Part 1 in a 3 Part Series: What's to come:
2) Why No Change?...The True Need…
3) My Feelings…In All Honesty…
The country is in a state of limbo. When we arrived 17 months ago, the country was considered a mostly Islamic country but with a large amount of religious freedom and stability (safety). However, shortly after our arrival, we began hearing of Coptic churches being burned and the people being attacked. Then in January of this year, the youth of the country decided that they had enough. They had enough of being arrested and tortured without cause. They had enough of the government taking their money when they could barely afford to put food on the table. They had enough of the same president that had been in place for 30 long years, and they really didn’t want to see his son take his place. So, after 18 days of protesting, over 840 deaths, and 6,000 injuries, Mubarak stepped down and turned his power over to the military.
So, what has happened since then? The country became a free state, the economy has improved, people are treated fairly, and everyone is satisfied and content, right?? Wrong. The crime rate has gone up, and, according to the people, the economy is even worse than before. Therefore, in the last month, the youth has gone back to the square. We have seen a couple of weeks of violence, with a break for parliamentary elections that were held on Monday and Tuesday, and which will be continued December 14.
These elections are supposed to be the first in more than 30 years that were not fixed. They are particularly important because the members will take a big part in writing the country’s new constitution. The candidates consist of both secular and religious groups. The most extreme group is known as ‘Salafi’. If this group takes the country, every women will be made to veil, the pyramids will be closed, and tourism will no longer be an industry. Of course, churches of any type will not be allowed. The second group (more well-known) known as the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ or the ‘freedom and justice party’ are a little more lenient but still have a strong Islamic influence. I believe they would heavily tax Christians and other non-muslims, and try to force them out of the country. We hear a lot about these parties, mostly bad in our neighborhood, but when we ask who the people want in office, the large majority of the people answer, “I honestly don’t know.”
Please keep the country and these elections in your prayers. Tomorrow, I will continue with “Why No Change…The True Need…” in sha allah (Lord willing).
