About three weeks ago I was in a taxi cab in NY (yes another one of the taxi driver stories) and the driver was intrigued by my last name, trying to guess its origin. I responded at the very end of the guessing game that it's a Coptic last name ready with a full explanation of Coptic Orthodoxy on hand. To my surprise he quickly responded by 'oh boy you guys have it hard in Egypt, i feel bad for you'. He asked about my opinion regarding the elections, and I responded by saying that both candidates were not fit for the job. He went on to ramble about how the Muslim Brotherhood would be bad for the Copts and said he wished the best for Egypt.
Fast forwarding weeks later was the announcement today of Dr. Mohammed Morsy of the Freedom and Justice Party (Muslim Brotherhood) as the President of the Republic of Egypt. To be quiet honest, I'm not happy with this choice at all. As a Copt, I don't feel comfortable for a political religious party to be in power. The other option was more of the old regime in place, which I believe that was not what the January 25th Revolution called for. I also don't think the January 25th Revolution called for a religious party to power hog Parliament and the Presidency but at this point we just need to move forward.
While there were people overjoyed across Egypt celebrating Dr. Morsy's victory, many others were upset. No not just Shafik supporters, but many who want a SECULAR Egypt. Included in this group are the Coptic Christians. I will not speak for all of them but from my point of view, I understand why they're scared and fearful for a political Islamist movement to have power. It sucks as a minority for a majority not to be empathetic with concerns that relates to Copts. Some examples include: church repair laws and having religion on national IDs. Having religion on a national ID already creates a division and to have a President be in control of repairing a church leak or fallen column is just dead right wrong. Question on many people's minds is if things will just get worse for Copts?
My answer to this question is that: I don't know. However what I do know is one thing. Since January 1st 2011 the day of the Two Saints Bombing in Alexandria, a veil of fear has been lifted. This was also enhanced during the 18 days of the Jan 25th revolution where for the first time many came out to speak out against their concerns. After Jan 25, we saw Copts take Maspero in protest against crimes committed against them in Atfeeh until the massacre in October. In October, a mass protest took place in Washington DC that included clergy. To be honest you would not have seen such protests that included clergy pre-Jan 1st.
We need to continue to speak out about our concerns, not just as Copts but as secular citizens. We also need to stop this victim mentality. In order to do this, we need to look at Coptic history--starting with St. Mark himself, the one who brought Christianity to Egypt. He was dragged in the streets of Alexandria but his martyrdom did not stop the spread of Christianity. Many martyrs were willing to defend the faith during the reign of Diocletian and that's why our Coptic New Year commemorates the martyrs. We also defended the theology through people like St. Athanasius, St Dioscorus etc who were pillars and defenders of the Coptic faith upholding Egypt as a Christian center. Many endured difficult times under unsympathetic rulers of after the Islamic rulers yet the faith still remains in Egypt. They did not have the luxury to run abroad to escape. These people did not sit around with a victim mentality but chose to do something about it. If you read the Synexarium on a daily basis, you will find some hero from a random century that defended the faith. Our modern day heroes include the Maspero and Two Saints Church. Instead of cursing and crying perhaps it's time to do something about the situation. Unite. Unite with other Egyptians regardless of religion--move out of the church walls that you think will just protect you and find those who have the same secular mentality. The extremism that breeds in some will only further divide the country. We complain about extremism yet we don't look within ourselves and within our own communities to find that we sing the same tune as those we point fingers at.
Yes times ahead are probably difficult. While we resort to prayer and fasting we also need to resort to being part of the solution instead of constantly being part of the couch party that just sits back complains and does nothing.
I am reminded by this verse in 2 Corinthians 4: 8-10: We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—
Our tradition has upheld this sentiment and it's about time we do the same with faith and action.
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