Suffering for their faith

Egypt's Coptic Christians - there are said to have been Coptic Christians in Egypt for more than 2,000 years - are suffering. When the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi was overthrown in July, Islamists chose to blame the Christians.

Al Qaeda's Egyptian leader Ayman Zawahiri said the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood in government was a "crusader" campaign led by Coptic Pope Tawadros II, whom he alleged was trying to form a Coptic state in Egypt.

Other Islamic leaders called for retribution against the Christians, and Muslims responded. Churches were attacked and badly damaged. Many are no longer holding regular services for fear of attack. Cars were set on fire. Homes and businesses owned by Christians were torched.
 
Many Christians fled their homes.  A Coptic priest was shot dead. A Christian man was found mutilated and beheaded. A 10-year-old girl was shot dead on her way home from a Bible class. There have been drive-by shootings and kidnappings.

Pope Tawadros cancelled his weekly sermons and is in hiding after death threats.

Twenty-two million people called for Morsi to be ousted. There are only eight million Christians all told. But blaming the Christians taps in to the feeling of contempt people have for non-Muslims and saves having to admit that Muslims wanted Morsi out too.

Remember those suffering for their faith.