Engy Ghattas
Acts of Resistance
22 April 2020
Final project
My topic is about racism and persecution because they exist in almost all cultures. Some people are still not aware
of such issues, admitting they are not racists, while their actions and
words prove another point of this deal. Unfortunately, even now, there
are lots of people who find their race better than another, making the
relationships unequal in all aspects. In my view, all people regardless
of their nationality and skin specifications should be treated in the
same way, equally.
Nowadays, in our society, racism problems only increase. It is
presented almost all over the world. The reason why mankind is so
influenced by the racism issue is ignorance and lack of knowledge.
My message is that we have to Stand up to racism, isn’t easy, but it’s the right thing to do. Whether you're in school, or the workplace, challenging accusations, assumptions, and stereotypes is a good way of letting people know it’s not okay to be racist. Remember, sometimes people can unintentionally make comments that appear racist. Standing up to these comments can be a great way for people to learn about the negative impact they’re having. You need to feel comfortable, safe, and calm. When you stand up for yourself or others, it's a good idea to approach the situation as calmly as you can and to make sure that you feel safe first. Being willing to have conversations about racism creates room for discussion and change, whereas going straight into a screaming match is usually counterproductive.
Certainly, there is no perfect solution to the racism problem. Maybe it
will exist for a long time now. The only thing we can do is to limit its
extent and expansion. The best way is to not be indifferent and start
being well-educated. We have to think twice before saying something
offensive concerning race, nationality, etc. Only tolerance and
mankind's intelligence can help to tackle racism issues.
My Massage about the persecution that my lord Christ suffered, not for doing what was wrong, but for doing what was right. His crucifixion freed us from the power of sin. With this incredible burden lifted, we can now concentrate on following Christ’s will for our lives rather than on our own needs.
This is a verse from the bible that explains the persecution that exists in our religion.
We don’t know what we will have to deal with in the days ahead. But the Bible is clear: Difficult times are ahead (
2 Tim. 3:1). Thankfully, no matter what happens, we know that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God” (Rom 8:39) and our suffering produces “an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (
2 Cor. 4:7-18).
As an Egyptian girl who lived in Egypt for 15 years, I have
faced many kinds of persecutions since I am a Christian. In my
school, there were always discriminations between Muslim females
and Christian Females. For instance, if a Christian female or a Muslim
female doesn’t wear their school uniform, only the Christian female
gets punished and the other one is left free. Discrimination against
Christians is a huge issue the whole world should give attention
because as human being we should have the right of freedom to have
faith in any religion. I believe that a country that has people who think
they defend their religion by persecuting Christians is a country that
needs improvement in education. As students, we learn everything in
school, then after we graduate, we apply what we learn in school in
the real world. In Egypt, Christian students are being oppressed by
being forced to memorize some parts of the Quran since these parts
are major sections of the Arabic Language exams. People may not see
this as a kind of persecution since persecution in their mind means
killing or shooting people with a gun. However, it is still a type of
mistreatment that Christian students must deal with within their daily
life.
In December 2013, a Christian girl whose name is Engy moved
from Egypt to the United States dreaming of a better future, better
education, a safe life, a clean environment and a good job. In addition,
her main reason for migrating to the United States is to escape
violence toward Christian females and persecution toward Christians
in Egyptian society. She wants to live in a country that allows her to
have the freedom to believe in any religion she chooses without being
offended or oppressed. She wanted to be able to go to her school
without the guidance of her parents since it was not safe for a
Christian female to walk in the street alone. Energy’s deprived right
of having the freedom of religion in her native country can be seen in
“One in three Christians face persecution in Asia, report finds” by
Harriet Sherwood, and in “ISIS Says It Was Behind Deadly Attack on
Christians in Egypt” by Declan Walsh and Mohamed Ezz. These two
articles show that Christians suffer from different types of persecution
in the whole world and throughout many different ages. In the past,
the early Christian people in the Roman empire were persecuted due
to not worshiping other Gods other than Jesus Christ. Furthermore,
during the high Middle Ages, there was hatred between Christians and
Muslims which existed until these days.
The persecution of Christians nowadays is explained by
Sherwood who writes about how the government in China controls
religious worship, how Christians in India are oppressed even though
India is a country that avoids violence and also includes persecution
of Christians in North Korea. In addition, The animosity between
Muslims and Christians in recent time can be proved by Walsh
and Ezz who write about the attack on the Christian Coptic’s in Egypt
and the bombing of many churches in different regions of Egypt, and
also, they mentioned the consequences that might result out of these
attacks, not only on the Christians who live in Egypt but also on the
whole country including Muslims and Christians.
Christian people were under threat from Muslims for many
years since the origin of the hostility toward the Christian people
started with the threat of the Muslims in the Byzantine Empire. This
caused the Christian people to try to find some ways to defend
themselves. The Christians did the Crusades which created animosity
between Christians and Muslims that still has repercussions to this
day (lecture notes). Some people may think that Muslims are the ones
who are defeated by the Christian Crusades, but in fact they are the
one who caused threat over the Christians first so the Christians were
just trying to fight for themselves as any other denominations or
group of people will defend themselves when there is war or threat
against them. A similar kind of persecution and maltreatment toward
Christian believers exist nowadays. This can be verified by Walsh
and Ezz who states: “gunmen opened fire on three buses soon after
they left the Monastery of St. Samuel, in the desert south of Cairo,
killing seven people in one bus and wounding 19 others in total,
according to Coptic Church officials” (Walsh and Ezz). In Egypt,
Christian people go to the Monastery to pray and to visit the monks to
take their blessing. Above, the author uses the phrase “soon after they
left the Monastery” to show that the gunmen deliberately wanted to
kill Christian people and not just any random people since it is known
that the people who go out of the Monastery are Christians. This
demonstrates how Christians were the ones who were targeted by the
gunmen. The authors employ statistics to assert their argument and to
present the fatal consequences that result from the attack. People
usually in Egypt go to the Monastery as a big family that includes all
the relatives. When seven people were killed and nineteen people are
wounded out of one family, this family is being destroyed even if
there are some members survived, because these members may be
children or wives whom their own supporter of the house was killed
or wounded. It is not just about the people who get murdered but also
about the fate of the family in the future and how this family is going
to be able to make a living. Christian is not just persecuted by being
killed but by also being subjected to accept a life with having
disabilities or not having a job which will lead them to become poor
and have no money to send their kids to school or even having
money to feed them. As a result, Christians are oppressed and
threatened by Muslims in recent times as they were persecuted in
early Christian life in the High Middle Ages.
People who truly believe in Christianity would not mind
sacrificing their lives for their faith since they believe that dying for
Christ would lead them to heaven. During the age of the Roman
Empire, Christians did not believe in the Roman Gods and refused to
worship any gods other than Jesus Christ. The Romans’ anger was
aroused against the Christian people and killed many Christians since
their refusal to participate was seen as an act of treason, punishable by
death (lecture notes). This explains how Christians in early Christian
life were being oppressed and were being deprived of their right to
freedom of religion. In recent time, the Christian people in China
cannot practice their religion freely because the government is
banning them from doing so. This is being demonstrated by Sherwood
who states: “the persecution of Christians in China is the worst it has
been for more than a decade, with at least 50 million people expected
to experience some form of repression this year as the government
tightens its controls over religious worship, according to a global
monitoring body” (Sherwood). Here, the author employs statistics in
his article to affirm his argument that the oppression toward the
Christian people is increasing for a long time. The author mentioning
fifty million people are oppressed show the great extent of
persecution toward Christians over a decade. The concept behind
having fifty million people are being mistreated for holding on to their
faith and not converting to any other religion show how Christians are
determinant and consistent about their religion and that they would
accept death but not changing their religion. Furthermore, the author
uses the comparative degree in his article by stating “the worst it has
been” to show that persecution towards Christian is much more
dreadful than towards any other different religions. Christians
are not only deprived of practicing their religion with freedom in
China and Egypt but also in India and North Korea The persecution of
Christian in India can be seen as Sherwood writes: “It’s shocking
that India – the country which taught the world the way of ‘no-
violence’ – now sits alongside the likes of Iran on our World Watch
List. For many Christians in India, daily life is now full of fear –
totally different from just four or five years ago” (Sherwood). Here,
the author used the word “shocking” to attract people’s sympathy
toward the Christian people since they are even persecuted in the
a country that calls for no violence. In addition, mentioning the phrase
“daily life” shows that the brutality toward the Christian people is a
the continuous event that does not stop, but increases every day. The
the author compared the degree of persecution toward Christians in the
last five years ago to show that it is getting worse and worse and to
get the audience's attention to this threatening issue. Furthermore,
living in a country that teaches non-violence but also persecutes
Christians give evidence that shows how the Christians are ignored as
a minority among the Indian population, also it is arguable that
Christians in India are oppressed because there are different Gods the
Indian People worship that the Christians will refuse to believe in, as
a result of hatred from the Indian people may arouse toward the
Christians as it happened in The Roman Empire when they mistreated
the Christians for not believing in their Gods. Along with India,
believers in Christ in North Korea are also punished for their faith.
The persecution of Christians in North Korea is illustrated by
Sherwood since he states: “North Korea tops the World Watch List
for the 18th year in a row, with 10 other countries categorized as
having “extreme” levels of persecution” (Sherwood). The author
mentioned the “World Watch List” to prove that persecution is
happening everywhere in the world, not just in some countries. He
also uses the adjective “extreme “to show how awful is persecutions
toward Christians in our world. In addition, mentioning Korea “Tops
the World” affirms the belief that Christians in the whole world are
being persecuted. Furthermore, this demonstrates that Christians are
deliberately being oppressed in many countries of the world. As a
the result, Christians are being persecuted throughout different ages and
in the whole world.
As an Egyptian girl who lived in Egypt for 13 years, I have
faced many kinds of persecutions since I am a Christian. In my
school, there were always discriminations between Muslim females
and Christian Females. For instance, if a Christian female or a Muslim
female doesn’t wear their school uniform, only the Christian female gets
punished and the other one is left free. Discrimination against
Christians is a huge issue the whole world should give attention
because as human beings we should have the right of freedom to have
faith in any religion. I believe that a country that has people who
think they defend their religion by persecuting Christians is a country
that needs improvement in education. As students, we learn
everything in school, then after we graduate, we apply what we learn
in school in the real world. In Egypt, Christian students are being
oppressed by being forced to memorize some parts of the Quran since
these parts are major sections of the Arabic Language exams. People
may not see this as a kind of persecution since persecution in their
minds means killing or shooting people with guns. However, it is still a
type of mistreatment that Christian students must deal within their
daily life. Sherwood, Ezz and Walsh emphasized in their articles that
Christians are being persecuted in many different countries in the
world, they also mentioned that the problem is getting worse and
worse every day. Each country should give the people their right to
freedom of religion, should avoid discriminations in education by
removing anything that may allow the students to have the concept
that there are minorities and majorities. The curriculums should reveal
equality between all the members in the society.
Citation:
Sherwood, Harriet. “One in Three Christians Face Persecution in
Asia, Report Finds.” The Guardian, Guardian News and
Media, 16 Jan. 2019,
www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/16/one-in-three-christians-
face-persecution-in-asia-report-finds.
Walsh, Declan, and Mohamed Ezz. “Egypt Says It Killed 19
Militants After Deadly Attack on Christians.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 4 Nov. 2018,
www.nytimes.com/2018/11/04/world/middleeast/egypt-militants-
Coptic-christians.html.
https://ozzz.org/essay-on-racism/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab%E2%80%93Byzantine_wars
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pope-urban-ii-
orders-first-crusade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_7th_century
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Baqara_256
https://www.pewforum.org/2017/07/26/findings-from-pew-
research-centers-2017-survey-of-us-Muslims/
5 Egyptian Artist:
Egypt has been a creative hub for different artists throughout history,
and today, we have a lot of promising talents in the art scene. In this
article, we decided to focus on painters, and particularly those who
didn’t just settle down for just painting on a canvas. Instead, they
went out of the box bringing creative forms of art into reality. Here
are six inspiring artists we stumbled upon. Whether they’ve already
creatively branded themselves, or they’re still making their way
through the industry, we promise you’ll be astonished.
1. Manar Al Sharkawi
Sharkawi ditched the traditional canvas world and decided to leave
her vibrant bohemian print on other mediums. Other than her
customized mobile phone cases and the colorful mandalas on
notebooks, she’s most well-known for her wonderful murals. Who
needs a small canvas when there’s a wall free of boundaries?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BY1MMJPA9uZ/?utm_source=ig_emb
ed
2. Farah Omar
Besides her fine gold jewelry, Farah Omar offers a variety of hand-
painted pure silk scarves. Her delicate products are more like
masterpieces that will add some “très chic” to your wardrobe.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZnuA1OAglF/?utm_source=ig_embe
d
3. Salma Tarek
Tarek also played around with furniture, however, Robabikya’s
the concept is totally different. As obvious as it sounds, the creative artist
renovates wooden oriental chairs and stools with her magical brush
strokes.
4. Farah El Araby
The young artist who recently started Araby’s Art merges her art
with nature’s own paintings. Her paintings on the triangular canvases
look so real and vivid against the actual views.
5. Nadine Suleyman
Wearing art, not just a label, is the concept behind Suleyman. The
self-taught artist brands her work as wearable art that reflects the
persona of the customer. Every t-shirt is one of a kind, specially
customized for customers who sit and have a friendly talk with
Suleyman at first. Their chit chat inspires her brush that randomly
makes its way over the fabric, resulting in doodles that tell stories
rather than anything else.
And that is what these ladies do for me. They inspire me with their
story. They center me. They gently shine with who they are and share
the guts of their soul with the world. I don't absorb any of it. I stand
next to it. Their artwork invokes memories I might have lost and their
natural conversation with their skill inspires me to work on my
relationship with my skill as well. Just looking at their art, I can soak
in memory. My own memory. It invokes my energy and I can mirror
what I find within as I stare at their work. It touches on my own
thoughts, it brings to life something that might have needed to be
dusted off. Meditating on their work inspires me to be better, so I can
continue on my journey.
3 quotes about racism:
1“An eye for an eye makes the world blind.” – Mahatma Gandhi
2“At the heart of racism is the religious assertion that God made a
creative mistake when He brought some people into being.” –
Friedrich Otto Hertz
3“For it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And
it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” – Eleanor
Roosevelt
this is my project poster
This is Saint George church in Egypt
