Coptic Orthodox Representatives Consider Withdrawal from Egyptian Constituent Assembly

The Coptic Orthodox Church is considering withdrawing its representatives from the Egyptian Constituent Assembly, charged with revising the Egyptian constitution, due to efforts on the part of Islamist members of the Constituent Assembly to strengthen the place of Islamic law in the document. More here. H/t to Ad Orientem.

Coptic Orthodox Church Believes Proposed Egyptian Constitutional Amendments Too Limited

The Coptic Orthodox Church has expressed its opposition to constitutional amendments that will be put to a referendum in Egypt this Saturday. While the Church has not said it will encourage Copts to vote against the amendments, it believes they do not go far enough in that they fail to make Egypt a state whose citizens are equal to one another regardless of their religious beliefs.

Although they do not deal with article two of the constitution, which recognizes Islam as the state religion (despite a Coptic Orthodox minority that may form a fifth of the country's citizens) and establishes sharia as the source of all legislation, the amendments do reduce and limit presidential terms and restrict the use of the emergency laws. More here.

"Stop Beating About the Bush"

Al-Arabiya has posted an article on recent calls in Egypt for the secularization of the country's constitution. Among other things, it claims that there is no basis for the rising discrimination against Copts in Egyptian life in sharia. This seems disingenuous as churches are required to acquire government approval for the fixing even of broken toilets on church premises, the government's recently interference in church marriage despite the supposed constitutional recognition of Coptic Orthodox customary law, and the customary taxation of Christians as dhimmis ("protected" second-class citizens in Islamic law), although that last is not observed in modern Egypt (as far as this author knows). How these and a host of other things contribute to the marginalization of Egypt's Copts is not difficult to see.