The Myth of Islamic Tolerance and Peaceful Coexistence - Egypt's Coptic Christians (3 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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[Gideon6640]

A prayer for my brothers and sisters in the coptic church.

I am also angry at the PC media praising Islam's "Tolarence".

[MrDavidato]

god bless you in what you do to the great coptic church

[nedboer]

2John 9.10 every one that pushed ahead and does not remain in the teaching of the CHRIST does not have GOD,;ifanyone comres to you and does not bring this teaching ,never recieve him into your homes ;if mohamed would have known christianity .as proclaimed by Jesus and his apostles he would not have himself to be decieved by a socalled angel Gabriel , in a cave in arabia.so unless we have the teachings of christ we CANNOT be in the richt with God/ islam rejects the fact that Jesus died for man./

[dzheremi]

His Grace is correct and very astute in his analysis. God bless the Copts and their ancient Church. I hope to join it one day myself, should God will it. The strength of their faith is a true example for all the world.

[DarkS1980]

Only one question for this guy: who paid you to say that! Muslims and Christians didn't start looking at themselves as two separate entities in Egypt until people like u started spreading their poisons! I was in a catholic school and am a Muslim! Everyone should enjoy the liberty of having their own religion! However in every religion there are fundementalists!!!!!!! And those are the morons we need to stop not have conversations that will lead into a divide ! Respect to all religions! Muslims

[faithfulstronghold]

@rebeccaabdallah If you say so.

[rebeccaabdallah]

@faithfulstronghold Yes I have read the Bible and I understand that Muslims don't believe that Jesus is divine. This makes Islam factually incorrect...one can be factually incorrect without "lying"; a lie is something someone says or asserts that they know to be untrue. So a more accurate statement would be "Islam is factually incorrect" not "Islam is a lie".

[faithfulstronghold]

@rebeccaabdallah You say you are a Christian than can I assume you actually read the Bible and who said anything about worrying or heading fore the hills that's your own ridiculous comment I never said to fear muslims there are so many lies in islam and I don't have the time or desire to prove this to you but hears a couple facts islam denies that Jesus is the son of God or that He died on the cross for our sin. Galatians1:6-10, 2 Corinthians11:4, 1 John2:22 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3-16 

[rebeccaabdallah]

@faithfulstronghold What about it is a lie? I mean it clearly exists as a religion. And many parts of the Qur'an echo the writings of the Old Testament prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah. Just because I'm not a Muslim doesn't mean I get all worried and head for the hills when I see a Muslim walk down the street, or believe all kinds of weird things about Muslims or Islam.

[faithfulstronghold]

@rebeccaabdallah Than you know islam is a lie.

[rebeccaabdallah]

@faithfulstronghold I am a Christian.