This perception was confirmed by a Muslim officer who works in Egypt’s Directorate of Education. He takes his job of educating Egypt’s youth seriously. That includes educating Muslim children about their relationships with Christians. He explained, “To be honest and clear, we as Muslims look at the Christians as infidels.”
“We don’t support shaking hands of Christians. And if one shakes hands with a Christian, he must wash his hands well before praying. We look at ourselves as superiors, and they are the inferiors,” he added.
This kind of mentality has serious implications for Christians. Often, Christian communities are attacked en masse by Muslims for the perceived wrong of one. Navigating this atmosphere is challenging for Christians, especially those who remember when society was more welcoming and open.
Egypt’s transformation from secular to Islamic achieved yet another low point this past August. Terrorists attacked the National Cancer Institute in Cairo, killing 20 and injuring at least 47. The nation went into mourning, but for different reasons. Christians saw the incident as an attack on Egypt, and called for solidarity. But the national community showed a different perspective.
One TV interviewer, Tamer Amin, said, “When you are getting out to kill the infidel individuals, there are Muslim individuals in the streets too! How dare you to kill a Muslim person!”
The implication was clear. This national tragedy was only tragic because the victims were Muslim.
Over the last 70 years, Egypt has slowly marched away from diversity. But with every new terrorist attack in Egypt, society constantly reminds Christians that diversity in Egypt is no longer tolerated. For Christians, however, the solution is clear.
One believer explained, “The solution to the sectarian crisis is the establishment of an educational system against sectarianism, and the establishment of a movement of resistance to resist the wrong ideas and expressions, to remove the blindness of blind fanaticism and to resist the seditionists and their erroneous beliefs, which pollute the ideas of youth and spread quarrels among the sons of one nation.”
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