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| Africa North |
| It's time to preach against attacks in Egypt |
| 2011-01-10 |
| [The Nation (Nairobi)] This year began inauspiciously in Egypt. An Islamic Death Eater took an explosive flight to Paradise on New Year's morning outside a Coptic church in Alexandria. The blast killed 23 and injured scores. It also triggered protests and riots in several Egyptian towns, the most violent in a Cairo's predominantly Coptic neighbourhood. Most people saw a pattern in the Cairo bombing and those in Nigeria on Christmas Eve and in Storied Baghdad late November. The number of casualties isn't the most important. The acts are scary enough. "Mohammedans Kill Christians!" et al, headlines screamed. Explanations followed. A former Lebanese and Christian president told US-based broadcast network, CBS, "What is happening to Christians is genocide." In Caliphornia, USA, a Christian do-gooder added a new vocabulary to the English language, religio-cide. The above examples are as profound as "The West is Waging War on Islam!" shouts often heard outside some mosques. The real issue is otherwise. In his New Year's message, Pope Benedict put the tragedies in context. The part relevant here is, "I implore all men and women of good will to renew their commitments to building a world where all are free to profess their religion or faith..." He forgot "lack of either." Anyway, religious tolerance worldwide remains in short supply. The Pope veered to partisanship. "At present, Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of faith." Undoubtedly, the Vatican has enough resources to ascertain that. However, The infamous However... it's worthy of note that in predominantly Mohammedan countries, minority sects can only murmur. Violence between Shiite and Sunni isn't uncommon. Whichever group is a minority can lament a la the Pope. The Shiite in Soddy Arabia will testify to that. Attacks against Copts angers Christendom. At around 10 per cent of Egypt's 80-million population, they are the largest Christian minority in the Middle East. Their role in early Christianity is unrivalled. Since the 641 A.D. Arab conquest of Egypt, their misfortunes--forceful conversion to Islam included--and misfortunes, have risen and fallen. They were on the rise until President Abdel Nasser perfected his Pan-Arab policies. The Copts are now a discontented lot. Protests against the bombings included manifestations of that discontent. Forgotten in Christendom is that Arab Mohammedans who loathe attacks and policies against fellow citizens on accounts of different faiths exist. Coptic Bishop Yohannes Zakaria of Luxor, Egypt, for example, is on record saying many Mohammedans, including the local governor, consoled him after the Cairo bombings. Some Mohammedans in Cairo held vigil as Copts celebrated the Gregorian calendar Christmas on Thursday. Governments in predominantly Mohammedan countries need note that they have a problem--citizens killing fellow citizens--and stymie the trend. Maronite Bishop Bechara Rai of Jbeil, Leb, called for the Islamic Conference and the vaporous Arab League summits to address the issue. That's a long shot. Besides, the gatherings might turn into anti-Zionists choruses, a self-denial of enemies "among us." Ultimately, though, the burden lies with Mohammedan holy mans and scholars. They need to aggressively educate the faithful on tenets of Islam and guide them away from "Kill! Kill!" advocates of half-baked beliefs. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 They need to aggressively educate the faithful on tenets of Islam and guide them away from "Kill! Kill!" advocates of half-baked beliefs Which, of course begs the question. The unproven assumption being that the tenets of Islam aren't the origin of the "Kill! Kill!" advocates. But then we know that, don't we? |
| Posted by: Alan Cramer 2011-01-10 08:48 |