"I am the door. By me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." - John 10:9 At every parish where I have had the pleasure of attending services, there is always a small group of people who find their way all the way up to the church building but don't actually attend services. At one parish it was a group of male gypsies who talked on cellphones or smoked cigarettes. At another it was a few Protestant husbands who, though they never attended services, opened the parish doors for people as they filed in. At yet another parish the men stood in the narthex and chatted until it was time to receive and then got in line. Latin or Greek Catholic, Eastern or Oriental Orthodox I see the same small throng of men standing next to the front door, but not standing, sitting, or kneeling amongst the people. If it were me (and I can only speak for myself here) this option would be an unsavory one. The boredom would be immediate. The anxiety of som...
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ReplyDeleteI'm unclear about these conflicts. Are the Christians there holding services and being martyred? Or are they protesting and engaging in violent demonstrations?
ReplyDeleteProtesting church closures, mistreatment, etc. Also being targeted for violence.
ReplyDeleteChristians have suffered persecution in Egypt for the past several years, and even more so since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak as Egypt's president last February.
ReplyDeleteI just wrote a commentary on this very topic on my Theology and Society blog today titled "Commentary: Egypt's Policy to Allow Muslims to Destroy Churches, Kill Christians Must End."
Byztex readers can read this commentary by visiting http://theologyandsociety.blogspot.com.