CAIRO: The post-uprising Egypt for Coptic Christians has not been a kind one. Add to this the recent upheaval over an anti-Islam film reportedly produced and distributed by expatriate Coptic Christians in the United States and they have serious worries for their future. They have been attacked, pushed aside, killed and have watched as conservative Islamic parties took a lion's share of votes in the parliamentary elections late last year. Now, much to the fear of Egypt's roughly 10 million Christians – a new report suggests that number might only be half – Islamic groups and leaders are being tasked with inking a new constitution for the country's long-term future. Unfortunately, the Coptic community does not have a leader per se. There is no unifying figure within the Christian communities in Egypt, including the very active Protestant sects – who have been more willing to join the protest movement on the ground. This has led to a power vacuum within the community and without a leader addressing publicly the desires of the Christian community in Egypt, they have seen their clout diminish as the transition period away from the Mubarak era continues. Debate rages on here whether they should be fearful of a parliament led by the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). Amr Derrag, the head of the FJP for the Giza governorate recently told me that in a government led by his conservative party, “all Coptic Christians would have equal rights under the law and there would be no persecution." In fact, the Brotherhood has largely done their best to support and protect the Christian community. On Coptic Christmas, January 7, organized groups of Brotherhood-sponsored men headed to churches to ensure safety. Still, the fact they were forced to do just that, in Farid Zaki's view, shows “we live in a society that wants to push Christians away and push them to leave." Largely responsible for the growing fear among Christians was the electoral gains made by the ultra-conservative Salafist al-Nour Party, which has issued a number of firebrand statements calling for an end to alcohol, no bikinis on beaches and calls for all women to be veiled. Coptic women don't veil. They have even opposed the idea that Christians can, or should, be allowed to represent Muslims, ostensibly arguing that Christians should not be in parliament unless they are representing only their Christian community. But all these fears received a reprieve earlier this year as the country's leading Islamic institute, al-Azhar, called for a Bill of Rights before a constitution is drafted. In the document, which received massive popular support from activists, liberals, Islamists, intellectuals and Christians. The idea, simply, would be to establish certain “inalienable" rights for all Egyptians, including freedom of speech, assembly and, most importantly, freedom of religion. But despite the document, the concept of what those “inalienable" rights would be are still to be discovered. “It's a positive step," added Zaki, a young 25-year-old activist affiliated with the Maspero Youth Union, which had been instrumental in pushing the military following the “Maspero Massacre" on October 9 last year that left at least 27 Christians dead after the armed forces opened fire and ran over peaceful protesters in front of the state television building, or Maspero. The al-Azhar document and its apparent calls for cooperation with the Coptic Church could be a stepping stone to greater achievement. With the document, the institute has, in many ways, “come over" to Tahrir, where many Coptic Christians align themselves with. The signal, many Copts I have spoken with is that there is room to maneuver in the call for a Bill of Rights and the establishment of more freedoms for religious minorities. However, the Coptic Church has historically avoided the concept of separation of church and state, despite the inklings of the greater Coptic community, who have long demanded the government end its predisposed Muslim superiority. This was seen a few years back when a Coptic woman was forced to battle lengthy court dates in order to retain custody of her two children, who grew up Coptic, but were relabeled Muslim by the government after their father converted to Islam. The Coptic Church, although liberalizing its views on religion in the country, has a long established belief in the concept of separation of laws – for Muslims and for Christians, respectively – rather than a unifying concept of freedom of religion. Adding to the frustration of the Coptic community is the belief – and rightly so – of the Church's tacit support for the Mubarak regime. This is vital in the transition process for Egypt because as Christians, individually and within political groups, aspire for greater rights, they, like their Muslim brothers and sisters previously, are being forced to shun the Church on political grounds. This could give traction on the grassroots level to a Bill of Rights concept and one that, through a bottom-up approach, could assist Egypt in pushing a constitution based on principles of citizenship instead of faith. As Egypt's new parliament is tasked with inking a new constitution, civil society will play an important role in how this process develops. There are many questions that will be answered in the constitution, such as family law, divorce, adultery and other issues that have historically led to sectarianism and fear. Legislation, a Bill of Rights, a new constitution and a house of worship law are all positive steps for assisting the full re-integration of the Coptic Christian community into Egypt's political and social future, but for change to happen on a grassroots level, it has to begin with the people themselves. For me, legal remedies to the ongoing faith-based tension in Egypt will do little to create a lasting solution that can lead to the elimination of prejudice and the creation of a society that involves all groups on equal footing. For Egypt's Coptic Christians to achieve greater freedom and justice, there must a turn toward cultures of peace. In Egypt, one of the root causes of a lack of a culture of peace is the educational system. Young Egyptian students are taught that they are different from one another, that their respective faiths are cause for separation. In schools, Christian students study the history and faith of Christianity separately, while Muslim students do the same for Islam. This creates a sense that each group is separate and divided when it comes to any national cause. The ministry of education this month announced that it would begin teaching Christian principles in its 11th grade human rights class. A small step, but an important one. Without jointly learning the country's history of Christianity and Islam, this helps build an idea that Egypt was, and is, “Christian" or “Muslim," but not both. This imposed division was broken down by the revolution, at least for a few months. While the Coptic community is hopeful on the future of Egypt and its role within society and politics, they must be weary of how far the Christian community can honestly go. They have limited mobility, limited representation in government and at the end of the day, the turn toward conservatism in the country will be a major impediment to creating a robust civil society that treats Coptic Christians with equal weight. The new constitution will be a telling document as to how much unity and freedom Egyptians, including Copts, will have in the new Egypt.
