COPTS: Our Forgotten Brothers & Sisters

Egypt: Coptic Christians Decry State Violation of Human Rights

Most Western Christians have little idea they may have millions of Egyptian-Arab brothers and sisters who've been under intense persecution since the beginning of the war on terrorism.

The term Coptic refers to an ethno-religious group made up of Orthodox, Catholic, and some Protestant Christians originating in Egypt. [...]

The 2006 CIA World Factbook estimates that nearly 7 million, or 9 per cent, of the ethnic Egyptian population is Coptic, making it the largest Christian community in the Arab world.

9/11, and the Coalition's reaction to it, may have inadvertantly caused more rather than less persecution of Christians in the world. One might say increased Christian persecution is an unintended victory for the terrorists.

The Catholic News Service reports that the American Coptic Union (ACU) claims in a recent letter that human rights abuses against the Copts have been escalating since September 11, 2001, and the Egyptian government has not responded with any protection.

And our America's diplomatic failures haunt us at every turn ...

'Despite the good relationship and numerous calls by President George W. Bush to President Hosni Mubarak, the daily life of the Copts continues to deteriorate,' the letter says.

Along with the persecution of Darfurians in Southern Sudan, the region is a hotbed of extremism against and hatred for anything not muslim ... even donkeys and camels are paranoid.

The daily horrors of shame-rape, ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, and forced conversion, particularly in the southern part of Upper Egypt, are seriously eroding the Copts' economic, social, and religious existence ... .

I read this kind of insanity and I am simultaneously thankful I live in a free society and deeply frustrated at our nation's leadership for not doing more than pushing papers while people ... brothers and sisters ... suffer!

NOTE: whether you believe the Orthodox faith families are true Christians is irrelevant with regard to a persecution post!

BLOGGERS BLOGGING: interested participant

Africa, Christianity, Coptic, Diplomacy,
Egypt, Muslim, Persecution, Relgion