The amendments in Egypt's referendum were "meant to amend the current Constitution just enough to allow fair elections before a new document is written." What they did not begin to touch, not surprisingly, was Article 2 of the current Egyptian constitution, which reads: "Islam is the religion of the state. Arabic is its official language, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic jurisprudence (Sharia)." As one Coptic Christian rightly noted in a march demanding a secular government in February, "This provision is the source of discrimination in Egypt."
Almost no one in the West dares admit that; it is an article of politically correct faith that it is interpretations or implementations of Sharia that are problematic, but not Sharia itself. Non-Muslims will continue to suffer as a result. More on this story. "How Egypt's historic referendum could now bolster Islamists," by Kristen Chick for the Christian Science Monitor, March 20:
Egyptians voted overwhelmingly in favor of proposed constitutional amendments Saturday, paving the way for parliamentary and presidential elections to be held within months.
Final results announced Sunday show that 77.2 percent of voters backed the changes in what was the freest vote in Egypt in more than half a century, despite reported irregularities.
The outcome sets the stage for a quick transition to a new government, as advocated by the military council that's been ruling Egypt since former President Hosni Mubarak was toppled by popular protests last month. But the truncated timeline means the new parties emerging in Egypt after decades of oppression could struggle to organize in time to find success in the elections. And opponents of the amendments say that the result gives unfair advantage to the two political groups that gained the deepest roots during Mr. Mubarak's regime: the Muslim Brotherhood and the former ruling National Democratic Party.
The vote is disappointing for Egyptian Christians, who had campaigned against the amendments, and could further strain sectarian tensions. They worried that a yes vote would allow the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists to gain a strong position in the coming parliament. The Muslim Brotherhood made a large effort to mobilize voters to cast ballots in support of the amendments.
Emad Gad, an analyst at the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, says Islamist factions will likely do well when parliamentary elections are held. “We can deal with this option if they will continue in power for four years only,” he says. “The main problem here is the next parliament will write the next Constitution. So then the fanatics and the Muslim Brotherhood will govern us for decades.”
The approved amendments, meant to amend the current Constitution just enough to allow fair elections before a new document is written, will limit the president to two four-year terms, force him to appoint a vice president, and curb his power to rule by emergency law. Opponents had argued that the changes don’t go far enough, and wanted a completely new Constitution before any elections were held.
Now, where's that democracy gotten to...we had it a minute ago..it must be somewhere...er, nope, not under there. Let's see...What's that noise? Oh there it is - flying out the window!
Much of the problems with Islam are blamed on the radicals ~ it makes people feel more comfortable to classify its troubling issues ~ as radical Islam.
But the Islamic legal system calls for the subjugation of all non-Muslims. [Koran 9:29]
It is almost as if the information about Islam and its laws are being purposely distributed ~ in a restrictive way.
The CSM and others feel it is up to them to decide what parts of Islam should be talked about.
Or only when the Islamic dhimmi system is dealt with in 'a responsible way' can it be talked about ~ and only by certain people ~ deemed qualified.
Mostly if the Islamic dhimmi or apartheid system is talked about ~ it is from a historical perspective ~ and treated almost romantically ~ as if the practise does not continue today ~ in virtually every Islamic nation.
What is worst ~ without these key facts ~ some are promoting Islam as a part of the legal system here in the west.
We are playing with fire!!
In my open letter to the Egyptian people, I said the success of the revolution would depend on what they left out of the new constitution. They included Islam in the new constitution and that makes the revolution into a devolution.
Egypt faces numerous intractable problems. The greatest may be that its productive capacity is dwarfed by its rapidly increasing population. How about a one child policy instead of hoping for the world-wide caliphate to bail out their sorry asses?
" So then the fanatics and the Muslim Brotherhood will govern us for decades"
Relax friend, it won't be that long. They will be out of power after they start the next world war. And that will be 5, maybe 6 moths tops.
It's not the end of the world.
What does it say about egyptian people that they would vote for a political party that assassinated 2 of their national leaders?
It would be like voting for John Wilkes Booth with Lee Harvey Oswald as vice president.
and what about this-
Lets say the Demopublican party holds no elected office but is running a war in Guam. If a member of that party gets elected to a government position, and does not stop his parties war in Guam-, and nobody in the government makes the Demopublicans stop the war in Guam, does it mean the US is at war with Guam?
Considering that Hamas IS the MB in Gaza and IS at war with Israel, if a MB person is elected to government and Hamas continues to wage war- would that make Egypt BE at war with Israel?
Will those rockets stop being just Hamas rockets and become Egyptian rockets? (even if the egyptians don't admit it)
I said it before and will say it again, this will end badly.
Well, isn't this a surprise! Imagine that! Islamists may have an advantage in the upcoming elections.... I wonder how that happened?
I think what's really surprising here is that CSM is actually reporting (to a certain extent) the reality of the situation in Egypt at almost precisely the same moment the bottles of champagne -- you know, the ones consumed by the MSM and leftists in self-congratulatory smugness to commemorate the peaceful overthrow of the mubarek regime by ordinary eqyptians of all stripes (with no political aspirations other than good 'ol freedom from tyranny, mind you)-- began hitting the landfills.
Why not even the champagne glasses have been put away yet!
Well, I do declare...whatever is becoming of our world?
Marisol, I find the commnent "Non-Muslims will suffer as a result" a bit uninclusive. Everyone suffers when Sharia is the law, Muslims and non-Muslims.
the amendments, and could further strain sectarian tensions. They worried that a yes vote would allow the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists to gain a strong position in the coming parliament. The Muslim Brotherhood made a large effort to mobilize voters to cast ballots in support of the amendments.
Why am I not surprised by the Muslim Brotherhood's strong behind the scenes actions? The people of Egypt, both Christians and (secularized) Muslims, will now feel the heavy boot of Mohammad's acromegalic foot. Too bad, but they have to go through this, another few decades of sheer oppression in abeyance to their 7th century primitive pagan Arab/Allah mythology, crushing the human soul of the people under the deceits and punishments of their mullahs' Sharia. Democracy will have to wait... and wait... Constitutional rule of law, a secular modern concept, is too much for 'Allah'. The people must suffer and sacrifice with their blood for their thirsty Moon-god some more... "Allah akhbar!"