Coptic-ked Off

The Coptic Church has been around for a very, very long time. Born shortly after the death of Jesus Christ, the church is based on the teachings of the Saint Mark the Evangelist (above) introduced to Egypt during Roman Emperor Nero’s reign in the first century. By the time of the Muslim conquest six hundred years later, Christianity was the majority faith in that region. But as Muslim invaders attacked, beginning in 641 AD, the conversion of masses of North Africans to Islam slowly rendered the Copts and other local Christians into a distinct minority across the Middle East and North Africa. They are, however, as natural a part of the modern Middle East as Judaism and Islam, representing 10% of the population of Egypt and smaller numbers in neighboring countries.

But their history has been difficult since the Muslim forces attacked. They were heavily persecuted as a distinct minority for centuries and were forced to pay a religious tax to their new Muslim conquerors. “The position of the Copts did not begin to improve until the rule of Muhammad Ali in the early 19th century, who abolished the Jizya (a tax on non-Muslims) and allowed Egyptians (Copts as well as Muslims) to enroll in the army. Conditions continued to improve throughout the 19th century under the leadership of the great reformer Pope Cyril IV, and in the first half of the 20th century (known as the Golden Age by the Copts) during Egypt’s liberal period. Copts participated in the Egyptian national movement for independence and occupied many influential positions.” Wikipedia. Even when the Golden Era faded, minority Christians still found safe haven in their homeland. Dictators have been bad for most of the Middle East, but oddly, local Christians have often been beneficiaries of such governments which regularly extended protection to these minorities to curry favor with the deep pockets of Western (and mostly Christian) powers.

With Islamist movements replacing autocrats throughout the region – the legacy of the Arab Spring – the umbrella of protection once offered to local Christians (particularly Copts) by such dictators has lifted. There is a strong populist sentiment among the most radical segments of Islam, who are striving for conversions to Islamic “republics” operating under Islamic Sharia law, proselytizing that that there is no place in these emerging nations for non-believers, Christians or otherwise. It is for this reason that the prelate of the Russian Orthodox Church has pushed Russian President Vladimir Putin to maintain his rigidly strong support of the al-Assad regime in Syria… Assad pretty much guaranteed the safety of local Christians from attack by fundamentalist Muslims bent on religious purity.

Further, as newly-installed governments struggle to assert a formalized rule of law, the internal factions are feuding over the existence of non-Muslim players in the country. Such factionalism is also impacting countries that haven’t changed governments, such as the mutual destruction of churches and mosques combined with nasty murders in Nigeria, but fears abound all over the region at the wave of Islamist fundamentalism insisting on religious purity within national borders. The installation of Mohammed Mursi, associated with the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, in June of 2012 as the new President of Egypt did little to assuage Coptic fears for their future. International pressures seem to have moderated Mursi’s more extreme Brotherhood thoughts on the subject, but concern has not dissipated.

The recent violent incidents involving Copts are numerous. In January 2011, a suicide attack on a church in Alexandria killed 24 people. When 10,000 Copts began a peaceful protest in Shubra, Egypt in October of 2011, the scene transitioned into a violent mob as stones were thrown by Muslim elements surrounding and then blocking the entourage. Shots rang out, and in the end, 36 people died and scores were injured. In August of this year, 16 people were wounded after Muslims attacked a church and Christian homes in a village near the Egyptian capital, Cairo. In September, a gruesome knifing/disembowelment of a Cairo Coptic shopkeeper erupted in a violent protest by Copts railing at the laissez faire police attitude on protecting the church and its sizeable membership. Some even suspected government knowledge and possible involvement.

And now the violence against Coptic Christians has moved to a very volatile Libya. “An explosion on [December 30^th] at a building belonging to a Coptic church in western Libya killed two Egyptian men and wounded two others, a military spokesman said…. Attackers threw a homemade bomb at an administration building belonging to the Egyptian Coptic church in Dafniya, close to the western city of Misrata, said Ibrahim Rajab of Misrata military council.” Reuters, December 30^th.

We are witnessing a clash of civilizations, from Islamists, to Asian economic tigers to fundamentalist Christians who reject all others. Intolerance is escalating, accelerated by the economic and political collapse of systems all over the world. Is this a temporary phenomenon that will stabilize as the new governments settle in, or is this the way it will be for the foreseeable future?

I’m Peter Dekom, and I sure hope that a little stability and maturity will stabilize this sectarian violence and blatant (no longer latent!) crude bigotry.