KNOXVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) - When I think of this past Christmas for the Coptic Christians in Egypt, I am reminded of an 18th century, English Christmas carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." I am also reminded of certain parallels between Egypt's new constitutional democracy and America's. What does Egypt's constitutional democracy have to do with a Christmas carol and America? Based on the Gregorian calendar used in the West, the Coptic Orthodox Church celebrated Christmas on January 7, and President Morsi signed Egypt's new constitution into law on December 26. That was 12 days before the Coptic Christmas Eve. But that is not all. I also combine this numerical similarity with "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with a couple differences.
First, despite their rich heritage reaching back to the time of the pharaohs and the earliest Christian communities, President Morsi is not the Copt's "true love." Second, President Morsi did not give the Copts "a partridge in a pear tree" on the first day of Christmas. Instead, he stuffed a new Islamist constitution into their Christmas stockings. These lighthearted associations point to something quite serious about Egypt's new constitution. Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church said, "There are dangerous articles in this constitution." Coptic bishops voice similar concerns. Bishop Kyrillos William said, "Everywhere in the constitution there are clauses saying everything should be in accordance with Islamic law." Bishop Zakaria said, "The Islamists want to apply sharia law especially with regard to women. It is very bad for women and very bad for non-Muslims in society."
