Are older Christian more concerned about the future and more eager to emigrate than the younger generation? Did the revolution generally speaking cause many Christians to consider emigration? This is what this article in al-Masry al-Youm suggests, thereby confirming some of my personal impressions:
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/395558.
For the sceptics, the Salafi scare has been added to an already existing concern about the Muslim Brotherhood. A young Coptic activist, Rami Kamel, told me that the most frequently used argument against participation in the early stages of the revolution was that is "al-ikhwan biysaitaru 'alayh", the Muslim Brothers are dominating it. Some Copts I know had theories about how the army had been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood. As evidence, they cited the incidents around the Anba Bishoi Monastery (an analysis by Arab-West Report: http://www.arabwestreport.info/sites/default/files/pdfs/Y11W10_army_at_st_bishoy_monastery.pdf), and the inclusion of Tareq al-Bishri in the committee that drafted the provisional constitution.
Such views speak of paranoia and a lack of political judgement, beyond the understandable concern about instability and extremism, that can be expected to be stronger among a minority. But apart from that, it also speaks of a lack of democratic imagination. It might be that the older generation are more likely to continue thinking of politics in terms of 'who is pulling the strings', presupposing that they cannot do anything to change matters anyway. In the end, emigration has to do with many things, but mistrust in 'the people' is certainly important. If you are afraid that many Muslims are fanatics, and that nobody will stop them, and do not perceive of anything that you could so yourself to improve the situation in your country, then you are understandably not exited about introducing democracy.
What might contribute to the anxiety of some Copts is the fact the the Church leadership missed the revolution. Pope Shenouda III was ill throughout much of the first trimester of 2011 and had to travel abroad twice. Church leaders publicly warned Copts from particpating in the demonstrations (like the representatives of official Islam). The first post-revolution issue of al-Kiraza, the mouthpiece of the patriarchy, appeared on 1 April 2011. What did it have to say about the revolution? Nothing, really: http://www.copticpope.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=313&page=1
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/395558.
For the sceptics, the Salafi scare has been added to an already existing concern about the Muslim Brotherhood. A young Coptic activist, Rami Kamel, told me that the most frequently used argument against participation in the early stages of the revolution was that is "al-ikhwan biysaitaru 'alayh", the Muslim Brothers are dominating it. Some Copts I know had theories about how the army had been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood. As evidence, they cited the incidents around the Anba Bishoi Monastery (an analysis by Arab-West Report: http://www.arabwestreport.info/sites/default/files/pdfs/Y11W10_army_at_st_bishoy_monastery.pdf), and the inclusion of Tareq al-Bishri in the committee that drafted the provisional constitution.
Such views speak of paranoia and a lack of political judgement, beyond the understandable concern about instability and extremism, that can be expected to be stronger among a minority. But apart from that, it also speaks of a lack of democratic imagination. It might be that the older generation are more likely to continue thinking of politics in terms of 'who is pulling the strings', presupposing that they cannot do anything to change matters anyway. In the end, emigration has to do with many things, but mistrust in 'the people' is certainly important. If you are afraid that many Muslims are fanatics, and that nobody will stop them, and do not perceive of anything that you could so yourself to improve the situation in your country, then you are understandably not exited about introducing democracy.
What might contribute to the anxiety of some Copts is the fact the the Church leadership missed the revolution. Pope Shenouda III was ill throughout much of the first trimester of 2011 and had to travel abroad twice. Church leaders publicly warned Copts from particpating in the demonstrations (like the representatives of official Islam). The first post-revolution issue of al-Kiraza, the mouthpiece of the patriarchy, appeared on 1 April 2011. What did it have to say about the revolution? Nothing, really: http://www.copticpope.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=313&page=1
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