I have been following the disturbing news from Egypt closely; while it was hoped that a new president and a ban on the Muslim Brotherhood might stem more violence against its Coptic Christians, it looks like that is not to be:
The wedding party stood outside the church, eagerly awaiting the ceremonious arrival of the bride. Instead, drive-by shooters killed four, including two children and the groom’s mother, and injured 18.Beyond its poignancy, the attack in Cairo’s industrial neighborhood of Warraq was significant for being one of the first to target Egypt’s Christians specifically, versus the now-common attacks on their church buildings.”Since the revolution, this is the first instance Coptic people were targeted randomly in a church, with weapons,” said Mina Magdy, general coordinator for the Maspero Youth Union, a mostly Coptic revolutionary group formed in response to church burnings in 2011 after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak.
Interestingly, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul spoke about the issue of Muslim violence against Christians at a Value Voters summit earlier this month:
“Christians are being attacked around the world, but you won’t hear much about it on the evening news because the answer’s not convenient,” Paul continued. “It doesn’t fit the narrative we have been told about radical Islam. The president tries to gloss over who’s attacking and killing Christians. The media describes the killings as sectarian. But the truth is, a worldwide war on Christians is being waged by a fanatical element of Islam….”“American tax dollars should never be spent to prop up a war on Christianity,” Paul continued. “But that’s what’s happening now across the globe. As Christians, we should take a stand and fight against any of your tax dollars funding any persecution of Christians.”
Meanwhile, the nightime curfew imposed in Cairo and 13 other governorates in the wake of the latest round of civil unrest that started this August is set to stay in place through November. Also, Egypt’s constitutional amendment committee members will begin voting to approve uncontroversial articles this Sunday; the final draft of the amended constitution is expected to be ready by early December.
Amr Moussa, head of Egypt’s constitution committee, said that the 50-member body will begin voting on largely “agreed upon” articles on Sunday.Moussa said in a statement published on his official Facebook page on Friday night that members will cast their votes on uncontroversial constitutional draft articles already prepared by the subcommittees. He added that constitutional articles circulating in online media and described as “final formulations” produced by the committee are “inaccurate… and do not represent the truth.”
Hopefully, the new government will take more steps to better protect their religious minorities as they move forward with their amendments.
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