It's my party and I'll cry if I want to... You would cry too if it happened to you. (*NEW* commenting is now available! try it out!)

I used to love this song when I was younger, and for some reason it popped into my head when I wrote this blog last week so I thought I’d post it for you to listen to as well:

(*I mean absolutely no disrespect with this, actually I'd think of it kind of like a satirical version of life today.. evil's always crashing the party. Kids can be mean but mean adults can do a lot more damage.*)

Last week was my birthday and I celebrated with the two joys that students quite often miss out on: sleep and a home cooked meal (or several). The one thing that I did not miss out on between my “eat-sleep-eat-sleep-eat-sleep-day” was what was going on in Egypt. The protests of early October were all over the news and I couldn’t help but sit in my warm comfortable living room and cry out in shock when I saw those tanks rolling up towards my brothers and sisters there.

I was so appalled to see the utter lack of respect for life taking place there (as usual); but what added insult to my emotional injury was reading articles like those from the New York Times that almost suggested it was the Christian’s fault for inciting violence that day. The publishing of the shameless commentary from Egyptian officials stating that the tanks were trying to “get away” from the people on the streets was in such poor taste. Have you ever had one of those moments in life where you want to do something so badly but you can’t figure out how you can change things that are completely out of your hands? That was my birthday, in one sentence. I’d like to grab the person that wrote that article by the shoulders and shake them until they woke up if it would do any good… But it won’t. So I prayed. 

For those of you who by some strange chance haven’t come across the gist of the situation here’s a breakdown from various reports:

Upwards of twenty-six people were reported dead and up to two hundred reported injured after a protest by the Christians against the continued violence that they faced from their muslim neighbours; specifically relating to the most recent burning of ANOTHER Coptic Church.

Let’s be serious here, we all know exactly what reporting is like back home in Pakistan. Many of you can account for this from your own first-hand experiences; but just as an example let’s go back and remember the incident at Gojra. Several people came to me after I made the tribute video for Shahbaz Bhatti and felt slighted that I only suggested that hundreds of people were involved in the attack on the village of Gojra, when in reality eye-witness accounts suggest that there were tens of thousands – the fact is that this world takes no value in the words of the innocent people who has to stand by while their lives were turned upside down by those terrorists. People only care about the “FIR” out here, and that report only counts eight hundred unnamed attackers. I suppose the other few thousand just disappeared into the imaginations of the hundreds who were victimized by them. What about those who were raped, beaten, not dead but burned and bruised and living with those wounds today, whose livelihood was turned into moot in a couple of hours? What about the families of the dead? Where are their reports?

Unfair. Oh yah.

Let’s get to another example: since the creation of Pakistan there has been an exponential increase within the Christian community which has been over the years constantly minimized (as can be seen in their statistics) in order to diminish their contribution to Pakistan, even just their contribution to the population if nothing else; and to support the bullies.

Getting back to Egypt though; it’s this kind of propagandas media work and policing that allows for situations like these to be cut down to the smallest possible numbers. But what we need to remember is: THOSE ARE HUMAN LIVES. One or one hundred, twenty-six or two hundred; or the thousands that were there running away from being trampled by tanks… they were all affected. Before and after the heinously mishandled protest, those humans were all affected by this evil. They daily face the consequences of the actions that others take against them. As children of God we need to continue to do all we can for our brothers and sisters out there on the frontlines of the persecuted church; if nothing else, just because we VALUE the life that God has created. Nothing and no report should minimize that.

Pray for the Egyptians, and if you meet a Coptic brother or sister in the near future, let them know that they are loved. Christ works through His church, and when His own cry out to Him for help, we being of the same body should be the ones to reach out to them.

In conclusion, here’s a good passage that I like to remind myself of when I think about what I want to do in my own life for others:

From Paul’s letter to the Galatians chapter 6, telling us how we must do good to others ESPECIALLY our own family of believers…

1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.