This program is designed to deal with the plight of Copts, who constitute the bulk of a Christian minority in the predominantly Sunni Muslim Egyptian society. Copts face many legal and social difficulties in contemporary Egypt, especially with the recent exponential growth in incidents of sectarian violence. We did not dedicate a legal program to Coptic grievances since we do not identify people by religion, ethnicity or any other supra-individual association in legal matters. However, we believe that our proposals for reform are sufficient to counter all the legal problems of religious and ethnic minorities in Egypt. Social issues, in contrast, are much more complex. Estranged from society by Islamist rhetoric and violence, thousands of Copts migrate to Western countries every year, whereas the millions left behind pursue all aspects of their social life with their church community; the clergy acting as their sole representative to the outside world. The situation has not yet amounted to self-imposed segregation, but it is certainly going in that direction.
The problem goes back to the very foundations of Egyptian modernity. Forged in the early 20th century as an essential component of the dominant Nationalist Liberalism, the concept of Unity of the Two Elements of the Nation (i.e. Muslims and Copts) precluded any significance of religion in the public sphere, thus granting Copts extensive representation in government and high society. However, Islam maintained a strong public presence as a cultural identity, which meant that Copts, under pressure from their leadership, had to efface or downplay their Christianity in public to protect National Unity. By the time the Nationalist Liberal Constitutional Monarchy was ousted with the 1952 military coup, Christianity had become a public taboo. Moreover, the Socialist Pan-Arab totalitarian rule of Nasser drastically undermined the political and financial position of Copts. Shortly after the defeat of 1967, the Nasserite totalitarian regime collapsed, and the incumbent authoritarian regime was built on its ruins, clearing the ideological arena for the Islamists to root out the traces of Nasserism, thus inaugurating the wave of systematic violence against Christians. Since then, the Egyptian State has persistently sought to maintain the façade of National Unity, suppressing sectarian tension through extra-legal measures, typically by striking reconciliatory deals with the clergy, which serves only to aggravate the tension beneath the surface.
This program seeks primarily to transcend the idea of National Unity by promoting diversity and difference as necessary pillars of a healthy society, particularly with regard to public expressions of religious faith. We will also try to help each side appreciate the cultural and philosophical depths of the other's religion, beyond the issues of individual faith and salvation. Furthermore, we will seek to raise and debate the more sensitive questions of a religiously diverse society, such as conversion and interfaith relationships.