monday

When I tell people, I am Egyptian, I get nothing but “Wow! That must be amazing!” or “Were you born in a Pyramid?” It is true that Egypt carries one of the 7 wonders of the world; The Great Pyramids of Giza. However, beneath the beauty of this country comes violence, a violence that saddens my heart and could potentially affect my family lineage. I am Coptic Orthodox. Currently, we occupy 6-8% of the Egyptian population. The city “Alexandria” is even named after the Alexandrian priest, Arius. It is sad to see that for me, as we were once the dominant religion in Egypt, before Islam took over. Currently, it is estimated that 94.9% of Egyptians are Muslim. Although both religions consist of many amazing individuals, problems occur when two religions have different beliefs but reside in the same country, and are a part of ISIS, a terrorist militant group.