﻿ARAB 
  VILLAGE 
  COMMUNITY 
  — 
  TANNOUS 
  541 
  

  

  religious 
  rituals, 
  are 
  occasions 
  for 
  social 
  and 
  other 
  recreational 
  activ- 
  

   ities. 
  One 
  could 
  go 
  on 
  citing 
  scores 
  of 
  other 
  examples 
  showing 
  the 
  

   far-reaching 
  integration 
  of 
  religion 
  with 
  agriculture, 
  family, 
  recrea- 
  

   tion, 
  and 
  other 
  aspects 
  of 
  village 
  culture. 
  

  

  Stability 
  is 
  a 
  second 
  prominent 
  feature 
  of 
  the 
  village 
  church. 
  This 
  

   may 
  be 
  seen 
  as 
  a 
  natural 
  consequence 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  feature 
  just 
  analyzed. 
  

   When 
  religion 
  permeates 
  community 
  life 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  extent 
  as 
  de- 
  

   scribed 
  above, 
  change 
  must 
  perforce 
  be 
  extremely 
  slow. 
  Another 
  ex- 
  

   planation 
  may 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  intensity 
  of 
  emotional 
  experience 
  that 
  

   goes 
  with 
  various 
  religious 
  practices 
  in 
  the 
  village. 
  Being 
  a 
  product 
  

   of 
  the 
  culture 
  under 
  consideration, 
  the 
  writer 
  knows 
  from 
  personal 
  

   experience 
  the 
  force 
  of 
  the 
  emotional 
  factor. 
  He 
  was 
  also 
  able 
  to 
  see 
  

   it 
  in 
  operation 
  in 
  his 
  study 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Arab 
  communities 
  established 
  

   in 
  this 
  country. 
  8 
  A 
  convincing 
  manifestation 
  of 
  this 
  stability 
  has 
  been 
  

   shown 
  in 
  the 
  extreme 
  reluctance 
  of 
  the 
  village 
  people 
  to 
  yield 
  to 
  con- 
  

   version. 
  Muslims 
  and 
  Christians, 
  whether 
  living 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  village 
  

   or 
  in 
  separate 
  villages, 
  have 
  settled 
  down, 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  1,300 
  years, 
  

   to 
  an 
  implicit 
  understanding 
  that 
  those 
  who 
  are 
  born 
  Muslim 
  shall 
  

   remain 
  Muslim, 
  and 
  those 
  who 
  are 
  born 
  Christian 
  shall 
  continue 
  to 
  be 
  

   so. 
  The 
  idea 
  of 
  proselyting 
  is 
  alien 
  to 
  their 
  minds. 
  The 
  same 
  atti- 
  

   tude 
  has 
  been 
  shown 
  toward 
  the 
  energetic 
  attempt 
  at 
  conversion 
  by 
  

   Western 
  missionaries 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  hundred 
  years. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  well- 
  

   known 
  fact 
  that 
  not 
  more 
  than 
  10 
  to 
  20 
  Muslims 
  in 
  the 
  whole 
  region 
  

   have 
  been 
  converted. 
  

  

  A 
  third 
  feature 
  is 
  the 
  high 
  degree 
  of 
  autonomy 
  enjoyed 
  by 
  the 
  vil- 
  

   lage 
  church. 
  This 
  is 
  another 
  indication 
  of 
  its 
  identification 
  with 
  the 
  

   life 
  of 
  the 
  community, 
  rather 
  than 
  with 
  an 
  outside 
  hierarchy. 
  Islam, 
  

   in 
  fact, 
  does 
  not 
  have 
  much 
  of 
  an 
  ecclesiastical 
  organization, 
  and 
  the 
  

   Muslim 
  village 
  church 
  is 
  very 
  much 
  of 
  a 
  local 
  affair. 
  The 
  people 
  

   choose 
  their 
  Imam 
  or 
  sheikh, 
  who 
  leads 
  them 
  in 
  prayer 
  and 
  performs 
  

   for 
  them 
  certain 
  ceremonies. 
  He 
  is 
  paid 
  a 
  certain 
  unassigned 
  wage, 
  

   mostly 
  in 
  kind. 
  The 
  Christian 
  priest 
  is 
  similarly 
  chosen 
  and 
  paid. 
  

   He 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  villagers, 
  well 
  known 
  to 
  them, 
  and 
  they 
  expect 
  him 
  to 
  

   be 
  their 
  priest 
  all 
  his 
  life. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  question 
  of 
  his 
  being 
  called 
  

   somewhere 
  else. 
  In 
  addition, 
  he 
  owns 
  land 
  as 
  they 
  do, 
  and 
  does 
  some 
  

   farming. 
  After 
  being 
  ordained 
  by 
  the 
  bishop, 
  he 
  is 
  left 
  very 
  much 
  on 
  

   his 
  own 
  with 
  his 
  congregation. 
  One 
  condition 
  with 
  which 
  he 
  must 
  

   conform 
  is 
  that 
  he 
  should 
  get 
  married 
  before 
  he 
  is 
  ordained 
  ; 
  otherwise 
  

   he 
  will 
  have 
  to 
  remain 
  celibate. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  village 
  priests 
  are 
  mar- 
  

   ried, 
  which 
  is 
  preferred 
  by 
  the 
  community. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  celi- 
  

   bacy 
  is 
  required 
  in 
  all 
  other 
  statuses 
  of 
  the 
  heirarchy, 
  from 
  the 
  monk 
  

   to 
  the 
  patriarch 
  ; 
  but 
  this 
  heirarchy 
  has 
  very 
  little 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  village 
  

  

  8 
  See 
  the 
  writer's 
  article, 
  "Acculturation 
  of 
  an 
  Arab-Syrian 
  Community 
  in 
  the 
  Deep 
  

   South," 
  Amer. 
  Sociol. 
  Rev., 
  vol. 
  S, 
  No. 
  3, 
  June 
  1943. 
  

  

  