by Robert Wilkinson
Here's a great example of a better Way! On Coptic Christmas Eve (last Thursday, Jan 6), Egyptian Muslims came together with Egyptian Coptic Christians and demonstrated their mutual dedication to all that is good in humanity. This is a story of incredible courage and commitment to countering separateness and restoring much needed sanity in our species.
Today's news of something hopeful is courtesy of the ever-fantastic Truth Out. It's a ThinkProgress report written by Zaid Jilani titled Thousands of Egyptian Muslims Show Up as "Human Shields" to Defend Coptic Christians From Terrorism. This massive show of solidarity was a direct reaction to the New Year's Day bombing of a Coptic Church in Egypt that killed 21 and injured 79 more, suspected to have been done by Muslim extremists trying to divide Egypt. As you can imagine, tensions are running very high, with riots and street battles.
And yet, something good came out of the carnage last Thursday night! From the article:
As Egyptian Copts attended mass at churches across the country, “thousands” of Muslims, including “the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak,” joined them, acting as “human shields” to protect from terrorist attacks by extremists. The Muslims organized under the slogan “We either live together, or we die together,” inspired by Mohamed El-Sawy, an Egyptian artist.... What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside. From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as “human shields” for last night’s mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.
... Among those shields were movie stars Adel Imam and Yousra, popular preacher Amr Khaled, the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak, and thousands of citizens who have said they consider the attack one on Egypt as a whole. “This is not about us and them,” said Dalia Mustafa, a student who attended mass at Virgin Mary Church on Maraashly. “We are one. This was an attack on Egypt as a whole, and I am standing with the Copts because the only way things will change in this country is if we come together.”
Glad to see someone is reporting that people are making an effort to get along and promote the ideal of peace between the religions. We can only wish this had been more thoroughly and widely reported by our usual international media suspects.
Addressing a complaint that many have about Islam, this is a perfect example of how some a lot of very devoted practicing Muslims really ARE trying to assert themselves and blunt the extremists. This is certainly as good a statement of dedication to peaceful coexistence as there can be!
If you want to know more, please read the original article and check out the Al Jazeera English tv report. Though I truly wish all the bombings and assassinations would immediately cease, that something this profound could come out of death is a shining example of humanity's higher possibilities. This shows we can outlast and outlive the darkness of the current times if we just remember what is good and true and beautiful in the human condition.
© Copyright 2011 Robert Wilkinson
Just beautiful Robert. Thanks for making my day. Bless all the suffering people in Arizona as well. I pray for this every day.
Posted by: cheryl schwind | January 10, 2011 at 07:02 AM
It seemed to me that this year will be focused somehow on Egypt and especialy on Egypt as origin of 3 western religions and this solar eclipse reminded me again on that idea.
But I couldn't even hope that people will finally practice the essence of every religion - love and compassion.
As a member of the Serbian people and as a member of the Serbian Orthodox Church courage and determination of Egypt Muslims impressed me and touched my heart.
God won... again.
Posted by: yzse | January 11, 2011 at 02:54 AM
Hi all - This is a great collective example of one way to counter violent thinking and acts. We must be clear about the sources of violence wherever we live, and find the courage in our hearts and minds to lessen or negate it however possible through positive actions, feelings, and thoughts.
Ultimately, we're all participants in a great human challenge of learning to choose nonviolence as a way of life. Since extreme violence is a global problem (recently come home to roost in Arizona,) I thought the following comment from one of the MSM stories got to the core of all political and religious violence, whether in the US or other countries. S/he wrote:
"I asked myself if this could happen here in Maine. After some thought I had to say "yes" -with great sadness and a measure of anxiety. First, Maine is not all that different from other states in that we get much of the same media as most other states do. That's the biggest factor of all in this tragic incident."
"Second, we hear apologists say things about Arizona like: “the shooter was so deranged -there’s no way to tell where he got the idea”, or “that guy was such a wacko he wouldn’t know politics if it bit him!” That’s just flat wrong. We can safely say that mentally “sane” or not, his writings and blogs, his choices as to the event, targets, and weaponry all demonstrate his ability to design a plan and execute it effectively. His motivations are evident in his objectives."
"Taking it a bit further, I’d say that it’s not likely that he’s uniquely vulnerable, nor that he’d be so motivated only by his exposure to Hate Radio & TV. Likely he’s had a steady diet of hate mongering and lies from whomever he hangs around with. We sometimes catch snippets of it at the coffee counter, on the job, at the bar, and at some organizational meetings: “…they’re crazy! -they’re trying to destroy our Republic!”, “oh well -if ballots fail bullets will work!”, “wouldn’t be surprised to see armed revolt… right here!” etc. Living on a restricted diet of that kind has deadly impact, as propagandists, political indoctrinators and certain talk show hosts have known for many, many years. Famous ones abound in history. Goebbels, for instance, said: “he who owns history, owns the future”, meaning of course: ‘control what people 'believe' about their history and you can control their future’."
"And so I’m afraid we must face the potential for that kind of deception and hate to erupt right here in Maine and in fact, pretty much anywhere in our America today; that is… so long as we’re all willing to tolerate it."
This could apply anywhere in the world where people believe in violence as a means to an end, rather than reason, dialogue, and mutual respect. The challenge is to free the mind from the chains of violence. My wishes for all our safety as the birthing of a new Era continues...
Posted by: Robert | January 11, 2011 at 08:53 AM
The sufi mystics in sudan have been in the news to wow isnt all of this a good sign and so heartwarming may we see more of this compassionate acceptance of all religions and all people...bless us all...giverny
Posted by: giverny | January 11, 2011 at 08:01 PM
This is a beautiful example of a peaceful co-existence. I wish it had been, or will be, covered by major news throughout the world as it shows we are all really one when we choose to be.
Posted by: Rockhiker4 | January 11, 2011 at 09:27 PM