Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside.
From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as “human shields” for last night’s mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.
“We either live together, or we die together,” was the sloganeering genius of Mohamed El-Sawy, a Muslim arts tycoon whose cultural centre distributed flyers at churches in Cairo Thursday night, and who has been credited with first floating the “human shield” idea.
A beautiful showing of solidarity indeed, and a horrible reminder that violence in the name of a deity makes it a reality.
We could learn from this. Some could learn that no religion has a monopoly on yearning for peace. Some could learn that while some perpetrate horrible acts of violence in the name of religion, far, far more are spurred by religion to struggle for peace, even at the risk of their own lives. And some of us could learn that working for peace requires transcending the edges of our immediate community.
