Copts are in a pickle

The latest court ruling, one of the most important events of modern Egyptian history, was both baffling and provoking. After the judge's divine opening remarks about the noble Egyptian revolution, the sentences delivered to Mubarak, Adly, Gamal, Alaa, and others, was nothing but a disappointment. It was dubbed in the Egyptian media as a theatrical play, where the Egyptian people were lead into the illusion of a democracy and new beginnings. This point in particular is emphasized by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), where they claim that since Shafik is part of the old regime, whoever votes for him is betraying the Egyptian revolution. As if the Egyptian people needed to be more polarized!Also, by elimination, that makes Morsy the 'candidate of the revolution'. Now, the Copts are in a pickle. There are very very few Copts that will vote Morsy and the majority, if not all, will vote for Shafik. If Shafik wins, then Copts will be betrayers of the revolution, and if Morsy wins then they will be persecuted since they supported the previous regime.

This frustrating reality, which is already taking place in Egypt, shows that we are far from a democracy! In a true democracy, the supporters of the losing party are not persecuted against and called betrayers. The minority are respected and are even given the chance to become the opposition. A secular democracy does not impose the will of God but the will of the people. A secular democracy will not pass divinely-inspired judgements but will be tolerant of all and supporting of all. This is not the impression I get with the MB. These are people that lied before and will continue to do so. What guarantees do we have to avoid turning into a theocracy?! Don't people know that a religious state is bound to fail; history has shown it time and time over.

As part of a minority group, I am worried about the Copts in Egypt. However, I am consoled by the fact that we as a people have been through countless periods of persecution in the past, and we have manged to survive.