The Myth of Islamic Tolerance and Peaceful Coexistence - Egypt's Coptic Christians (4 of 7)

Egypts Coptic Christians: The Experience of the Middle Easts largest Christian community during a time of rising Islamization

July 18, 2008, 12:00 - 2:00 PM - Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters

Bishop Thomas and Nina Shea - The Center for Religious Freedom - recently held a luncheon discussion by Bishop Thomas of Upper Egypt.

His Grace, Bishop Thomas of the El-Qussia and Mair Diocese in Upper Egypt became a monk in 1983 and was ordained a priest in 1987. Bishop Thomas works tirelessly to strengthen religious freedom and human rights in the face of personal risks. He was the first recipient of the St. Stephen Prize, a human rights award given by The Norwegian Mission to the East, for his efforts to speak out against the oppression of religious communities. Bishop Thomas is active in building schools and developing educational programs in Egypt's Coptic Church. In 1999 he built the Anaphora Farm and Retreat Center in Wadi el-Natrun, where many of the monastic communities of the desert fathers lived 1500 years ago.

ooo OOO ooo

In Egypt the government does not officially recognize conversions from Islam to Christianity; also certain interfaith marriages are not allowed either, this prevents marriages between converts to Christianity and those born in Christian communities, and also results in the children of Christian converts being classified as Muslims and given a Muslim education.

The government also requires permits for repairing churches or building new ones, which are often withheld. Foreign missionaries are allowed in the country only if they restrict their activities to social improvements and refrain from proselytizing.

The Coptic Pope Shenouda III was internally exiled in 1981 by President Anwar Sadat, who then chose five Coptic bishops and asked them to choose a new pope. They refused, and in 1985 President Hosni Mubarak restored Pope Shenouda III, who had been accused of fomenting interconfessional strife. Particularly in Upper Egypt, the rise in extremist Islamist groups such as the Gama'at Islamiya during the 1980s was accompanied by attacks on Copts and on Coptic churches;

these have since declined with the decline of those organizations, but still continue. The police have been accused of siding with the attackers in some of these cases. And in Southern Egypt, there were problems in which involves terrorists going into monastaries, harrassing, capturing, and torturing monks (such as the 2008 attacks on the monks of the Monastery of Saint Fana).

Source: Wikipedia

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[staffsgt7]

One day there will be nowhere to run to. The Jews are doing the same, the Lebonese, and many other groups - but unless they also 'fight' islamification here in the USA, and other countries in the West - they will condemn their future generations to islam.

[staffsgt7]

The same scenario this man is talking about has played out in so many countries, even recently as it is happening in Egypt to these Copts. In Albania, Lebanon, Algeria, Africa, etc etc etc... and now we see moslems DEMANDING that we learn their koran, 3 weeks of twisted islamic history, etc. And they do not tolerate learning the same from us. They do not learn the Bible, Torah, etc. You better believe the moselms AIM for our kids.

[solidarity2205]

@kastitabh Copts existed as Dhimmites (Surah 9:29) and paid the Jizyah. They were however second class citizens and as you see most are given low grade jobs.

[ElShaddai7777]

Famous Arab Christians include : Shakira ( Pop star) , Carlos Slim Helu ( The world's wealthiest man from Mexico), Steve Jobs - Founder of the computer giant Apple Inc., Pixar animations) , Jay Leno, Mario Kassar - Famous Hollywood producer of megablockbusters such as Rambo, Terminator 2 and Stargate, Sir Dr. Yusef Magdi - the world's # 1 Cardio-Thoracic surgeon based in UK , Michael Shaloub aka legendary old time Hollywood star Omar Sharif, and many hot actresses and models of the middle east.

[ElShaddai7777]

@kastitab: Thats bcz the low IQ moslems needed those high IQ Christian Copts for the very sustenance and progress of the nation. Its a well known fact that the minority Christian Arabs are generally the best educated and wealthiest communities of their nation, they have healthy sex rations and crime is almost non-existent. Most of the Arab world's top medical doctors ( including this Coptic Priest), Engineers, Technologists, researchers and academics are from the Christian minority.

[faithfulstronghold]

@kastitabh You keep saying the same crap and your still wrong.islam is evil.

[kastitabh]

This person forgets that the Copts continued to exist in a Muslim country for 15 CENTURIES, if these Muslims are so intolerant as he claims how he explains it existeil does not exist today, these people are dangerous Copts themselves by creating an unhealthy climate in a society already quite frustrated by poverty and poor governance. Collector of U.S. subsidies.