Secular or Sectarian, the choice seems clear.

I really feel for the people of Lebanon, not only do they have a political situation that is utterly hijacked by more powerful regional forces, they have a ingrained religious landscape of at least 18 different sects, which seems to exponentially increase the complexity and impossibility of ever reaching rational compromise. Being sandwiched between the frothing medievalists of the Islamic variety and the rabid isolationists of the Jewish variety must feel intolerable, but then having to pussyfoot around their own internal ranks of irrational faith-heads must provide the icing on the metaphorical maggot infested cake.

Recently these internal tensions and the abject failure of successive administrations to improve the daily "lot" of the average Lebanese person have spilled over into protest, thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of Beirut, not against America or for religion but in a desperate plea for secularism.

Lebanon provides sad insight for the rest of us into what happens when you have a population where (irrational) sectarian divisions are permitted to dominate the society and its governmental instruments, Northern Ireland was another example much closer to home although less blatant. Religion doesn't belong in politics, it is a personal thing and has no place in the public square other than a background influence on an individuals opinion on certain issues. Contrary to a lot of religious people's view, particular religions and the dogma's that go with them are no more right or wrong than anything else including no dogma at all; in fact it's only when you look at the needs of people through the lens of what evidentially works for the majority of (all) the people and what is fair that you actually achieve what we all claim to desire. Secularism is not perfect by any means, there are a wide spectrum of implementations and results may vary, but in my view and compared to the alternatives, the people of the Lebanon are entirely justified in their protestations.