The Last While for Coptic Christians in Egypt
Coptic Christians in Egypt have been experiencing a series of tragedies in 2018 and 2019. As freethought people, the applications of human rights, if taken seriously, apply, at a rudimentary level of moral analysis, to non-freethought peoples as much as freethought peoples, in equal weight. Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi is the current President of Egypt.
According to The Guardian (Associated Press), based on reportage from November 3, 2018, Islamic militants attacked buses containing pilgrims en route to Cairo, Egypt (the capital). 19 were wounded and 7 were killed. All were from the same family — save one, including a boy (15) and girl (12). The Islamic State affiliate claimed ownership of the attack. As the Christians in Egypt support el-Sissi, the Islamic State wants to punish them, whether injuries or murders. The killings started in December, 2016 of the Christians.
El-Sissi declared the continuation of the fight terrorism. One priest of the church of Saint Mary in Minya, Begemy Naseem Nasr, said, “They want to embarrass el-Sissi and show that the state is unable to protect the Copts.” The World Youth Forum of el-Sissi opened around the time of the attacks. The Islamic State wants to embarrass and, therefore, make illegitimate the work of the President. There were proper funeral rights for the murdered pilgrims.
There were, at the time, a series of attacks on churches in Cairo, Alexandria, and Tanta coming to 100 or more deaths. Obviously, others were very probably injured, not to mention community fallout. There was an implementation of “tighter security around the Christian places of worship.” It was reported the importance of keeping in mind the increasing conservative orientation of Muslims in some parts of the country since the 1970s leading to risks for the Christians in the nation.
Euronews English states Coptic Christians claim being shut out of even football in Egypt. As Christianity Today, on the concerns of their religious community, stated, “Coptic Archbishop of London, Archbishop Angeolos, has called on Christians to be ‘an icon of what it is to be one in our diversity’ at a time when Britain and much of the world is experiencing ‘great anxiety’. He was addressing around 400 Church leaders, parliamentarians and dignitaries gathered at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey, on Thursday night to mark Coptic New Year celebrations.”
Egypt is the largest Christian community in the Middle East with 20–30 million followers. As these rights violations depict violence and repression due to sincerely held religious beliefs — bound to the freedom of religion and belief, and probably conscience, the violation of human rights and the murder of Christians, including Coptic Christians, should be a concern for humanists, critical thinkers, and human rights activists.
