.It’s time to preach against attacks in Egypt
This year began inauspiciously in Egypt. An Islamic militant took an explosive flight to Paradise on New Year’s morning outside a Coptic church in Alexandria.
The blast killed 23 and injured scores. It also triggered protests and riots in several Egyptian towns, the most violent in a Cairo’s predominantly Coptic neighbourhood.
Most people saw a pattern in the Cairo bombing and those in Nigeria on Christmas Eve and in Baghdad late November.
The number of casualties isn’t the most important. The acts are scary enough. “Muslims Kill Christians!” et al, headlines screamed.
Explanations followed. A former Lebanese and Christian president told US-based broadcast network, CBS, “What is happening to Christians is genocide.”
In California, USA, a Christian do-gooder added a new vocabulary to the English language, religio-cide.
The above examples are as profound as “The West is Waging War on Islam!” shouts often heard outside some mosques. The real issue is otherwise.
In his New Year’s message, Pope Benedict put the tragedies in context. The part relevant here is, “I implore all men and women of good will to renew their commitments to building a world where all are free to profess their religion or faith…”
He forgot “lack of either.” Anyway, religious tolerance worldwide remains in short supply.
The Pope veered to partisanship. “At present, Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of faith.” Undoubtedly, the Vatican has enough resources to ascertain that.
However, it’s worthy of note that in predominantly Muslim countries, minority sects can only murmur. Violence between Shiite and Sunni isn’t uncommon. Whichever group is a minority can lament a la the Pope. The Shiite in Saudi Arabia will testify to that.
Attacks against Copts angers Christendom. At around 10 per cent of Egypt’s 80-million population, they are the largest Christian minority in the Middle East. Their role in early Christianity is unrivalled. Since the 641 A.D.
Arab conquest of Egypt, their misfortunes—forceful conversion to Islam included—and misfortunes, have risen and fallen. They were on the rise until President Abdel Nasser perfected his Pan-Arab policies.
The Copts are now a discontented lot. Protests against the bombings included manifestations of that discontent.
Forgotten in Christendom is that Arab Muslims who loathe attacks and policies against fellow citizens on accounts of different faiths exist.
Coptic Bishop Yohannes Zakaria of Luxor, Egypt, for example, is on record saying many Muslims, including the local governor, consoled him after the Cairo bombings.
Some Muslims in Cairo held vigil as Copts celebrated the Gregorian calendar Christmas on Thursday. Governments in predominantly Muslim countries need note that they have a problem—citizens killing fellow citizens—and stymie the trend.
Maronite Bishop Bechara Rai of Jbeil, Lebanon, called for the Islamic Conference and the Arab League summits to address the issue.
That’s a long shot. Besides, the gatherings might turn into anti-Zionists choruses, a self-denial of enemies “among us.”
Ultimately, though, the burden lies with Muslim clerics and scholars. They need to aggressively educate the faithful on tenets of Islam and guide them away from “Kill! Kill!” advocates of half-baked beliefs.
Daily Nation
Bit late for preaching, more like, time for getting even.
The blast killed 23 and injured scores. It also triggered protests and riots in several Egyptian towns, the most violent in a Cairo’s predominantly Coptic neighbourhood.
Most people saw a pattern in the Cairo bombing and those in Nigeria on Christmas Eve and in Baghdad late November.
The number of casualties isn’t the most important. The acts are scary enough. “Muslims Kill Christians!” et al, headlines screamed.
Explanations followed. A former Lebanese and Christian president told US-based broadcast network, CBS, “What is happening to Christians is genocide.”
In California, USA, a Christian do-gooder added a new vocabulary to the English language, religio-cide.
The above examples are as profound as “The West is Waging War on Islam!” shouts often heard outside some mosques. The real issue is otherwise.
In his New Year’s message, Pope Benedict put the tragedies in context. The part relevant here is, “I implore all men and women of good will to renew their commitments to building a world where all are free to profess their religion or faith…”
He forgot “lack of either.” Anyway, religious tolerance worldwide remains in short supply.
The Pope veered to partisanship. “At present, Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of faith.” Undoubtedly, the Vatican has enough resources to ascertain that.
However, it’s worthy of note that in predominantly Muslim countries, minority sects can only murmur. Violence between Shiite and Sunni isn’t uncommon. Whichever group is a minority can lament a la the Pope. The Shiite in Saudi Arabia will testify to that.
Attacks against Copts angers Christendom. At around 10 per cent of Egypt’s 80-million population, they are the largest Christian minority in the Middle East. Their role in early Christianity is unrivalled. Since the 641 A.D.
Arab conquest of Egypt, their misfortunes—forceful conversion to Islam included—and misfortunes, have risen and fallen. They were on the rise until President Abdel Nasser perfected his Pan-Arab policies.
The Copts are now a discontented lot. Protests against the bombings included manifestations of that discontent.
Forgotten in Christendom is that Arab Muslims who loathe attacks and policies against fellow citizens on accounts of different faiths exist.
Coptic Bishop Yohannes Zakaria of Luxor, Egypt, for example, is on record saying many Muslims, including the local governor, consoled him after the Cairo bombings.
Some Muslims in Cairo held vigil as Copts celebrated the Gregorian calendar Christmas on Thursday. Governments in predominantly Muslim countries need note that they have a problem—citizens killing fellow citizens—and stymie the trend.
Maronite Bishop Bechara Rai of Jbeil, Lebanon, called for the Islamic Conference and the Arab League summits to address the issue.
That’s a long shot. Besides, the gatherings might turn into anti-Zionists choruses, a self-denial of enemies “among us.”
Ultimately, though, the burden lies with Muslim clerics and scholars. They need to aggressively educate the faithful on tenets of Islam and guide them away from “Kill! Kill!” advocates of half-baked beliefs.
Daily Nation
Bit late for preaching, more like, time for getting even.
posted by madtom at 8:23 PM
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