The priest and the beggars

Two beggars are sitting side by side on a street in Rome, Italy.
One has a Cross in front of him; the other one is holding a crescent.  Many people go by, look at both beggars, but only put money into the hat of the beggar sitting behind the Cross. A priest comes by. He stops to watch the throngs of people giving money to the beggar who holds the Cross while none give to the beggar holding the crescent . 

Finally, the priest approaches the beggar with the crescent  and says: "My poor fellow, don't you understand? This is a Catholic country; this city is the seat of Catholicism. People aren't going to give you money if you sit there with a crescent  in front of you, especially when you're sitting beside a beggar who is holding a Cross. In fact, they would probably give more money to him just out of spite!"

The beggar with the crescent listened to the priest, smiled, and turned to the beggar with the Cross and said: "Ali, would you look who's trying to teach the Lebanese  brothers about marketing!"