(Church Times) Egypt’s Copts fear success of Islamist groups in election

Posted by Kendall Harmon

Copts and other Christian com­munities in Egypt fear that the unexpectedly large turnout in the first of the three rounds of voting in parliamentary elections will be translated into a resounding success for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party. Other parties representing more conserva­tive Islamists — Salafis and Jihadis — are also likely to fare better than had been thought.

“The signs are very worrying,” a schoolteacher in Alexandria, Gabriel Ghali, said. “We are all worrying about what the huge queues will mean in terms of the votes cast, and we suspect it will mean a victory for the Islamic groups — and that’s bad news for us.”

Tens of thousands of Christians have emigrated since the overthrow of the Hosni Mubarak regime, and the outbreak of attacks on mem-bers of the community and their property.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Middle East • Egypt • * Religion News & Commentary • Inter-Faith Relations • Other Churches • Coptic Church • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

5 Comments
Posted December 2, 2011 at 6:01 am [Printer Friendly] [Print w/ comments]



1. AnglicanFirst wrote:

It is an empirically demonstrated reality that when islamic fundementalists gain the political upper hand, even when they are a numerical minority, they will take the writings of the koran and follow them as a “reductio ad absurdum” mandate to impose their fundementalist ‘will’ on the total population under their governmental control.

Therefore, if the fundementalists take control of Egypt, I foresee large-scale oppression of non-muslims, such as the Copts, in Egypt.

December 2, 10:15 am | [comment link]
2. Br. Michael wrote:

So what else is new?

December 2, 1:21 pm | [comment link]
3. AnglicanFirst wrote:

Reply to #2.,
“So what else is new?”
Brother Michael,

Some facts require repeating so that we don’t fall into the error of becoming a slave to a ‘numbing reality’ and thus begin to accept them as ‘a fact of life.’

Radical, aggressive, violent and repressive islam is not an ‘acceptable fact of life.’  It must be exposed and discussed every time that it raises its ugly head.

December 2, 2:23 pm | [comment link]
4. Br. Michael wrote:

My point is that this was expected to happen.  Muslims kill Christians.  That’s what they do.  Why is anyone surprised?

December 2, 5:16 pm | [comment link]
5. Ad Orientem wrote:

My advice to any Christians in Egypt… Get out while you can.

December 2, 7:23 pm | [comment link]
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