Followers

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Prosecuting Christians?

Christian persecution sparks fears among the religious minority
         
      I am not a religious person, but prosecution of any type is wrong. Egypt's rise of the attacks on Christians has triggered fears among some that the region's largest non-Muslim population - Egypt's 7 million Coptic Christians - could be at risk.




      Leaders in the United States said they are terrified that a new Egyptian government with a strong Islamic fundamentalist bent would persecute Christians. They are quietly lobbying the Obama administration to do more to protect Christians in Muslim countries and are holding prayer vigils and fasts such as one that ends Wednesday evening at Copt churches around the country, including four in the Washington area.
      Some major U.S. Christian figures, including well-known evangelical leaders and representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, declined to publicly discuss the situation in Egypt, saying they wanted to avoid bringing dangerous attention to the country's Christians by appearing to complain or to advocate for some particular political outcome.
     Their trepidation stems from repeated attacks on churches in Iraq, where hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled in recent years, and from the New Year's Day bombing of a Coptic church in Egypt that killed almost two dozen worshipers and wounded nearly 100. The Coptic church is one of the oldest Christian communities in the world and is based in Egypt.

     However, the protests have focused on jobs, free speech and democratic elections, not religion, so it's unclear what the end of Mubarak's rule would mean for religious minorities. But in recent years, Iraq has lost about half its historical Christian population because of persecution, and Christians have been leaving Iran and Lebanon in lesser numbers.


23 comments:

  1. Shit man, this is 100% unislamic! Islam states that you must respect all religions and never insult them. Egypt is in a shitstorm right now so I wont be surprised if this was at the hands of looters which has nothing to do with religion.

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  2. I agree that persecution is not good, the world should be heading towards everyone doing what they want rather than less...but I admit to finding it a tad amusing about fasting for it.

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  3. Like the los angeles riots in 1992, about 20% of the people involved actually know what's going on. Most people are bandwagoners and use the mob mentality to justify their own means. Sad, and I hope everything works out for the better, but true.

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  4. I've been following this entire event live and its very very scary...
    But this is also not the first time attack on Christians has happened in Egypt correct me if im wrong but there was a bombing at one of the churches in the past couple of months?

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  5. I don't think christians will be affected. Both religious groups have fought together against Mubarak in these protests, and the attacks against Christians have pretty much always been carried out by muslim groups outside egypt.

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  6. Hope this would end soon, and people can continue with their lives. It's difficult to work or even go out when riots happen randomly.

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  7. A good article. It will be good to see how it all ends up after the PM steps down or after the election, if he makes it that far. Only time will tell.

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  8. Wondering when everything will stop there.. getting worse every day

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  9. This is really getting out of hand. Hopefully this issue can be resolved soon.

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  10. Excellent post. Very detailed and informative. Ever thought to apply for the BBC? :)

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  11. I completely agree with you, persecution of almost any group is wrong (When I say almost, I'm thinking of Nazis). The only thing I would say is I wonder if those groups fasting, praying, and donating money for the Coptics would do the same for say... Sufi Muslims

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  12. I wonder if the US will intervene...

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  13. Hopefully Mubarak stepping down will allow things to calm down, this is terrible

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  14. I am soooo glad I live in Holland where I can believe whatever I want.
    However, stuff like that makes me remember that it isn't the same everywhere, unfortunatly.

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  15. Dunno what to think about ... Egypt is in a turning point in its history.

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  16. Hopefully a tolerant government will come to be out of all of this. Another good article.

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  17. So much riots right now its not even funny anymore

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  18. This egypt stuff is insane. Supporting

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  19. I really hope this all ends soon.

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  20. Good point. Christians are being persecuted all across the M.E. because of their faith while Islam still present the face of the religion of peace to the West. Followed

    http://lifethroughironsigths.blogspot.com/

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