Religious intolerance in Egypt
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Overview:
About 94% of the population of Egypt are Muslim. The largest minority
religious group are Coptic Christians - members of The Christian Coptic
Orthodox Church of Egypt. The Copts "are persecuted by radical
Islamic groups, by the abusive practices of local police and security forces,
and by discriminatory and restrictive Egyptian Government policies. The result
is that while Coptic Christians are generally able to practice their faith,
increasingly they do so in a climate of fear." 1
History of the Coptic Orthodox Church:
Copts believe that Saint Mark brought Christianity to Egypt during the reign
of Nero in the 1st century CE. 2 "Eusebius
states, in his Ecclesiastic History, that Saint Mark came to Egypt during the
first or third year of the Roman Emperor Claudius (i.e. in 41-42 A.D. or 43-44
A.D.) and he visited Alexandria again, to preach and evangelize, between 61 and
68 A.D...By 190 A.D., the great Church of Alexandria was exchanging Paschal
epistles with the Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch." 3
The original Pagan religion of Egypt faded from view, and was replaced by
Christianity. The Islamic Conquest in 641 CE introduced Islam to Egypt. The two
religions initially coexisted in Egypt in relative peace.
In the 11th century, significant persecution started. "For
example, there were restrictions on repairing old Churches and building new
ones, on testifying in court, on public behavior, on adoption, on inheritance,
on public religious activities, and on dress codes. Slowly but steadily, by the
end of the 12th century, the face of Egypt changed from a predominantly
Christian to a predominantly Muslem [sic] country and the Coptic community
occupied an inferior position and lived in some expectation of Muslim hostility,
which periodically flared into violence." 3
The position of the Copts began to improve early in the 19th
century under the stability and tolerance of Muhammad Ali's dynasty.
In the 20th century, the Coptic Church has promoted ecumenicism:
they were one of the founders of the World Council of Churches; they are also
members of the All African Council of Churches (AACC) and the Middle
East Council of Churches (MECC). 3
Present situation:
"The Egyptian government discriminates against the Copts and hampers
their freedom of worship: it enforces onerous restrictions on building or
repairing churches; applies religiously discriminatory laws and practices
concerning family law, conversion, and education; restricts Copts from senior
government, military, and educational positions; and subsidizes media which are
used to attack Copts.
The police at the local level frequently harass and sometimes even
persecute Christians, particularly converts. In 1998, police detained up to 1200
Copts in the village of el-Kosheh. Many were tortured, beaten and subjected to
electric shock. This is exacerbated by terrorist violence and the imposition of
an extortionate jizya "tax" on thousands of Copts, primarily in Upper
Egypt. According to the International Coptic Federation, the situation
facing Copts in Egypt has worsened over the past three decades." 1
A Muslim who converts to Coptic Christianity may be forced to divorce his/her
spouse. Although the government contributes financially to the construction of
mosques and pays the salaries of Muslim clerics, no such aid is given to Copts.
Rather, even the most trivial maintenance projects in churches or church-owned
buildings require a building permit to be signed by the President. Many such
applications have been delayed for decades. Copts are restricted from senior
government, military, educational, and diplomatic positions.
A full report of the tragedy in Egypt can be found in the Egypt Report by the
Center for Religious Freedom. They have a mail-in order form accessible
from their web site at: http://freedomhouse.org/religion/
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References:
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"Flash News for April: Religious persecution statement at the
United nations," Freedom House, 1999-APR-30, at: http://freedomhouse.org/religion/
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"The Christian Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt," at: http://cs-www.bu.edu/faculty/best/pub/cn/Home.html
-
Jackie Ascott, "Copts trough [sic] the ages," at: http://pharos.bu.edu/cn/articles/CoptsThroughTheAges.txt
-
Anon, "An introduction to the Coptic Orthodox Church,"
at: http://pharos.bu.edu/cn/articles/IntroToCopticChurch.txt
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