Gunmen kills 7 at Egyptian church after Christmas Mass

[Sniffles]

CAIRO – Three men in a car sprayed automatic gunfire into a crowd of churchgoers in southern Egypt as they left a midnight Mass for Coptic Christmas, killing at least seven people in a drive-by shooting, the church bishop and security officials said.

Egypt's Interior Ministry said the attack Wednesday just before midnight was suspected as retaliation for the November rape of a Muslim girl by a Christian man in the same town. The statement said witnesses have identified the lead attacker.

The attack took place in the town of Nag Hamadi in Qena province, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the famous ancient ruins of Luxor. A local security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that seven were dead and three seriously wounded.

Bishop Kirollos of the Nag Hamadi Diocese told The Associated Press six male churchgoers and one security guard were killed. He said he had left St. John's church just minutes before the attack.

"A driving car swerved near me, so I took the back door. By the time I shook hands with someone at the gate, I heard the mayhem, lots of machine gun shots," he said in a telephone interview. He said he saw five bodies lying on the ground when he first looked at the site of the shooting, about 600 yards from where he was.

The bishop said he was concerned about violence on the eve of Coptic Christmas, which falls on Thursday, because of previous threats following the rape of the 12-year-old girl in November.

Gunmen kill 7 at Egypt church after Christmas Mass - Yahoo! News

 

[wren]

people are so vicious and mean! ihate them!

 

[theadoor]

I've been to Egypt twice and the guides explained that The Muslims do everything to destroy the Copts and their culture. Fx they said if a Muslim person kills a Copt that's not a big deal, if the opposite happens, then the Copt person goes to jail and the family suffers too. Muslim men try to merry Coptic women, so the girls would take their religion. And the worst thing is that the government and police doesn't really care about that, because they're Muslims too.


Basically that's a huge discrimination and no one really cares about that.

 

[Sniffles]

Basically that's a huge discrimination and no one really cares about that.

Yes and what's even more sickening is the fact so many "Christians" are among those who don't care.

Just like Evangelicals here who think the invasion of Iraq was God's will, yet ignore the suffering Iraqi Christians have endured as a result of the war(which is why so many of them have had to leave the country). Sad considering these are among the oldest Christian communities in the world, which can trace themselves directly back to the days of the 12 Apostles.

 

[wren]

christians sometimes get this notion they have a cross to bare sp? sorry...and so they are many times blind to reality. makes me not want to be one actually. jews are their own worst enemy and muslims are violent.


i think people aren't ready to get along with each other!

 

[theadoor]

Yes and what's even more sickening is the fact so many "Christians" are among those who don't care.

Just like Evangelicals here who think the invasion of Iraq was God's will, yet ignore the suffering Iraqi Christians have endured as a result of the war(which is why so many of them have had to leave the country). Sad considering these are among the oldest Christian communities in the world, which can trace themselves directly back to the days of the 12 Apostles.

In the Western world they (we) don't care that much about religion. We're educated, materialistic and spoiled. Our new religion is consumption. Our new churches are malls, shops and amusement parks. The new wars are not that much about the places, memories or religions, it's for resources.
That's why it's essential for the Muslims to keep their belief, we are way too far behind them in a technological way, but their mass belief, organization and aggressive religion policies is probably the only way they see that they could stop this consumption coming into their countries and maybe decrease it in the whole World too. And you know what?- they're doing extremely well. They're not afraid of us, but Western people are afraid of them.
Sometimes I wonder, well, maybe they're right, maybe only with strong restrictions we could stop (or at least make it become smaller) ruining our planet, but you know, it's soooo comfortable to be a consumer .

 

[wren]

i find that violence trumps consumerism. christians go home!

what? are muslims living in the dark ages, the time of the inquisition? ah come on! let's just get a group hug going!

out with vengeance! >for the jews<

kill christians!

 

[theadoor]

You seem a bit too radical. I don't think that religion matters, probably it's a lack of religion that does matter. Religion as itself doesn't mean anything bad, it's the politics and the way that politicians interpret it. I don't think that any serious and long-lasting religion says that it's good to kill people or have a war. It's the cultural differences and historical background that make us afraid of one or another religion or nationality.
Do you really believe that we're having different Gods?

 

[Lark]

Its pretty disproportionate but sectarian violence is like that.

 

[Fluffywolf]

Talk about a misplaced sense of justice. If they just went after the rapist this prolly wouldn't have made the newspapers though.

Anyways, there's no solution for this stuff, but I bet there'll be plenty of christians already thinking about retalliation on the retalliation. Hey, wars need to start somewhere, no?

 

[Hexis]

people are so vicious and mean! ihate them!

christians sometimes get this notion they have a cross to bare sp? sorry...and so they are many times blind to reality. makes me not want to be one actually. jews are their own worst enemy and muslims are violent.


i think people aren't ready to get along with each other!

i find that violence trumps consumerism. christians go home!

what? are muslims living in the dark ages, the time of the inquisition? ah come on! let's just get a group hug going!

out with vengeance! >for the jews<

kill christians!

Uh, please back up your ranting and ridiculous comments with some facts or at least logic behind them. Till then ill assume your an idiot.

Talk about a misplaced sense of justice. If they just went after the rapist this prolly wouldn't have made the newspapers though.

Anyways, there's no solution for this stuff, but I bet there'll be plenty of christians already thinking about retalliation on the retalliation. Hey, wars need to start somewhere, no?

I agree with all of the previous posts including Peguys and Theaferists. But yours makes the most logical sense to me as well. If the attackers just went for the original rapist and raped/killed him wouldnt that have been better?

But at the same time, radical groups like this take things like this as an attack against their entire culture and thus will retaliate in what they seem appropiate. Its not an eye for an eye with these guys, its an eye for a leg.

Though I do have to respect their devotion and dedication to their cause and beliefs. For personally, im of the level of Eye for a Leg instead of the other...

 

[LEGERdeMAIN]

a little bit of violence goes a long way.

 

[Sniffles]

Here's a glimpse into the Coptic church:
[youtube="64LJkJuTzx0"]Coptic Christian heritage[/youtube]
The liturgical language of the Coptic Church is actually a dialect of the original language of Ancient Egypt.