Do you know what a Coptic Christian is...?

[FirstLight]

I didn't, so i looked it up...

here's wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copts

and this is about the main church, the "coptic vatican," if that works: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_Orthodox_Church_of_Alexandria


something I found very interesting is that the Coptic Xtians were one of the earliest sects of christianity...

"According to ancient tradition, Christianity was introduced to the Egyptians by Saint Mark in Alexandria, shortly after the ascension of Christ and during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius around 42 AD."

Also interesting is that the first holiday in the Coptic Calendar coincides with Sept 11

In the Coptic Orthodox Church, September 11 is the feast of Nayrouz or Neyrouz, when martyrs and confessors are commemorated. This day is also the start of the Coptic new year and its first month (Thout).

The Feast of Neyrouz marks the first day of the Coptic year. Ignorant of the Egyptian language for the most part, the Arabs confused the Egyptian new year's celebrations, which the Egyptians called the feast of Ni-Yarouou (the feast the rivers), with the Persian feast of Nowruz[1]. The misnomer remains today, and the celebrations of the Egyptian new year on the first day of the month of Thout are known as the Neyrouz. Its celebration falls on the 1st day of the month of Thout, the first month of the Egyptian year, which for AD 1901 to 2098 usually coincides with 11 September, except before a Gregorian leap year when it begins September 12.

Apparently the Coptics have had a lot of persecution from Islamists over centuries... this is an old wound.
just food for thought

[WinkyDink]

1. Kind of, yes. (Pre-Google)

[a la izquierda]

2. Yes I do,

my cousin married a Copt from Egypt.

[bklyncowgirl]

3. Unfortunately the actions of one idiot Copt will probably cause a great deal of suffering for others

The Copts also preserved the ancient Egyptian religion as the canonical language much in the way the Catholic Chursh used Latin.

Hopefully their Muslim neighbors won't turn the blame on them.

[FirstLight]

6. I was going to point that out too

the preservation of a now dead language in liturgy and writing is pretty cool....

.....and yes, one Crazy is all it takes these days

[Tikki]

4. Christians have persecuted Islamists, also. It's in the History....

Tikki

[FirstLight]

7. oh totally

it's never one sided... it's just a loooong history of angst between the two, and then throw into the mix a hatred for America...it's a molotov cocktail waiting to be lit...and right now, it's actually burning ...

[RagAss]

5. an Irish cop?

[DonViejo]

8. Isn't everything in the Mideast about an old wound?

[Bluenorthwest]

9. Yes, I lived near a large Coptic Church for a few years.

nt

[riverwalker]

10. yes I did

visited Zeitoun on a tour. The tour guide was Coptic and a believer in the Marion apparitions there.
"Zeitoun, also El-Zeitoun or Zeitun, is a town near Cairo, Egypt. It is noted for its Marian apparitions. According to purported witnesses, the Virgin Mary appeared in different forms over the Coptic Virgin Mary Church at Zeitoun for a period of 2-3 years beginning on April 2, 1968. The apparitions lasted from a few minutes up to several hours and were sometimes accompanied by dove-shaped luminous bodies."

[Odin2005]

11. Copts are Monophysites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monophysite

[PDJane]

12. Yes, I do.

I have friends who are copts, a psychiatrist who is coptic, and a catholic church that permits the coptic church to use the church for their services.

It's the very first Christian church, and has suffered badly at the hands of Islamists through the years; one of my friends left Egypt when one of her family members was killed, and a neighbour informed her that if the imam so decreed, she would kill my friend. I can understand the man's point of view, sort of, but it sounds as though it is something that's more than a bit out of line.