Protest in relation to the persecution of copts. Have you protested?

mazza

Hey guys,

Here in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday we are having a protest to make people more aware of the arising problem in Egypt and to try to change the laws in Egypt.

I know there was a protest in Washington D.C and in Cyprus, Greece.

I was just wondering if there have been any others.

If any of you guys partook in the protests, tell me what it was like, what did you do, and did you achieve anything?

Mazza :D

Marianne87

There is one in cali and one in nyc I think..if any of you are from there...

I am not close to either...so I don't know what it's like...but I heard the one in cali is like right in front of a federal building to get them to hear what we have to say about our perscution and such.

Christ4Life

Yes.. there was one in NYC by the United Nations Building today... Anba David said all people should have went (before), including priests.

BKZIBDA

yea im from brooklyn and there was one today in manhattan in front of the UN biulding , then they moved down the block to the Egyptian embassy biulding. My brother was there, he called and i heard wat they were saying, it was pretty amazing, there were about 2 thousand.. so overall we should just pray for it to end in egypt+++

LifeinChrist

The persecutions in Egypt are horrible, but since this people are dying for Christ they will be counted among the martyrs, blessed are those who live for Christ, Blessed more are those who die for Christ. We should be protesting all over the world. I believe that in these protests we will win. The US is reconstructing Iraq's government they, and many other countries can help Egypt banish this islam based government.(without war hopefully). We should all pray that Christ be with us and that he strengthen us and help us create a new egypt where we are all equal. As we say in the reenactment the " The Lord, Who is strong and mighty, the Lord, Whos is mighty in war. He is the King of Glory" The King of Glory will help us in all things. Please always keep the Coptic Orthodox Christians in your prayers and may God, THE KING OF GLORY, help us stop the persecutions of his children. Always keep them in your hearts and minds and may God Bless.

mazza

Amen laura

That's amazing guys, I never knew there were so many protests.

Let's hope they [Egypt] will finally listen

nardin

for all the sydniens lol pplz living in syndey and the protest being tomoro its CANCELLED or u can just rok up a the city by urself so dun go

+FROG+

mazza

yea im pretty upset- i was so looking forward 2 protesting ;D

oh well
next time

joeg

hey guys, ya we here in the UK r planning a protest, but it is yet to be carried out pray for me ;)

Maryann23

We have one in Canada tooo...all the coptic churches are going to parliament hill (where the Egyptian embassy is) to raise awareness and hopefully get our governments involved. Also, the churches from Canada wrote a letter to Husni Mubarak telling him...basically that he is responsible to maintain the peace between Muslims and Christians.

Our churches are also asking the Canadian government to take in a larger number of Coptic refugees to flee religious persecution.

[so people from Canada: the protest is this Saturday, April 29; in Ottawa. Busses are available @ St Mary's church - Mississauga. St. George - North York. ST. Mark- Scarborough. & Ti agia Maria - Etobicoke. ]

mazza

it is so good to hear the we are finally taking stand and doing something about the problems in egypt. Lets just hope it works.

Take refuge in Canada? Again, that is great. I wish they could do that in Australia but I think our governement is far too scared to allow any more middle easterners (even christians) lol.

matt88

hmm.. to be honest i have to admit these protests can be rather counter-productive... I mean firstly you cant blame the egyptian government for what happened - you blame the radical islamists who are brainwashed - and even then, they have to face god for their actions.. Secondly, i saw a protest by the copts in the US and they were demanding the US government to stop providing money to Egypt. What a stupid stupid demand, firstly because it will only cause egyptians to suffer, further sowing the seeds of discontent and harming relations between christians and mulims in egypt (imagine then how much copts would be hated). And also, if the US stopped providing money to egypt the entire power balance in the region would be stuffed. I mean people, please, use your brain, and for once think of egypt as a whole - christians AND muslims. We are certainly the victims, however arent the only ones suffering.. If we demand stupid things we will just lose credibility, supporters, and respect.

Maryann23

We are blaming the government for not punishing these muslim extremists. The government has a responsibility towards each citizen - christian or muslim- and to make sure justice is served. As our constitution reflects basic human rights, Egypts doesnt. This is because they are essentially governed by Islamic fundamentals.

We are not asking anything more than what we deserve; to sustain our dignity, and be able to proclaim our faith without being attacked for doing so. Because Canada, UN, Australia, and America recognize these human rights it is important for them to be the instincitve arbitrator. Thus, we are trying to get them involved, even if it means we have to protest.

Who gives a muslim man the right to attack a church? or kill a Christian? and after doing so, not even be punished for it.

The land of Egypt belonged to the Ancient Egyptians (our ancestors) who converted to Christianity, after the reign of st mark (if im not mistaken). Then the arabs invaded, and majority ruled. So we are definetly the victims here. I agree with you that Egypt struggles as a whole but that is for economic reasons. Copts struggle for religious persecution, which is unfair.

If we will continue to live with these people then we have every right to demand to be treated better.

matt88

Hey Mazza,
The article about the copts wanting the US government to stop funding is here --> http://www.nysun.com/article/31542

Also, im not disputing that there are some radical muslims in egypt, but again, my point was that the egyptian government is not directly to blame for what happened. In fact Mubarak had done a substantial job of rounding up egyptian fundamentalists (from the islamic brotherhood) though you can imagine how difficult it must be to keep the reigns on them all in a country as populas as egypt...

jjrpickens

I protested with prayer but i was very upset they caught a man at the church where my fiance attends in alexandria egypt.He killed one man and they say he was insane i believe and talkin with her he was well aware of what he was doin >I hate no one but the followers of mohamad the chid molester and rapist and terrorist should live christians alone and will be dealt with in the end>Sorry for bein so blunt but the thought of good christians bein persucuted and killed makes me angry so i pray for forgiveness of the angry thoughts i have towards them.

blingblingzz327

[quote author=Marianne87 link=board=11;threadid=3721;start=0#msg53133 date=1145921903]
There is one in cali and one in nyc I think..if any of you are from there...

I am not close to either...so I don't know what it's like...but I heard the one in cali is like right in front of a federal building to get them to hear what we have to say about our perscution and such.






marriane is right :) i live in ny there was one in ny my dad went but i never asked what it was like if u want me to ask itll be my pleasure :D

His son

Hey guys/Girls,

I may sounnd abit cynical here...what's the point of the protest?
I've never in my life seen peacful protests change anything political, nor religeous.

It's good to feel for our Christian brothers and sisters who are suffering in Egypt, but what good comes from protesting? Embaressing the Egyptian Governement? So what? Moving them to respect Copts? That hasn't worked yet (with El Koshh)!

We live in a world of persecutiopn we should rather pray in support, and donate to coptic projects that give these people hope. We should PRAY. I keep forgetting to pray about it. I need more reminder, not protest.

Can some one open my eyes to the benfit of protesting hundreds of miles away?

Love,

His Son

Kristina123

well many protests have changed the course of history so dont say they dont achieve anything!!

i can only think of a few examples right now but im sure there are many more examples

eg:

the african american lady who got on the bus at the front in America during a time when african americans were persecuted and changed the course of history

or when aussies protested to get the soldiers out of vietnam and australia pulled out

dont lose hope

anyone got more examples????

kristina123

His son

Hey Kristian123,

The pull out of Vitnam was because of change of government!

Just like Iraq, unless another party takes over power, the trops will not leave, and even then, they won't leave immediatly (thank God that didn't happen so far :-\).

Ms. Rose Parks refused to give up here seat for the white man. That was stronger than a protest it was a definance of authority. The equivelant would be a church beibng kept open council/government order to close it down.

Words are easy, banners are cymbolic. I don't believe in protests.

Any one else can show me otherwise.

Love and PEACE,

His Son

joeg

His son, your entitled to your opinion but i believe in protests,

theres a saying i heard somewhere and i quite like :

somethin like "the bully never offers freedom to the oppressed, they must protest and fight to gain it".
If we never protest about the persecution of our people in Egypt, will the government just stop it on its own? i dont think so. when we protest we can and will make a difference : "God is in the midst of her;she shall not be moved" "The gates of Hades will not overpower her"

if we pray to God and protest we can make a difference

pray for me

His son

josephgabriel,

God said:
"Blessed is Egypt My people" Isiah 19:25.

In that verse, he was referignto his own people, not to the land or the government.

God cares aobut people's hearts not their country of birth.

I won't say that God doesn't work in protests, because, no one cas say what God works in and what He desn't work in, but one thing is for sure, and that the church taught us other ways of treating hardships.

Jesus himself taught us in his prayer:

"I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one." John 17:15.

He himself did not protest his own mistreatment but kept silent as a "lamb lead to the slaughter"

In his epistle, St. James said the following:

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience" James 1:2-3.

It's in our nature to strife for equality and freedom and oppose evil, but in the end, praying for our trials is perhaps the most effective thing to do.

Fasting too...When the Copts were in trouble with the governemt often, they fasted and prayed; the most common example of this story is the movement of mountain at "moatam". It was moved because of th eprayers of the entire congrigation as well as the saintlyhood of some of its members.

You may still ask: what's the harm of protesting?
My answer would be: nothing, but so is it's use.

Lie you said i'm entitled to my own opinion, and mine is this:

Fasting and praying are so much more powerful...and protesting is not

I detest walkingthe streets with banners and protesting, becasuse it show's our level of desperation, becasue that's wat resorting to taking it to the streets with banners is...you may beg to differ.

Anyway, I have to remmember to pray for my brothers and sisters in Egypt who are less fortunate than I am.

Peace and Love,

His Son