One Myth less......and one more fact !!

this is where Arab-christians have hidden away from Byzantines and from the Romans before the coming of Islam. The Myth that the early Christians in the Lebanon have had " to hide away high up in the mountains by fear of the invading-Islam- waves ", in the seventh century, is completely incorrect , and much misleading too. Those early (Maronite) Christians were already hiding up in those mountains, 150 years, before Islam ever came to the Lebanon and Syria. Indeed, those (Maronite)Christian s were fearing the Byzantines who have sent (christian)- royal-armies to persecute them and to burn down their cloisters... ...and their churches. There were basic theological differences and interpretations, among other dogma´s, like the identity of Jesus or the leadership of the different Churches. More over , many christian-Arab- local-sects joined with the Islamic armies to fight back against the Imperial-Byzantines -Tyranny. As some arab-christians- tribes also fought along side Islam to invade Persia and beyond . Four centuries later , Arab-Christians of the near East were completely divided, as to what to do with the invading Crusaders... .... and they fought on both sides of those wars. Fourteen centuries after Islam , Arab-Christians are still "alive and kicking" , which is a compliment to Islam . Now, if you still see Christians in the mountains of the Lebanon,today, they are only hiding away from the summer-heat of Beirut.... And if you still see Christians in Iraq , they are probably waiting for the return of the next Saddam Hussein while the Copts of Egypt are hoping for another Gamal Abdel-Nasser. Raja Chemayel a Christian-Arab from 1.100 meters high in the mountains of the Lebanon into minus 3 meters below-sea-level. ....... in Amsterdam. 9th.Feb.2010