Brian George
Blog 10
12:05 pm
4/1/11
One year ago the gap between Muslims and Copt Christians in Nag Hammadi, Egypt appeared to be bridged by an unsteady and rotted plank that had the ability to give way and break only to be replaced by yet another rotted and unsteady plank.
On Christmas Eve, a Muslim gunman opened fire on Christian worshippers as they left church; seven were killed and ten were wounded. The motivation behind the attack was due to the alleged rape of a Muslim girl by a Christian male who has since been jailed.
While the authorities have since arrested the male accused of sexual assault, they have also been able to arrest three individuals who killed the Christians. Despite this and previous events that have occurred over the years, the government of Egypt had yet to address the issue at hand; the brutality between its citizens when it comes to religion. As I’ve mentioned before, there is no immediate solution to a problem that has plagued this country for decades, but if no effort is put forth to solve troubles that occur, then the only thing that can come of it is more fighting and death.
“Egypt has experienced many clashes over the years between its Muslim majority and Christian minority, and has always insisted that the conflicts were driven by something — anything — else. A land dispute, a personal grudge, a crime for profit. The official narrative is that these are singular, unrelated crimes…But local people, commentators, members of Parliament, Christian and Muslim alike, say that the government’s narrow view of the shooting ignores an underlying tension that is roiling society all across Egypt, where an estimated 10 percent of the population of about 80 million is Christian. No matter the gunman’s motive, the attack and subsequent clashes and riots have underscored the religious divide.” (In Egypt, Religious Clashes Are Off the Record http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/world/middleeast/01egypt.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2).
Clearly this type of lack of authority in the government begets interreligious tension and violence, not only did the system do little to protect the religious minorities but promoted the fact that little would be done to calm any situations that flared up between opposing religious forces.
Some Copts have said attacks from Muslims against them have gone either unpunished or if any sentences are given they are usually light. Again this is an environment where the lack of enforcing laws and basic civil rights will in turn bring more violence and tension into communities and between individuals who practice different religions openly.
Yet some still manage to form limited bonds with Christians despite being Muslim and vice versa, but it’s often limited in many ways.
But since then, there have been many changes. The revolution that has begun in Egypt not only has brought forth the idea that things could drastically change within its government and the protection offered to all religious organizations and its members.
But also because of the unity that has occurred between the two religions due to the fighting that most are involved in against the government they oppose.
“Muslims and Christians joined hands and formed human shields to protect each other from riot police as members of the different faiths prayed during the protests in Cairo. Alongside banners demanding Mubarak's resignation and an end to emergency rule, protesters held aloft posters of the Christian cross and Islamic crescent together against the red white and black of Egypt's flag.” (Egyptian revolution brings show of religious unity, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/18/us-egypt-christians-idUSTRE71H6KA20110218?pageNumber=1).
In my eyes this is a sure sign that there can be peace and harmony between the two religions…even though it did come at the expense of more fighting; it is a start. Despite a bomb that killed several Christians that have occurred in January of this year and this past December, the two groups have been able to stand together against a common enemy.
I hope peace and a mutual understanding of some kind and can be a starting point for a way of life that won’t involve harming one another due to the actions of someone else or because one felt insulted due to not wishing to learn the other’s religious word.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/world/middleeast/01egypt.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/18/us-egypt-christians-idUSTRE71H6KA20110218
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