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By all accounts, it's all because of a DVD that was shown in a Coptic church which Muslims think insults Islam. And the play depicted on that DVD, by the way, was performed once, two years ago.
How exactly does it insult Islam?
According to this CNN story (thanks to Special Guest):
The riot was sparked by the distribution of a DVD of a play that was performed at the church two years ago. The play, "I Was Blind But Now I Can See," tells the story of a young Christian who converts to Islam and becomes disillusioned.
So a film depiction of someone converting to Islam and then becoming disillusioned is enough to bring more than 5,000 protestors to the church and injure many, including a nun who was stabbed and three people who were killed? You can see from this how deeply Egyptian Muslims have internalized the Islamic law mandating death for anyone who leaves Islam, and the old dhimmi laws forbidding Christians to proselytize.
An earlier report from Al-Jazeera gives more details that reinforce this point:
The production features a poor Christian university student who converts to Islam when a group of Muslim men promise him much-needed money.When he becomes disenchanted with his decision, the men threaten him with physical violence to prevent him from returning to his original faith.
So perhaps the Egyptian Muslims are offended that the student originally converted only for money, and that he was threatened by the Muslims when he wanted to return to Christianity. But this, of course, is like CAIR being offended by a book that depicts Muhammad as a warrior: both are taking offense at the truth. There are numerous reports of Copts converting to Islam under pressure, and certainly many Muslims in Egypt and elsewhere take very seriously the command in Islamic law that anyone who leaves Islam should be killed (which is based, of course, on a statement of Muhammad himself: see Bukhari, vol. 9, bk. 84, no. 57).
What offends the rioters, evidently, is that attention be drawn to all this. As the Coptic Bishop Armia said, "Copts would never tolerate anyone insulting Islam." In other words, they know what they have to do to get along. As so many Middle Eastern priests and lay Christians have told me, Christians in the Middle East well know that as a matter of survival, they must say one thing in public and another in private. The Copts who showed this video violated that rule, or at least found themselves in violation of it when news of the showing became known.
It is a pity that Muslims in Egypt and elsewhere don't heed the words of Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury (from "Mockery is good for the faithful, says Carey," in the Telegraph):
"They were very offended by Satanic Verses but I said you are living in a country and civilisation where we are quite used to this," he said."They say: 'Why as a Christian don't you condemn the Life of Brian?' I said: 'I love the film and I think it is good for religion to be knocked, to be criticised, to be challenged because we have done a lot of damage in the past'.
"We know religion is a force for good but I don't want to control a writer not to criticise me, because I may need that criticism.
"The Church of England is a broad church, we are used to being mocked. I do believe passionately in this. I wanted to assure Salman Rushdie that although many of his statements may have been in bad taste he had the right to say it as a lapsed Muslim."
If anyone needs the criticism that is apparently contained in the Copts' DVD, it is the very Muslims who are rioting because of it. If they noted and began to work against the intimidation of Copts and the threats against those who leave Islam, life would be better in Egypt for both Christians and Muslims.
Posted by Robert at October 22, 2005 7:57 AM
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The idea is to strike terror into the heart of the infidel. Brute force.
Posted by: leavingtheleft![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 22, 2005 8:31 AM
As with the false reports of koran flushing at Guantanamo, the mentality is "kill first, ask questions later." Any old excuse for a bloodbath.
Posted by: Howard, Fine & Howard at October 22, 2005 9:01 AM
Maybe if the reporters at the Jersey Journal kept up with JW/DW, they'd understand the history between the Copts and muslims of Egypt.
An update on the Armanious case:
http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1129972392281200.xml&coll=3
TWO COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY
The Jersey Journal - Jersey City,NJ,USA
... They have been in jail since their arrest in March in the murders of Hossam Armanious, 47; his wife, Amal Garas, 37; and their daughters, Sylvia, 16, and Monica ...
at October 22, 2005 10:19 AM
I think we should all send personal checks to Egyptians who were offended by this scandalous criticism of Islam. We have been trying this type of thing, but clearly not hard enough - only $2 billion a year.
Quijybo
Posted by: Quijybo at October 22, 2005 10:28 AM
Strike terror in the hearts of non-Muslims from time to time...just because you can. Remind them of who you are and what they are, and how they are to behave relative to Muslims and Islam. They dare do or say anything that might be construed to be offensive. In fact, they should be visible only when paying the Jizya and silent as they render service to their masters...Muslims.
Posted by: epg at October 22, 2005 10:31 AM
It is refreshing that CNN is running this story. I think the rising awareness about the nature of Islam is due in no small part to courageous intellectuals, artists and political leaders like Robert Spencer, Hugh Fitzgerald, Ali Sina, Ibn Warriq, Theo Van Gogh, Salmad Rushdie, Aayan Hirsi, Dr. Amina Wadud, Irshad Manji and many others.
We are winning!
Quijybo
Posted by: Quijybo at October 22, 2005 10:38 AM
It is obvious that Muslims are skilled at the converting through intimidation and manipulation. It is no secret that Muslims use the vices of bribery and coercion to bring new "converts" into their ranks. For thousands of years this has been occurring all over the world. Sadly, non-Muslims living in expanding Muslim territories are discriminted against in such a way that they are faced with real hardships if they don't convert to Islam. This is happening right now in many countries such as Sudan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and of course, Egypt. A sense of desperation and hopelessness caused by Muslims will force many non-Muslims to become a Muslim.
When Muslims get a hold of the economic systems that drive the local economy, they don't give business to non-Muslims. Last year, I met a Coptic here in the United States who told me first hand that he emigrated to the U.S. because he was discriminated aginst as a Coptic Christian in Egypt. As an accountant in southern Egypt, he realized that many Muslims were aware that he had a Christian name and chose to not conduct any business with him. These silent cases of discrimination are very much the norm for Copts living in Egypt.
Hinduis must have learned this sinister trick from the Muslims. I have also heard reports about Hinduis in some areas of India who pay money to converted Catholic Christians to re-convert to Hinduism.
Posted by: Johnathan at October 22, 2005 11:51 AM
One should not be surprised a this or at any Muslim sensitivity or complaint (Winnie the Pooh posters even) as if everyone should bow low to their feelings. If Islam does anything to Muslims it imbues them with the impression of towering superiority over everyone else. Infidels after all are the lowest of creatures and going to hell (98:6) while only Muslims are loved by Allah.
Posted by: Odysseus at October 22, 2005 12:03 PM
I read somewhere that to be furious is a blessing from Allah. These people are on the edge of rage all the time, and almost anything can push them over it. In fact, they dont need to be pushed, they will jump. Furious produces an altered state of conciousness, it's as powerful as any drug. They like it. It gets them high, and as long as it's from Allah, it's lawful.This is not accepted in the west. If you get furious enough you will end up in jail or worse, if you keep it up, a mental institution.
Jails and mental intitutions know how to handle people who are furious. Except when it comes to muslims. They get special rooms for mosques, welfare, appeasements of every kind. And if they riot and kill people 'we' apologise. Furious is taking over the world. Allahs blessings are taking root, more and more muslims are becomming furious. Soon we will have to choose to join them in their fury-osity or to use our own fury (which is not blessed by Allah) against them.
Either way, Allah is sitting back laughing because he invented and predestined the whole thing...and he knows best.
at October 22, 2005 2:14 PM
Is this arch buffoon aware that his tongue would be sliced from his body if he pronounced such an exhortation for 'mockery' of Islam in Islam? That's if he's lucky -- most likely the same basic outcome would occur, but the tounge would be severed from his body by sawing his head from same -- that is, his head would be severed, and thus his tongue which still resided in it would be adequately silenced to please Allah.
Question: What kind of a fool is this Archbishop...?
Answer: A very dangerous kind...
Posted by: jsla at October 22, 2005 2:26 PM
""We know religion is a force for good"
-- Lord Carey
I know no such thing. This fallacious assumption will be the undoing of us all.
Posted by: Shaughn at October 22, 2005 2:36 PM
Moral Outrage:
Copts in Egypt not only live under the constant threat of violence, but they live under siege economically, legally, in education and through anti-Coptic media propaganda. A dear friend of mine was denied asylum a couple years ago and sent back. Since then, he is not able to find a job and faces discrimination in every part of life’s routine things. He was a military academy student hazed by both instructors and fellow students, which drove him to come to the US. He would not lie; he refused a marriage for a visa arrangement, or playing on the emotions of a dumb girl so he could get his papers. We really pick the people that we let in and those we keep out… Don’t we!
It turns out that because of Egypt’s false reputation as a moderate country, many Coptic asylum cases are rejected, and they get sent back to a welcome party starting from arrival at the Airport and lasting indefinitely. On the other hand, northern Sudanese who participated in the holocaust of black Africans benefit from Sudan’s well earned reputation in gaining refuge status. In fact, I met several that served as police and Army officers in the South that are now working for our government as translators and earning between 140 – 192 thousand dollars annually. So Folks, we are throwing innocent hardworking loyal people to the gutter and inviting the scum of the earth instead. Northern Sudanese, Somalis, Muslim Egyptians, are for the most part fanatical, disloyal, useless, criminal, and trouble makers.
Now, a Coptic family I know is facing deportation and its head is now detained. There chance of staying is null… All we can do is to find a third country for them to be deported to. Our European friends, do you have room for a Christian family of three in Euarabia???
at October 22, 2005 4:25 PM
duh_swami: I read somewhere that to be furious is a blessing from Allah. These people are on the edge of rage all the time, and almost anything can push them over it. In fact, they dont need to be pushed, they will jump. Furious produces an altered state of conciousness, it's as powerful as any drug.
One type of Jihad that is hardly ever mentioned is the Jihad by mob violence. Yet it is the commonest type of Jihad there is, particularly in muslim majority nations.
at October 22, 2005 4:31 PM
Note: The Reverand Billy Graham recently converted to Islam when he said the magical Islamic conversion statement "Boom-shaka-loka Boom-shaka-loka Boom" thrice. Upon learning of his conversion the reverand said "I feel like opening a can of jihad on somebody's ass".
Posted by: JanuaryMan at October 22, 2005 6:12 PM
"We know religion is a force for good"
-- Lord Carey
SHAUGHN: "I know no such thing. This fallacious assumption will be the undoing of us all."
CORNELIUS: Amigo, I highly recommend Sam Harris' 'The End of Faith'...killer book published just last year.
I don't agree with every single premise he sets for (e.g., the legalization of narcotics), but he does argue persuasively about the malevolance of religion. He goes after Islam with particular gusto, but refuses to 'spare the rod' with Christianity or Judaism.
He details a plethera of issues: WMDs, the ethics of torture (to my amazement, he persuasively argues for its selective employment), the implications of technological progress on freedom, etc.
Regarding faith, his central premise is that spirituality need not be corrupted with the fantastical claims of theology. Somewhat in the Buddhist tradition.
You may not agree with everything he says, but there is not a single premise he presents that isn't effectively argued.
Check it out.
Posted by: Cornelius at October 22, 2005 7:27 PM
This is the great hole in Victor Davis Hanson's criteria for determining the relative freedom of a given country. He bases everything on the presence or absence of repressive governmental apparatus and law. He ignores how cultural and religious pyschology effect the lives and freedoms of people.
For example, a Muslim country that does NOT incorporate the hudud punishments of Sharia into its legal system, allows freedom of assembly, free press and multiple political parties...is according to Hansen considered free. But if women are routinely murdered in honor killings...and religious minorities are under the constant threat of the mob, and the apostate is not prosecuted by law but rather murdered in the street, how truly free is that society, regardless of the technicalities of its legal code?
I dig Hansen overall, but he needs a rethink on this one.
Posted by: Cornelius at October 22, 2005 7:45 PM
It is disturbing how many people at other websites have simply decided to buy the idea that if Cindy Sheehan and something called the MSM are urging some policy, that policy must, no matter how illogical or wasteful those of us who have nothing to do with Cindy Sheehan or MSM or Jane Fonda or George Soros or the ACLU, prove it to be, the policy still deserves support.
This can be seen at all sorts of other, inferior websites, where this stand-by-your-man-and-his-policy (that Man being Bush) can be seen in action.
Hanson puzzles. Surely he is more intelligent than his latest postings, each less impressive than the next, on Iraq. His claque is strong, but so what? He continues not to require of himself a thorough knowledge of Islam -- if he were only to read, for example, "The Legacy of Jihad" and Bat Ye'or's books, he might - might -- modify his views. And if he, and others, were more aware that Europe is not to be dismissed or jettisoned with "they had it coming to them," but a terrible problem that can only be solved by educating Europeans to consider all sorts of measures they now regard as "unthinkable" (but demography cannot in this case be allowed to be destiny --- or rather, demographic trends can be changed by all sorts of measures that once upon a time would have seemed to be unthinkable, but should not be, including a halt to all Muslim immigration, and the construction of societies that are, in every way, not Muslim-friendly but Muslim-hostile).
One expects idiocy from the usual suspects. One does not expect, and is therefore more alarmed and disappointed, when it comes from those whom, one thought, would know better. But it turns out that learning about Islam, its history and teachings, is something many people think they do not have to do in order to comment on Iraq.
They are wrong. They do.
Posted by: Hugh at October 22, 2005 8:44 PM
No question the military historian has much to learn about non-military history.
Posted by: Cornelius at October 22, 2005 10:55 PM
"No question the military historian has much to learn about non-military history."
Islamic history is a military history.
at October 22, 2005 11:41 PM
I read Victor Davis Hanson and I continue to be impressed by him.BTW, It's Bruce Thornton not VDH who writes most of the articles about Islam at Hanson's website and Thornton pulls no punches about the ROP. In his lastest article Thronton has no problem indentifying Islam as the enemy. Here's the last paragraph of the article.
_______________________________
"Over and over the jihadist enemy tells us why he wants to kill us, and over and over we dismiss his words or reduce them to our own categories. Paralyzed by our fear of being “insensitive” to cultural differences, and deluded by our materialist preconceptions that reduce religion to an expression of some more “real” cause, we refuse to name clearly the enemy: an Islamic faith that for centuries has killed, enslaved, plundered, ravaged, and conquered in the service of its arrogant assurance of its spiritual superiority."
Posted by: Roxane at October 23, 2005 12:23 AM
When a reply to an article, a book or a movie takes the form of riots, setting fire, and killing
a. You know you're in a moslem country
b. You know who do that must be moslems
c. All of the above
d. You play the dhimmi and shut your mouth
at October 23, 2005 9:24 PM
Why Muslims are rioting in Egypt..
...because it's Tuesday?
at October 25, 2005 11:28 AM
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