Coptic Religious Freedom in Egypt and in America

Coptic Religious Freedom in Egypt and in America

For our Introduction to Modern Middle East class, we were assigned to fulfill a Digital Media Assignment, a project that would assimilate today’s mainstream social media and online platforms with common topics of today that are related to the Modern Middle East. As 3 Coptic Christian Egyptians working together, we felt that this would be a great opportunity to bring up the conversation about religious freedoms for Coptics in Egypt, a concern that not many people are aware of today.

The term “Coptic” describes Christian Egyptians, who make up about 10% of Egypt’s population. As Egypt’s largest minority, Coptics have been through a history of discrimination and persecution. Events relating to a lack of religious freedoms for Coptic Christians still occur today, one of which will be further discussed by one of our group members, Joy Bibaoui. Also in this project, there will be interviews conducted by our group members Jerome Abdel-Maseih and Marna George, where they interview relatives/friends who are Coptic Immigrants from Egypt. Our main topic question for the interviews is: “How was your experience in Egypt regarding religious freedom and how much did it differ coming to America?”

Jerome provides a written interview between him and his father on his experiences in Egypt in relation to America, as well as a narrative to sum up the perspective and stories of his father.

Written Interview:

Me: Do you feel that you had religious freedom in America?

Dad: Yes, in a political sense, obviously we were allowed to go to church and do all our religious duties but we didn’t have the flexibility that we have here.

Me: Can you elaborate on that a bit?

Dad: We didn’t get vacations and stuff back then and they didn’t really acknowledge our feasts. We weren’t allowed to really celebrate anything on a national scale like the muslims did with their feasts.

Me: Do you feel any of these feelings in America?

Dad: No not really. Obviously we don’t get our feasts off because the Catholics have a different calendar but nothing bad.

Me: Does that mean you feel more free in America talking about your religion?

Dad: Yea, in Egypt we couldn’t talk freely because they called it preaching and evangelism. We weren’t allowed the same tolerance to talk about our religion as the muslims did because the people saw it as trying to force our religion on muslims.

Me: Do you remember any specific events or circumstances that either you or someone you know has experienced in regards to this topic?

Dad: When we do an oral exam, the professor would ask for your name, and if you had a Christian name they would either fail you or give you an impossible question. This happened a lot and the questions weren’t hard ones, they were literally questions from a different subject or a higher level course.

Me: The Coptic Church in Egypt has suffered through so much, especially during and after the revolution, where many victims were murdered, and where many churches were burnt down. Do these circumstances make you feel grateful that you’ve immigrated to America, where it is safer for all religions?

Dad: I’m grateful and thankful to be here but I wish I was there at the same time to help rebuild our churches and our country. It isn’t easy to leave your family and not be able to help.

Me: How do you feel about the recent persecution in Egypt?

Dad: It is obviously sad but it’s nothing the church hasn’t already gone through. Through God and prayer and fasting we can only ask God to help us and to keep the faith strong. The blood of the martyrs is what our church uses to keep its faith stronger and stronger.

Me: Do you think the world should know more or be aware about the persecutions of Copts? Why or why not?

Dad: Yes, to promote more tolerance. To have the muslims in Egypt to have more tolerance for us as Copts. Nowadays it might be different than in my time but the world should know that Egypt was never an Islamic country until the invasions by Arab empires. Egypt was formerly Christian and the language wasn’t Arabic it was Coptic.

Me: Do you think that the religious freedoms here are taken for granted.

Dad: You can sort of ask yourself. The story I mentioned before with the professor seems absurd because of what people have been accustomed to here. For us as Copts, as I said before persecution only makes us stronger and is what the church is essentially based on.

Me: Lastly, did your religion help you in your immigration process?

Dad: Yea of course. When you immigrate at a young age by yourself all you have is your God to hope in. There were many hard times and long hours of terrible work but with God life wasn’t as bad. In the apartment I shared with other immigrants from Egypt we would all group up in one room all the other guys from other floors as well and we would pray the midnight prayers if we couldn’t make it to church because of work.

Jerome’s Narrative:  

As an immigrant coming to America in 1991, Jerome’s father saw a whirlwind of changes from his home country of Egypt. The most striking of all differences was the religious freedom Jerome’s father gained by moving to America. The many experiences and stories of Jerome’s father of his days back in Egypt, shed a light on to the many struggles Egyptian Christians, also known as Coptic Orthodox Christians, deal with in their own country.

One experience Jerome’s father mentioned was multiple encounters Coptic Christians would have with university professors of the Islamic religion. “When we do an oral exam,” Jerome’s father started, “the professor would ask for your name, and if you had a Christian name they would either fail you or give you an impossible question.” These sort of encounters weren’t anything new to Jerome’s father or the Coptic community as Jerome’s father had stated. In addition, the concept of talking about the Coptic religion in public to other non-Copts was almost forbidden. “We couldn’t talk freely because they called it preaching and evangelism,” Jerome’s father explained, “We weren’t allowed the same tolerance to talk about our religion as the Muslims did because the people saw it as trying to force our religion on Muslims.” Jerome’s father continued by expressing his agreement in bringing more awareness to the persecution of Christians all over the Middle East especially in the wake of a catastrophic event in a Coptic church in Egypt in which a suicide bomber walked in and killed 25 congregants including two close family friends of Jerome and his father. The reason for the need in awareness? Jerome’s father believes that if the world stands up to these persecutions that it will build more acceptance of Copts in Egypt but also will teach a valuable lesson. The concept of religious freedom is one, which Jerome’s father believes, is taken for granted in a country like America. “You can sort of ask yourself”, Jerome’s father said when asked the question of whether religious freedom is taken for granted or not. “The story I mentioned before with the professor seems absurd because of what people have been accustomed to here.”

Nonetheless, the relationship Copts have with Muslims has become much stronger since 1991 especially due to the revolutions that have occurred in Egypt that have forced the country to unite as one. There is no hatred toward any Muslims, Jerome’s father mentioned, and he believes that eventually Egypt will become a great country again.

Marna also conducts an audio interview with a fellow Coptic friend of hers, named Mario Aziz, about his experience regarding religious freedom in Egypt and in America. She later provides a narrative to summarize Mario’s stories and perspective, and also provides her own personal input and experience regarding this topic, as an immigrant from Egypt.

Audio Interview:

Marna’s Narrative:

I interviewed Mario Aziz about his personal experience in regards to religious freedom in Egypt in comparison to immigration to the United States. Mario is twenty-one years old, he is Coptic Orthodox, and he lived in Egypt for seventeen years and came to America four years ago in 2013. He began telling me about his experience as a primary school student and how in religion class the Coptic students were segregated into small classrooms from the Muslim students, who were the majority and were able to freely practice and take class in spacious places such as the school mosque. The public weekend was also attentive to meet the standards of Islam rather than Christianity, so the weekend was Friday and Saturday, but Sunday- the day of mass, there was school. Mario described to me how in most public schools, Coptic students were also obligated to study the Quran as part of the curriculum, whereas the Bible would never be discussed, any Christian student who refused to participate in that class would be punished through physical strike or fail the class. He told me that in society, it was very easy to identify people of different religions—most Christians were named after names in the Bible or the church while most Muslims were named after names affiliated with Islam. There were chances of being treated differently based off your name, but he was not threatened or forced to convert in response to his Christianity. However after the revolution, that’s when threats were directed towards the church, of bombing, destroying or sending general threats to the church. Mario talked about one of the biggest terror attacks, the bombing of the church in Alexandria which killed twenty-five Copts, he says this was the only time he actually felt endangered to practice his religion. After, coming to America, he felt more secure to practice since no one gave much attention to his religion but rather who he is as a person. He feels that most Christian rights are abused in Egypt and do not receive the rights they deserve.

To have religious classes in the first place is very controversial, because it leaves room for students to be separated on different aspects of their identities. It should be viewed just biased and discriminatory as segregating black students from white ones. Even if it is tolerated, most public schools in Egypt do not provide acceptable circumstances that contain a productive learning environment for Christian students, which is unjust since the opportunities are not distributed equally. As for the mandatory curriculum of the Quran, it represents dominance of one religion over the other, making one religion more superior. When it comes to society, which collaborates with the standards of Islam, most Christians had already accumulated and adjusted their lifestyles so they could coexist with the other religion. After the revolution took place and serious threats were addressed to the church, Christians organized and went to voice their concerns in Maspero, Egypt. I remember protesting in this particular protest October 8th, 2011. I left with my parents as we took food and water for the protesters, when we arrived there were gates, they checked our baggage and allowed us to pass into the crowd. When we got there, in front of the media headquarters building thousands and thousands of individuals were chanting and praying as they shouted from their hearts against the violation of their basic human rights. I saw many reporters and journalists from major news stations interviewing people and asking them why we were protesting. I told them we are asking for the destroyed churches to be rebuilt and for Christians to obtain basic human rights since this was not the first time the church and its believers have been attacked. I then spoke about the bombing of the church in Alexandria that occurred before the revolution. Until now the Coptic church struggles in a society that cannot value its presence, however the church seems to take a clear stance on creating a peaceful environment for all Egyptians. Although these incidents may be depicted as declined tolerance in the country, most of the population consisting of both Christian and Muslims, excluding extremists and public officials, get along, respect and value each other.

Joy Bibaoui, our third group member, discusses the recent events regarding a Coptic Church bombing on December 11th, 2016, and provides a personal intake and opinion on this specific topic.

Joy's Narrative:

It was a deadly explosion at St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo. It happened on a normal Sunday morning, where 25 victims never saw their death coming, along with many others being severely injured. The victims were mainly women and children. This church was the Cathedral Complex, the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Churches, one of the most important sites. The church was broken and shattered inside, all of the furniture destroyed, and blood and ripped clothing, along with the dead on the floor. This isn't anything new for Coptics to experience, for they've been living through this for years before. But it boggles my mind, how a girl, just like me, my age, my passion, my dreams, could die one random Sunday morning when she goes to pray at church, just for being Coptic. Meanwhile, I am here in America, safe and sound, worshiping however and whenever I want, without a finger touching me for those reasons. A family losing their child, their mother, their father, just because of their faith, truly infuriates the soul. I feel for my fellow Coptics in Egypt, for they have the valiance and bravery to worship still, knowing there could be a huge cost to their life and safety. It is true that there is a lack of religious freedom for Coptics in Egypt, it may have improved over history, but it still exists. Many of those that do not live through it, may not even notice it. I am thankful enough to be living in a country where I can freely express who I am without fearing my safety, or any future punishments. Expressing my thoughts about religious freedoms for Copts in Egypt not only teaches me to be thankful for the rights I naturally take for granted, but shows me that there needs to be more awareness of such events. Not just Coptics, but of Christian minorities in many Middle Eastern Countries, where they should feel the right to express their religion just as equally as other religions in those countries. Christian Egyptians ask for equality and fairness, they do not want to feel divided in their own home country, they want to be as one.

Below is a video of a man who lost his wife and his 19 year old daughter due to the bombing of the Coptic Church on December 11th. As the interviewers ask the man in shock what happened, he says, "My wife and daughter just died. What else can I do?" Staying calm and collected, the man kisses both sides of his hand (a sign of thankfulness) and says, "We thank God. I won't say anything but thank God. It's just me and her brother left in the world now."