, and they socialized quite a bit across communities. Thismillennium of peace was interrupted only by small occasional frictionwithin Moslem and Christian communities, rarely between Christians andMoslems. While the cities were mercantile and mostly Hellenistic, themountains had been settled by all manner of religious minorities whoclaimed to have fled both the Byzantine and Moslem orthodoxies. Amountainous terrain is an ideal refuge from the mainstream, except thatyour enemy is the other refugee competing for the same type of rugged realestate. The mosaic of cultures and religions there was deemed an exampleof coexistence: Christians of all varieties (Maronites, Armenians, Greco-Syrian Byzantine Orthodox, even Byzantine Catholic, in addition to thefew Roman Catholics left over from the Crusades); Moslems (Shiite andSunni); Druzes; and a few Jews. It was taken for granted that peoplelearned to be tolerant there; I recall how we were taught in school how farmore civilized and wiser we were than those in the Balkan communities,where not only did the locals refrain from bathing but also fell prey tofractious fighting. Things appeared to be in a state of stable equilibrium,evolving out of a historical tendency for betterment and tolerance. Theterms balance and equilibrium were often used.
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