As the leader of Egypt's opposition steps down, questions of the party's identity and purpose frame the debate over a successor
Jack Shenker
There are several recurring themes one becomes wearily familiar with when following the erratic world of Egyptian politics. Sensational revelations about Zionist/Iranian plots to destabilise the nation are a permanent fixture, as are empty policy statements parroted by government spokesmen and stoic silence from the regime on any issue that actually matters.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” Heb 13.8
“Iycouc Pi,rictoc `ncaf nem voou @ `ncof `ncov pe@ nem sa `eneh”
“يسوع المسيح هو هو الامس واليوم والي الابد”
The Coptic culture has its genesis in the ancient Egyptian history and mythology. Christian teachings and thought have greatly influenced Coptic culture, norms, and values. They enhanced and invigorated some of the ancient Egyptian cultural attributes, norms and values, whereas they modified and changed others. In previous articles, the writer
America rejoins the argument over which human rights are sacred
BACK in February there were groans of dismay among civil-liberties activists when Hillary Clinton, in one of her early pronouncements as secretary of state, suggested that America had more important things to discuss with China than human rights. “Our pressing on those [human-rights] issues can’t interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate-change crisis and the security crisis,” she said.
Christian teachings and thought have greatly influenced Coptic culture, norms, and values. They enhanced and invigorated some of the ancient Egyptian traditions, modified and changed some others. In the previous article, the writer outlined some of the fundamental differences between ancient Egyptian and Christian beliefs.
Jussi Halla-aho to stand trial for blasphemy against Allah
Believe it or not, Finland still has blasphemy laws on the books, but there have been repeated attempts to rescind Section 10 of chapter 17 of the Finnish penal code. All attempts however, at removing the anti-modern statute from the law books have proved unsuccessful, with the latest attempt failing in 1998.
The Christian faith has been and continues to be the corner stone of the identity of the Christian population of Egypt, the Copts. The Copts form the largest non-Muslim indigenous population in the Middle East, which predates the 7th century Arabs conquest with thousands of years. The Egyptian Government has been published census data for the Copts in Egypt for several decades; however the Coptic population is estimated to be about 15% of the total population of 83 million, or approximately 12.5 million and possibly more.
The arrival of families changed the immigrants' attitudes towards religious and cultural values, transplanting honor culture, modesty standards, and attitudes toward women to the West. Veiled women have now become a common sight on U.S. and European streets.
Western Europe has gone through two major stages in its recent immigration history. In the first stage, European leaders misjudged the effects of immigration and, in the second, they miscalculated how hard it would be to stop an immigration dynamic.
Western Europe has gone through two major stages in its recent immigration history. In the first stage, European leaders misjudged the effects of immigration and, in the second, they miscalculated how hard it would be to stop an immigration dynamic.
Since President Anwar Sadat's murder (6/10/1981) emergency laws have been in force in Egypt. These laws strongly reduce individual freedom and civil rights. This measure has been adopted mainly in order to oppose the threat presented by The Muslim Brotherhood. The movement is officially outlawed; nevertheless it won 20% of the seats (88 of 454) in the last parliamentary elections on a personal basis. Article number 2 of 1971's constitution establishes Shari'a as the main source of law. Shari'a provides the legal basis for death sentences: execution, by shooting or hanging, it doesn't apply to young people under 18.
Why do some Muslims become suicide bombers or "martyrs"? In fact, these two near antithetic words — on the one hand, broken, desperate suicides, on the other, heroic martyrs — intrinsically demonstrate the radically different epistemologies the average Westerner and Muslim will articulate their answer through. In other words, that Westerners consider them suicides while Muslims consider them martyrs in and of itself speaks volumes on motivation.
Conflating History with Theology: Judeo-Christian violence vs. Islamic violence
Raymond Ibrahim
Especially after the terrorist strikes of 9/11, Islam has often been accused of being intrinsically violent. Many point to the Koran and other Islamic scriptures and texts as proof that violence and intolerance vis-à-vis non-Muslims is inherent to Islam. In response, a number of apologetics have been offered. The fundamental premise of almost all of these is that Islam’s purported violence—as found in Islamic scriptures and history—is no different than the violence committed by other religious groups throughout history and as recorded in their scriptures, such as Jews and Christians. The argument, in short, is that it is not Islam per se but rather human nature that is prone to violence.
Let's set aside for the moment the gross insult of those who claim to be British citizens hurling abuse at those who have risked their lives to defend our liberties. The Muslims who shouted abuse at the homecoming march by 2nd Battalion, the Royal Anglican Regiment, such as "Baby Killers" and "Terrorists" forget that they would not enjoy this right if it were not for the bravery of the British service men and women who fight to protect the British way of life.
While foreign fighters and their 'charitable' successors plant the seeds of radical Islam in Bosnia, local politicians and their followers seem bent on ensuring that the country remains a place of ethnic intolerance and division, Anes Alic and Vildana Skocajic write for ISN Security Watch.
By Vildana Skocajic and Anes Alic for ISN Security Watch
The Egyptian Jesuit Who Inspired the Pope's Ideas on Islam
Pope Benedict XVI meditates as he visits the Blue Mosque in Istanbul on Nov. 30, 2006
Patrick Hertzog / AFP / Getty
Before he was Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger would hold an annual summer retreat for his former theology students that focused each year on a single theme of acute concern. Three months after his rise to the papacy, Benedict XVI continued the tradition with a closed-door encounter in the Vatican's breezy summer residence, Castel Gandolfo. The topic chosen that first year with him as Pope was Islam, and the keynote speaker was Father Samir Khalil Samir, a soft-spoken, Cairo-born Jesuit and an expert on Muslim history and theology.
Christian presence helps preserve a peaceful coexistence in such a religious ethnically diverse society.
BY CAROL GLATZ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY — The need to find ways to stop the slow, yet steady departure of Christians from the Middle East has come into greater focus recently.
Pope Benedict urged the dwindling Arab Christian minority to patiently persist in its struggle to survive and hold onto its religious and cultural identity when he met with bishops from Iraq, Iran and Turkey who were in Rome to report on their dioceses early this year.
Having written at length on various aspects of Islam, it is always my writings concerning doctrinal deceit that elicit (sometimes irate) responses. As such, the purpose of this article is to revisit the issue of deceit and taqiyya in Islam, and address the many ostensibly plausible rebuttals made by both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Somalia-born academic speaks; European nations being swamped by Muslims who don't accept basic human rights, she says
The Gazette
Ayaan Hirsi Ali travels with bodyguards because of her beliefs.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali had a warning to Montrealers hoping to avoid problems with devout Muslims assimilating into secular society.
"Go visit Europe," said Ali, who has been an outspoken critic of Islamic fundamentalism in the Netherlands, where she was a member of parliament, and the United States, where she now lives.
Britain, a hotbed of radical Islam, tries to counter the extremist threat
Europe News
Britain, a hotbed of radical Islam, tries to counter the extremist ... n early December, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown did something very rare for a European leader: He publicly pointed his finger at a Muslim country and told it to get its act together.
Over the past century and a half or so, scholars, mostly from Europe and North America, studied ancient Egyptian literature. Most of the effort was directed at studying texts written in the hieroglyphic and hieratic scripts. Less effort was directed at the study of texts written in the demotic script, and a lot less effort was directed at the study of texts written in Coptic, the last Egyptian script. Examples of literary compositions in Coptic include the writings of Dioscorus of Aphrodito, Shenoute the archimandrite, and many others.
Coptic Cause Loses Two Great Writers and Activists
A few days ago Father Youta announced that he will retire from writing due to a controversy with a certain website which used to publish his articles. Now the popular Mr. Hanz Hanna has decided to stop writing too in solidarity with Father Youta. Both decisions were based on the behavior of that website. Unfortunately we lost the efforts of two great Coptic writers, and no doubt the website lost its reputation of non-bias to say the least!!!!
For a long time I followed your writing with great interest. You are a candle lighting the darkness of our society. This morning I was shocked when I read about your decision of stop writing. In spite of my respect for your decision and understanding to your frustration, I decided to write these few sentences hoping that you may rethink your decision.
