BUCKNACKT'S SORDID TAWDRY BLOG
We should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive & well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate, bier or wein in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WHOO-HOO, WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!"
IF you listen closely there is reason for hope in this story because of the number of people who don't want to fight, who don't want to hate, who just want to hope for a better life in a free Egypt.
A Coptic priest speaks to a crowd of thousands of mourners in Moqattem, in the eastern outskirts of Cairo, Thursday at a memorial service for victims of the week of clashes that have left 13 people dead in Egypt.
Christians and others in Egypt are marching Friday to a burned-out church in a village called Soul.
The torching of that church recently was part of a series of incidents that started with a romance and turned deadly. The story says a lot about Egypt in this uncertain time.
The Rev. Apollo Isaac says a Christian boy in the village outside Cairo was caught with a Muslim girl.
"The village culture forbids that kind of relationship to happen," he said.
Village elders decided last week that the Muslim girl should be killed. Her father refused. Soon, he was killed, and the conflict escalated. Muslims blamed the Christians for the tragedy and burned down Apollo's church in Soul.
For the past week, Christians have been waving crosses and shouting at a continuous protest in the center of Cairo. Their story has meshed with the wider anxiety over Egypt's future.
Activist Fady Philip has shouted himself hoarse.
"This is basically for the church, but it's including all of the Christians' requests for everything," he said. "It starts with the church, but it doesn't end with the church."
Historically, Christians have faced discrimination in Egypt. The Christian minority joined the protest against President Hosni Mubarak, but when Mubarak left, and the army proposed changing the constitution, nobody touched the article declaring Islam to be the religion of the state.
Christians often feel like second-class citizens, though many Muslims do support them now, like the one who showed up at the protest, declaring the two religions "friends." A leading Muslim scholar also denounced the church burning, and the army promised to rebuild the church. Yet tensions increased.
People from a largely Christian neighborhood staged a demonstration. Muslims confronted them. Soldiers appeared, and someone opened fire.
It was one of several clashes around the city that killed at least 13 people and wounded 140 this week.
A memorial service was held Thursday for many of the Christian dead. A Coptic priest spoke to a crowd of thousands, including the families of many victims.
"The pains of this life," he told the families, "are nothing compared to the glorious state we will be in in the afterlife."
The priest was speaking in a room that symbolizes Egypt's Christian minority. It was vast -– and it was underground.
It's a hillside cave that has been turned into a meeting hall, with relief sculptures of saints carved on the walls. At the entrance to that cave, NPR spoke with a crowd of people who illustrate the dilemma of Christians in Egypt.
When asked if they are concerned that the new government may not respect their rights, a black-clad priest named Abraham Femy said he will rely on God to look after him. Muslims are their brothers, he said.
Femy added that during Tuesday's violence, he restrained a Christian who tried to take revenge on a Muslim.
But others in the crowd grew angry, saying they were attacked on Tuesday night.
"The army kill us! The army kill us!" one man said. "Believe me! The army kill us!"
Christians in the crowd suspect that soldiers actually were the ones who opened fire on them. They gave NPR bullets that one man claimed were discarded after they jammed in a soldier's gun.
Another Christian, Magdi, was philosophical. Egyptians are just beginning to figure out how to relate to one another in a freer time, he said.
"We are all ignorant when it comes to politics. For the last 40 or 50 years, we were just trying to find money to get bread and food," Magdi said. "So when it comes to politics, the country is still a newborn."
Egyptians are putting that newborn freedom to the test Friday. Protesters are marching to the burned church in the village where it all started. They are calling it a Friday of National Union.
Here's a story worth sharing, and one that gives hope, those that participated really are living their faith....from ThinkProgress and Ahramonline
On New Year’s Day, a devastating terrorist bombing at a Coptic church in Egypt killed 21 people and injured 79 others. Although the identity of the culprits was not known, it was assumed that they were Muslim extremists, intent on targeting those they saw as heretics. Religious tensions immediately rose in the country, and angry Copts stormed streets, battled with police, and even vandalized a nearby mosque. The riots and heightened tensions between the Muslim and Coptic communities was likely what the terrorists wanted — to divide the Egyptian community and create sectarian strife between different religious groups.
Yet by Coptic Christmas Eve, which took place Thursday night in Egypt, things had changed completely. As Egyptian Copts attended mass at churches across the country, “thousands” of Muslims, including “the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak,” joined them, acting as “human shields” to protect from terrorist attacks by extremists. The Muslims organized under the slogan “We either live together, or we die together,” inspired by Mohamed El-Sawy, an Egyptian artist:
Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside. From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as “human shields” for last night’s mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife. “We either live together, or we die together,” was the sloganeering genius of Mohamed El-Sawy, a Muslim arts tycoon whose cultural centre distributed flyers at churches in Cairo Thursday night, and who has been credited with first floating the “human shield” idea. Among those shields were movie stars Adel Imam and Yousra, popular preacher Amr Khaled, the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak, and thousands of citizens who have said they consider the attack one on Egypt as a whole. “This is not about us and them,” said Dalia Mustafa, a student who attended mass at Virgin Mary Church on Maraashly. “We are one. This was an attack on Egypt as a whole, and I am standing with the Copts because the only way things will change in this country is if we come together.”
Al Jazeera English covered the attacks and reported from the site of one of the solidarity events where Muslims and Christians stood side by side, protesting discrimination against Copts and calling for an end to violence. Watch it:
It is a frequent complaint among opinion makers in the United States that the global Muslim community does not condemn and prevent terrorism. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has even said that Islam needs a civil war similar to the one the United States fought in order to deal with its extremists. But the truth is that moderate and progressive Muslims all over the world are battling extremism. Here in the United States, one-third of al-Qaeda related terror plots have been broken up thanks intelligence provided by Muslim Americans. It is up to the press to report these positive stories and not exaggerate the sway that extremists hold over the global Muslim community.
Egypt's Muslims attend Coptic Christmas mass, serving as "human shields"
Muslims turned up in droves for the Coptic Christmas mass Thursday night, offering their bodies, and lives, as “shields” to Egypt’s threatened Christian community
Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside. From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as “human shields” for last night’s mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.
“We either live together, or we die together,” was the sloganeering genius of Mohamed El-Sawy, a Muslim arts tycoon whose cultural centre distributed flyers at churches in Cairo Thursday night, and who has been credited with first floating the “human shield” idea.
Among those shields were movie stars Adel Imam and Yousra, popular preacher Amr Khaled, the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak, and thousands of citizens who have said they consider the attack one on Egypt as a whole.
“This is not about us and them,” said Dalia Mustafa, a student who attended mass at Virgin Mary Church on Maraashly. “We are one. This was an attack on Egypt as a whole, and I am standing with the Copts because the only way things will change in this country is if we come together.”
In the days following the brutal attack on Saints Church in Alexandria, which left 21 dead on New Year’ eve, solidarity between Muslims and Copts has seen an unprecedented peak. Millions of Egyptians changed their Facebook profile pictures to the image of a cross within a crescent – the symbol of an “Egypt for All”. Around the city, banners went up calling for unity, and depicting mosques and churches, crosses and crescents, together as one.
The attack has rocked a nation that is no stranger to acts of terror, against all of Muslims, Jews and Copts. In January of last year, on the eve of Coptic Christmas, a drive-by shooting in the southern town of Nag Hammadi killed eight Copts as they were leaving Church following mass. In 2004 and 2005, bombings in the Red Sea resorts of Taba and Sharm El-Sheikh claimed over 100 lives, and in the late 90’s, Islamic militants executed a series of bombings and massacres that left dozens dead.
This attack though comes after a series of more recent incidents that have left Egyptians feeling left out in the cold by a government meant to protect them.
Last summer, 28-year-old businessman Khaled Said was beaten to death by police, also in Alexandria, causing a local and international uproar. Around his death, there have been numerous other reports of police brutality, random arrests and torture.
Last year was also witness to a brutal parliamentary election process in which the government’s security apparatus and thugs seemed to spiral out of control. The result, aside from injuries and deaths, was a sweeping win by the ruling party thanks to its own carefully-orchestrated campaign that included vote-rigging, corruption and rife brutality. The opposition was essentially annihilated. And just days before the elections, Copts - who make up 10 percent of the population - were once again the subject of persecution, when a government moratorium on construction of a Christian community centre resulted in clashes between police and protestors. Two people were left dead and over 100 were detained, facing sentences of up to life in jail.
The economic woes of a country that favours the rich have only exacerbated the frustration of a population of 80 million whose majority struggle each day to survive. Accounts of thefts, drugs, and violence have surged in recent years, and the chorus of voices of discontent has continued to grow.
The terror attack that struck the country on New Year’s eve is in many ways a final straw – a breaking point, not just for the Coptic community, but for Muslims as well, who too feel marginalized, persecuted, and overlooked, by a government that fails to address their needs. On this Coptic Christmas eve, the solidarity was not just one of religion, but of a desperate and collective plea for a better life and a government with accountability.
Egypt's facebook users rally behind Copts
Egyptian Facebook users, both Muslim and Christian, joined in using the popular social network to express solidarity and anger at New Year Eve's attack on Two Saints Church in Alexandria
"In mourning of Egypt's Two Saints Church martyrs", is among a variety of Facebook profile pictures chosen by Egyptian users, both Muslim and Christian.
A crescent embracing the cross set in white against a black background. This has been the most prevalent Facebook picture chosen by thousands of Egyptian users to express their grief and anger at the New Year's Eve bombing of Two Saints Church. Portraits of Jesus Christ also abound, many on the Facebook pages of Muslim, and not just Christian users. Another prominent profile picutre has the words "In mouring for Egypt's martyrs", also set against a black background.
Active Facebook users in Egypt have been rallying in denunciation of the bombing of Two Saints Church in Alexandria, and in solidarity with Egypt's Copts.
The social network has been increasingly used by growing numbers of its four million Egyptian users as an instrument of mobilization and awareness raising around political and social issues. Most recently, tens of thousands of users set up a Facegroup supporting former International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohamed El Baradei as a presidential candidate in the forthcoming presidential elections scheduelled for automn this year.
But, says Rasha Abdallah, the head of the American Univeristy in Cairo's (AUC) mass communications department, the outpourings of anger, grief and solidarity sentiments expressed by Facebook users over the past few days is virtually unprecedented. “People came together in a way I have not seen before,” she said.
On their status lines, many Copts wrote: “Egypt, I am angry - a Coptic Egyptian.” Others, both Muslim and Christian: “Terrorism has no religion.” Many Muslim users used their status lines to send messages of condolence to the victims' families and to the Coptic community at large.
The most encouraging aspect of this outpouring of solidarity sentiments on Facebook in the aftermath of the church bombing is the “recognition that we have a problem and we need to work on it, on the contrary to the government’s stand,” says the AUC's Abdullah.
Among the foremost initiatives promoted by a great many Facebook users has been the call on Egyptian Muslims to make of themselves "human shields" to Copts, by attending Coptic Christmas Eve mass on 6 January. How far this and other political and social initiatives are able to transcend the virtual boundaries of digital networks and make a real impact on the ground remains to be seen.
However, as Abdallah puts it, “it is enough that Facebook users initiate the idea, then it should be taken from there to the mainstream media thus reaching a wider audience.”
For her own part, Abdallah created a Facebook group on the day following the bombings demanding that the "religion" entery in the national ID card be removed. It's mere presence, according to Abdallah, "is a message from the government that religious identity matters."
IT is sad, tragic, that for some the New Year starts with violent death and destruction just because of their faith. It is disturbing the frequency of these attacks against Christians in the Middle East are increasing with seemingly little being done by the governments in the area to prevent them. I just can't believe truly religious people, no matter their faith, actually approve and support these attacks, I want to hold fast to the teachings of Jesus, his teachings of peace, and pray and hope Christians and those of other faiths in these countries being racked by "religious" violence rise up and together, non-violently, demand accountability from their governments and an end to these attacks.
The Catholic leader rails against a perceived campaign against Christians in Muslim countries
Pope Benedict XVI urged Christians to remain strong in the face of intolerance and violence in a New Year's appeal Saturday that came hours after a bomb blast outside an Egyptian church killed 21 people as worshippers left Mass.
The pope condemned a widening campaign against Christians in the Middle East in his homily at St. Peter's Basilica, echoing comments last month in which he called a lack of religious freedom a threat to world security.
"In the face of the threatening tensions of the moment, especially in the face of discrimination, of abuse of power and religious intolerance that today particularly strikes Christians, I again direct a pressing invitation not to yield to discouragement and resignation," he said.
Benedict has repeatedly denounced a campaign against Christians in Iraq blamed on al-Qaida militants, including an October attack on a Baghdad Catholic church that claimed 68 lives, two of them priests.
The Vatican is very worried that a steady exodus of minority Christians from Iraq will permanently reduce their numbers and discourage the wider community of Christians in the Middle East.
Benedict cited what he called two negative extremes at work in the world: secularism, "pushing religion to the margins to confine it to the private sphere," and "fundamentalism, which instead would like to impose (religion) with force on all."
The Vatican celebrates New Year's as World Peace Day, and Benedict urged world leaders to make a "concrete and constant commitment" to help bring peace.
On Saturday, a bomb exploded in front of a Coptic Christian church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, killing at least 21 people in an attack that raised suspicions of an al-Qaida role.
Benedict recalled his speech last month in which "I stressed that religious freedom is the essential element of a state of law -- you cannot deny it without, at the same time, undermining all rights and fundamental freedoms."
After leaving the basilica, the pope removed his gold-colored robes, donned an ermine-trimmed crimson cape to guard against the chill, and greeted from his apartment window pilgrims and tourists in a packed St. Peter's Square.
The new year, he said, is an opportunity to reflect "on the great challenges that our epoch poses to humanity," calling the threats to religious freedom urgent.
"Wherever religious freedom is effectively recognized, the dignity of the human person is respected to its root, and through a sincere search for truth and good, moral consciences are shored up and institutions and civil coexistence are reinforced," the pope said. "That's why religious freedom is the privileged way to build peace."
Benedict also announced that in October he will make a pilgrimage to Assisi and invited non-Catholic Christians as well as world religious leaders to join him in the Umbrian hill town of St. Francis.
He said he wanted to mark the 25th anniversary of a similar pilgrimage made by Pope John Paul II and highlight his conviction that "the great religions of the world can constitute an important factor of unity and peace for the human family."
I am tired of our government blindly supporting repressive regimes in the name of out national security or corporate greed while ignoring violations of human rights like the freedom of religion that result in the deaths of religious minorities either by the actions of the government or the governments choice to allow others to commit atrocities against religious and ethnic minorities and against women and girls. This has to end and the American government has to take a strong forceful stand with Pakistan, Afghanistan and Egypt and all other repressive governments, especially those who are our "allies".
By Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International Programme Director for the Asia-Pacific
The international outcry over Asia Bibi, the Christian Pakistani woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, has set off an internal backlash against perceived Western influence in Pakistan. This has put the government in a difficult position – but one of its own making.
The Lahore High Court has ruled that the country’s president can’t yet pardon Asia Bibi, as her case is still being appealed. The government had been making moves towards a pardon, but the ruling has taken place amid pressure from conservative political parties and the street, including protests calling for Asia Bibi’s immediate execution.
The more international condemnation Pakistan faces for discriminatory laws or persecution of religious minorities like Shi’as, Ahmadis, and Christians, the more these cases fuel the anti-Western mood – and from there they can take on a life of their own, in which no-one can predict the outcome, either inside or outside Pakistan.
The religious extremists are no longer even limiting themselves to attacking religious minorities – they have also turned on Sunnis whom they view as insufficiently extreme, such as various Sufi groups that have been part of the region’s variegated religious culture for centuries.
Out of wariness of provoking religious extremists against the government, and desire to avoid making clear decisions either way, the Pakistan government has procrastinated on dealing with the blasphemy laws. But this has just meant that they have failed to prevent patently outrageous injustices that ‘go international’ like the Asia Bibi case: a festering human rights problem that generates terrible PR and can only be solved through – yes – clear decisions.
How can the Pakistani government get away from this destructive dynamic? The Zardari government holds the solution, but has been sitting on its hands, much like its predecessors in General Musharraf’s military government.
After the burning alive of at least seven Christians and the destruction of Christian homes the town of Gojra in August last year, carried out by extremists under pretext of outrage at an alleged act of blasphemy, the Prime Minister announced he would have a committee review “laws detrimental to religious harmony”. A welcome announcement, but so far there have been no concrete results.
The Zardari administration needs to ally with human rights friendly forces within the government and civil society, who have also been embarrassed, if not outraged, by the recent surge in attacks on minorities, ranging from the Asia Bibi case to bomb attacks against Sufis and assaults on girls’ schools and women’s health care clinics. They too are calling for the fulfilment of promises made on the blasphemy laws. Pakistan needs to amend or abolish them, particularly section 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code which carries a mandatory death penalty for anyone found guilty of blasphemy.
The vaguely formulated and arbitrarily enforced blasphemy laws are typically employed to harass and persecute religious minorities. For example, in January this year, five Ahmadis, including one minor, were detained on spurious charges of blasphemy in the Layyah district, with no evidence or witnesses to support the charges against them. Even a Pakistani government minister has already said that Asia Bibi’s charges appear to have resulted from a petty squabble at the community well.
As so little evidence is required, blasphemy accusations tend to be unfounded, and too easily motivated either by petty conflicts or mendacious reasons. Although no-one has been executed under the blasphemy laws, there have been unlawful killings of blasphemy suspects in prison, allegedly by guards or other prisoners.
Asia Bibi’s case is yet another wakeup call for the Pakistani government to deal with the religious extremism that is blowing great holes in the country. But with attacks on minority targets escalating in recent years, like this year’s Lahore bombings of a famed Sufi shrine and an Ahmadi mosque, the Pakistan government has received wakeup call after wakeup call. When will it stop sleepwalking toward disaster, and fix the country’s shameful blasphemy laws?
