using scp for a backup

I'm trying to use scp -r across my local LAN to do a
backup of the home directory on my Linux system (RH
8.0) to my iMac, which has plenty of storage space for
it. (I'm sure using NFS would be a much better
solution. Let's pretend for now it's not an option,
because I want to solve this problem, not a different
one.)

The problem is that the directory I'm copying has some
symbolic links in it to places both inside and outside
and outside that directory tree, including many places
in my public_html Web development directory where I
have links like img -> ../img and img -> ../../img and
img -> ../../../img and so forth.

Does someone understand the problem this is, and know
of a way out of it?

Thanks.

--
Lynn David Newton
Phoenix, AZ