12/05/2019 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – The generational gap in Egypt can feel like an ever widening chasm. The older generation sees the youth as rebellious, reckless, and unrestrained. The younger generation views the other as conventional, changeless, and uncompromising. Generational challenges are hardly new, and Christians are not immune to these problems. But when looking at religious freedom in Egypt, opinions about the most important issues affecting Christians are split among generational lines.

For the youth struggling to carve out a life for themselves, the most painful aspects of persecution are social. “For many centuries, the Egyptian Christians suffered so much. Now in 2019, the Christians suffer more than before,” said one Christian barely into his twenties, Waleed. He lives in Minya, a millennial surrounded by all the latest technologies in his own home, but outside, is forced into a way of life decades behind the modern world. For instance, TV depicts people normally living with cars and refrigeration, conveniences missing from his village.

Similar contradictions find their way into his religious life. Egypt boasts the largest concentration of Christians in the Middle East, mostly living in Minya, but one wouldn’t know it simply by looking. “All the Islamic rituals are being practiced in the streets. There is no room for minorities to express freely their own identities in the streets,” lamented Waleed. “The Egyptian youth express their fears and issues – how painful. (They) affect their life badly.”

One of Waleed’s acquaintances, Kareem, moved to Minya City from a neighboring village and established a barbershop. “Kareem has a good relationship with Jesus, so he usually watches the Christian media on TV in his shop,” said Waleed. But social freedom does not exist for Kareem. He shared with ICC, “While I’m watching church sermons on TV and if a Muslim man enters, I have to lower the audio volume or change the channel to something public which is suitable for him to watch.”

Sometimes, even Muslims are shocked by how their Islamic country denies social freedoms from Christians. “One day, a Muslim man entered the shop and I changed the channel,” recalled Kareem. “He asked me about the reason.”

“I replied that I don’t force you to watch something which you are not interested in and feel something bad like the one which I feel on the bus listening to the Quran! The man was surprised of how bad the Muslims force the Christian into Islamic rituals.”

Beshoy, a Christian taxi driver, has similar experiences. Whenever a customer enters his car, he has to stop playing Christian songs. For Beshoy, however, the way Islam approaches gender creates special challenges for his business. When a veiled Muslim woman rides his taxi, Beshoy “has to be more accurate and clear about the ride cost, the place, and the way of talking to her. Many Muslim women can accuse me of trying to kidnap or rape or harass her.”

If an accusation is made, there is no official investigation. Just rapid, targeted judgement that would impact his entire family, and possibly even any Christian known to associate with Beshoy.

The gender requirements of Islam also create a significant stress on other Christians. Kareem complained that he has to regulate his wife’s clothes, not because he cares, but because he just wants his family to live safely and avoid disputes. George, a young Christian who is an activist for women’s rights, further explained how this environment puts stress on Christians.

“The Muslim men look at the Christian men as not masculine enough, because they allow their women and sisters to wear normal regular dresses. So Christian men feel ashamed of that. The Christian man is afraid of causing a problem with the Muslim neighbors. (Christian men) try to save their women from being kidnapped, or raped, or harassed by a Muslim,” George explained.

Young Christian women are also quick to point out how challenging this social situation is for them. “I am in nursing college, so we have to wear a specific uniform,” said Mariam, who is from Samlout. “But Muslim girls are free to wear anything they want because they wear niqab or hijab, so they have more benefit or (professor’s) interest than we have!”

Muslim women also cause problems for Christian women. “Recently, Muslim radical women cut the hair of the Christian girls on the subway,” said Sara, a Christian lawyer. “I haven’t experienced that till now, but I am afraid of that. If I will experience something like that, I don’t know what exactly I will do. Maybe I will weep.”

With their technology connecting them to the rest of the world, it is painful for younger Christians to endure such social prejudices. They see hints of what it is like to live in places respectful of different religions. They want social change, but how or where to start is difficult to say. The youth have not yet taken the reins of community leadership. But their thoughts hint about the future that Christians in Egypt would like to see for themselves.