Friday, January 7, 2011

Eternal Rights of the Copts

Thank you Jeffrey glad you are writing again!! - Sols

Eternal Rights of the Copts





by Jeffrey Imm




Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)









January 7, 2011




http://www.realcourage.org/2011/01/eternal-rights-of-the-copts/





In the year 2011, we have seen once again another year of oppression,
violence, and terrorist murder against Egyptian Coptic Christians, with
the latest terrorist bombing on January 1, attacking the Church of St. Mark and St. Peter in Alexandria, killing 21 and wounding 79. But less than a week later, Al-Masry-Al-Youm reports that “scores of Christians on Thursday attended Coptic Christmas mass at Alexandria’s Church.”









Their Coptic Christians’ courage and resiliency should be an
inspiration to all who believe in human freedom and human dignity, but
it should be an inspiration most of all to those who defend our human
rights, including our human rights of freedom of religion and worship
for all. No one would blame the Copts for avoiding such services or
finding more private ways to hold services. But their example today
shows that there is no enemy powerful enough to destroy human freedom
and human rights for all people, no matter how determined their mission
of hate.






A year earlier, we saw another terrorist bombing on the Coptic Christmas Eve on the night January 6, 2010, where
Coptic Christians were gunned down outside the Mar Yohana church in the
town of Naga Hammadi. Last January, Copts in Egypt, in the United
States, and around the world rallied to ask the world governments to
call for Egypt to act on this. Human rights activists, including
myself, held press conferences asking for Egypt and Egyptian Muslims to choose a path of mutual respect in regards to Egyptian Copts, an Undiscovered Country of human rights shared by all of us.









On Friday, January 7, 2011, the Coptic Christmas Day, there will be those who have called for rallies
in Egypt to defend Copts freedom of religion. Those individuals who
have spoken out and offered human fellowship not just despite, but also
because of our diversity, deserve commendation. In addition, we must also congratulate those such as Al-Ahram newspaper’s editor Hani Shukrallah
who has openly and fearlessly challenged those that promote religious
bigotry against the Coptic Christians and called for change.






But today, Coptic Christmas Day, I have a message to people of all faiths and all beliefs.






While we rightly defend the human rights of Copts and of all people, I
urge people of all faiths to find the pluralism and respect for other
human beings’ faith in God to respect their eternal rights with their
God. It does not matter if you share those beliefs or not. But if you
are a person of religious faith, and your life is shaped or even driven
by that faith, then you know that no one and nothing can take your
faith, your religious beliefs from you.






So it will be with the Copts. We must recognize and defend their
human rights as human beings. In conflicts between people of religious
identities, we often speak of human rights, but perhaps we also need to
speak of eternal rights that people of faith have with their God.






To people of faith, I ask you on the Copts Christmas Day, to respect
their eternal rights with their God, their savior, as rights that no one
can or will ever take from them as well, just as no one could take your
faith from you. Those eternal rights – the bond between you and your
God – the bond between you and your Messiah – are just as inviolable,
universal, and deserving of respect and honor as our universal human
rights.






So today on Coptic Christmas Day, I ask you to think and respect the
Eternal Rights of the Copts and of all people of faith around the world.






And to the brave Christian Copts, I wish you a Merry Christmas. No one and nothing can ever take Christmas away from you.









Coptic Christians Do Not Lose Faith, Despite the Violence and Oppression Against Them (Photo: LA Times)

No comments:

Post a Comment