Rage. “If the other guy [Biden] wins (God forbids)... [he] will help the Muslism Brotherhood take over Egypt… re-establish the Islamic Khalifa.” “Antifa Islamic Left Terrorist Alliance… ” “White Supremacist in the White House…” “[Trump is]…
Democracy and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions are constantly discussed. The debate centers on whether democracy is possible, or if it is doomed to authoritarian and dictatorial regimes. As we reflect on the…
I get a lot of blank stares when asked what I do. For starters, many Americans have never heard of Copts. I’m certain some initially think I’m talking about cops or police. I then explain how…
A church that imitates the state will likely also inherit its corruption. The immigrant churches did nothing to counter such deviations, and in some cases unintentionally furthered them. A people living in economic security and cultural freedom chose to inherit the flaws created by a repressive society. The man who hailed Shenouda as “King of the Copts” in 1977 was wrong at the time, but prescient about the things to come. Sooner or later new generations outside Egypt were bound to ask the question of what it means to be a Copt and seek their own path and their personal answers. They are beginning to ask for a different deal from the one their parents accepted from Shenouda. Their passions and support for Egyptian Copts still burn, but they are unlikely to accept a shushing in a church basement.
Many of my memories in childhood revolve around the Coptic Orthodox Church and the community I grew up in. My sister and I always looked forward to the weekends, where we spent evenings and afternoons with…
When I told people that I was going to take on Female Genital Mutilation for the Coptic Voice, I got one of two responses: “What’s that?” and: “That’s not a problem for Copts; we don’t have that.”
How the Supreme Court’s Ruling that undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants, and immigrants seeking asylum can be held indefinitely may end up hurting Copts. Source Martin Niemoller, an anti-Nazi Lutheran Pastor living in Germany during Hitler’s reign,…
For many born and raised in America, it’s sometimes difficult to fully understand the rigid societal structure of oppression that goes on in Egypt. Although America has its fair share of systemic racism, this oppression has…
The rise of the #metoo movement made me question the status of the Coptic women in our current society. Part of my PhD research is focused on feminism in Egypt. While there are prominent Coptic feminists…
When I returned to Egypt in August 2014 after studying civic engagement in the US, I found a country of failed revolution and lost aspirations; a country polarized and torn apart following three years of protests…