In today's Middle East it's a simple thing to qualify for membership in an endangered species. Just be a Christian. Which is why Christians who can afford to do so are leaving for the West en masse. A fanatical mullah in Pakistan, displaying behavior that is all too typical of his fraternity, is right now demanding that an eleven-year-old Christian girl, mentally retarded, be stoned to death for blasphemy. Her crime? Burning some paper to keep warm! Paper that, so it is suspected, might have contained words from The Quran. No wonder that for centuries "The mercy of a rnullah" has stood as a classic oxymoron. Today's Christian communities in Iraq, communities that were flourishing as recently as a mere decade ago, have been reduced by more than half, and in the wake of America's precipitous (and calamitous) withdrawal of all of its armed forces from Iraq, Islamist attacks on Christians and on their homes and churches are reaching the level of Standard Operating Procedure, with little if any push-back from the Shiite Muslim government, a government which is acting in open collusion across the board with Iran's anti-Christian- and anti-American-mullahs. For Christians in civil war- ravaged Syria all signs point to big trouble ahead, while from neighboring Lebanon and from the West Bank a decades-long Christian exodus is picking up speed. Bethlehem, for centuries a Christian stronghold, seems doomed to becoming a ghost town, so far as a Christian presence is concerned.  Egypt's Coptic Christians, roughly ten percent of the total population, are living in a state of heightened and justified fear, given that the new Egyptian parliament boasts a 50 percent  representation from the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, with yet another 25 percent chosen from the ultra-Islamist Nour faction. And just in the last few days Egypt's new president, Mohammed Morsi, leader of the Freedom and Justice Party and the recent recipient of an invitation to the White House, announced that he is consolidating in his own hands both executive AND legislative power, while his new Minister of Justice, Ahmed Mekki, has concomitantly declared the government's intent to "cleanse" Egypt's judiciary of those judges who are "corrupt" (i.e., resistant to the imposition of fanatical Muslim law, a.ka. Sharia). In Justice Minister Mekki's own words: "Judges are a society that want cleansing .... I will just remove the immunity of judges who are corrupt."

All of which should prompt us to keep Christians in the Middle East high on the list of those for whom we pray even as right here at home, thanks to the outrageous new Health and Human Services mandate, what can only be called a deliberate persecution of the Catholic Faith is up and running, with fines and legal harassment employed as the weapon of choice,

May I share with you here a report on the situation now prevailing in Egypt, the Arab Spring's showcase state. The report appeared in mid-July in the National Edition of  The Washington Times.
Egypt's Christians Fear New Islamist Government
The Washington Times, July 16, 2012
Gracy Howard

When Souly Farag was growing up in Egypt, Christian houses were marked with crosses for burning. Coptic Christians were second-class citizens.

Forty-four years ago, Mr. Farag emigrated to the United States to provide a better future for his family. But even in the wake of the ouster of longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak and Egypt's first democratic elections, the Farag family is in no hurry to return to their homeland.

When they found out Mohammed Morsi had been elected president, they were afraid. Mr. Farag's niece, visiting from Egypt, began crying as she told him, "I am not going home."

Egypt's democratic elections have been hailed as the dawn of a new era. But Mr. Morsi's election victory has not alleviated the fears of Coptic Christians and other minorities who foresee their freedoms disappearing under the rule of an Islamist state.

Michael Rizk, Egyptian-born co-founder of the Texas chapter of Copt Solidarity, an organization that advocates for the rights of Egyptian Copts, hears daily reports of persecution and mistreatment from his Egyptian relatives. Church burnings are a regular occurrence in villages across the country. Angry mobs - often incited by local sheikhs or imams - continue to torch Christian homes and businesses. Forced conversions to Islam and kidnappings of young girls have become hazards of daily life for Christians in Egypt, Mr. Rizk said.

"If I had a sister there is no way I would let her walk down the street," Mr. Rizk said. Uncovered women are easy to pinpoint as Christian. "In Islam, you are the equivalent of cow dung if you are a Christian," he said. "You are immediately treated as a second-or third-class citizen." Ihab Marcus, communications director for St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Washington, D.C., said many Egyptians turn to the American Coptic Church for support and encouragement-but "sometimes they can't talk openly for fear of further persecution." Mr. Marcus said he could not speak with complete openness about the situation in Egypt, for fear that Christians there will suffer reprisals.

Mr. Morsi, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, has strong connections to fundamental Islam. In the past he opposed diplomatic relations with Israel, decried American influence in schools, and had a tense relationship with more liberal Brotherhood youth. But today, as president, Mr. Morsi speaks supportively of Western allies, promises to uphold the rights of women and Christians, and tells protesters and youth he will be their representative. Mr. Morsi's new sentiments could be genuine--or deceptive tactics to elicit Western support for his office. "The Muslim Brotherhood has pushed forward an agenda over the past 80 years," said Mr. Rizk. "It is a system that runs extremely smooth, and is extremely powerful. ... They make you hear whatever they WANT you to hear."

Mr. Rizk said it is unlikely Mr. Morsi will speak publicly in support of Sharia law or the veiling of women. Rather, he will "let the street do it for him."

 The current political state in Egypt reflects a growing "Islamic awakening" that has swept the region. Seventy-five percent of the electorate voted for Islamist parties in Parliament (half of that vote went to the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party). Cairo's Tahrir Square protesters have exhibited a decidedly anti-Israel, anti-Western sentiment.

Mr. Rizk said Western media have romanticized the Tahrir Square protests of 2011 "with the flag waving" and youths crying out for democracy. This year's protests have been completely different, he said.

"It's TWO different revolutions," he said. "The people then were just trying to stop corruption, military trials, and human rights abuses. Originally, that's what the revolution was about. But the Muslim Brotherhood saw an opportunity. This was their time. They stepped in, kicked the revolutionaries and activists out of Tahrir Square, raped women in public. ... All of a sudden, the square was occupied by Islamic fundamentalists...."

Coptic Church representatives in Egypt have warned they may quit the constitutional assembly over concerns with the constitution's second article: It now states that government should legislate through "principles" of Sharia law, but hardline Salafists in the assembly want to impose LITERAL Sharia governance, force conversions, kidnap Christians, and put veils on all women. All these are part of Sharia law."

This trend is most disturbing to Coptic Christians like Mr. Farag and his family.

"They [the Islamists] don't want to be with Israel, they want to erase it from the face of the Earth," Mr. Farag said. "They want to boycott America. They don't want civilians or ladies to go uncovered. It's just how they want to put us a few hundred years back."

David Aikman, who covered Israel and the Middle East as a former correspondent for Time magazine, said the election of a Coptic vice president would not help the Egyptian church.

"There IS an important part of the [Egyptian] population that is secular, liberal, and would LIKE to see something closer to democratic politics emerge," Mr. Aikman said. "But this is a minority, and the OVERALL tendency in Egyptian politics seems to be that the population is getting more favorable towards Sharia governance."

Mr. Rizk agreed. He said such promises of a Christian or female vice presidents are a "joke."

"You're dealing with SNAKES," he said. "I don't know how to put it clearer than that."

Times of lsrael reporter Elhanan Miller says unity is a "very big buzzword" in Egypt right now, and could counter or at least diminish Islamist dominance there. Moreover, Mr. Morsi's government will continue to rely on U.S. financial and military aid. Any unilateral action against Christians or Jews would [or at least could] present dangerous repercussions for Egypt, which is suffering from serious economic instability.

But Mr. Aikman fears Mr. Morsi will inevitably bow to pressure from the Muslim Brotherhood. "It is very unlikely he can act independently of the Muslim Brotherhood. He may have some tactical latitude in international policy. He may not immediately curtail the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, but the whole thrust of the Muslim Brotherhood is opposed to Jews, and opposed to Israel. If he strays more than tactically from that line, he'll be removed ... and replaced."

President Obama and his State Department have expressed cautious support for Mr. Morsi. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged Americans not to "pre-judge the Muslim Brotherhood." But Mr. Aikman warned that it would be extremely dangerous to underestimate the organization. "It is a complete delusion.... that these people have somehow become moderate and gentle and democratic. It is one of the grossest deceptions I've recently seen ...."

Rizk believes .... "The U.S. gave the green light for a lot of this to happen.... You can't ever take what the Muslim Brotherhood says at face value, Re the U.S. government has. I think the government is totally blind to what is happening over there."

Meanwhile, Mr. Farag and his family watch, and pray. "We as Egyptians need to be heard, and we as Christians need to be supported," he said. "We who live in peace don't want the chaos to continue." [Emphasis added].

The serious concern voiced in the article just cited (dated July 16th) was prescient. Eric Trager, who holds a fellowship at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, published the following report in the Wall Street Journal for August 16th on the emerging transformation of Egypt's new president, Mohammad Morsi, into an Islamist dictator.