You mean they aren’t all the same?
By Thoreau
Two Christian dudes from California, upon hearing of plans to build a mosque near the site of the WTC, got so upset that they got on a plane to fly to NYC and protest along with the rest of the angry mob. However, there was one problem: These Christian dudes just happen to be Egyptians who speak Arabic. That didn’t go over so well with the angry mob.
At one point, a portion of the crowd menacingly surrounded two Egyptian men who were speaking Arabic and were thought to be Muslims.
“Go home,” several shouted from the crowd.
“Get out,” others shouted.
In fact, the two men – Joseph Nassralla and Karam El Masry — were not Muslims at all. They turned out to be Egyptian Coptic Christians who work for a California-based Christian satellite TV station called “The Way.” Both said they had come to protest the mosque.
“I’m a Christian,” Nassralla shouted to the crowd, his eyes bulging and beads of sweat rolling down his face.
But it was no use. The protesters had become so angry at what they thought were Muslims that New York City police officers had to rush in and pull Nassralla and El Masry to safety.
“I flew nine hours in an airplane to come here,” a frustrated Nassralla said afterward.
I know that the other protesters probably won’t learn anything about racial tolerance from this incident, but let’s hope that maybe the two Egyptian guys learn something about trying to join angry mobs. I suspect that if Jesus came to NYC He’d be less upset about the mosque (after all, the Muslims also revere him as a prophet) and more upset about the angry mob, not to mention all the money-lenders engaging in shenanigans a few blocks away.
Comment by joe from Lowell —
June 7, 2010 @ 8:14 pm
If Jesus came to Lower Manhattan, the angry mob would attack him, and the NYPD would have to pull him to safety.
Comment by Iain Coleman —
June 7, 2010 @ 8:44 pm
Dear God, the comments section for that article…
Comment by dhex —
June 7, 2010 @ 8:58 pm
““I flew nine hours in an airplane to come here,” a frustrated Nassralla said afterward.”
i thought that was only a 45 minute trip?
Comment by Lil' Dog —
June 8, 2010 @ 1:01 am
It’s the same ignorance that lets American Christians cheer on the oppression of Palestinian Christians (”Palestinian what now?”).
Comment by chris y —
June 8, 2010 @ 3:47 am
Die, Monophysite heretics!
Comment by ajay —
June 8, 2010 @ 4:34 am
“You got your anti-Arab bigotry in my anti-Muslim bigotry!”
Comment by Mo —
June 8, 2010 @ 7:42 am
“The incident underscores how contentious — and, perhaps, how irrational — the debate over the mosque has become.”
Is irrational the new codeword for racist?
Comment by Pi —
June 8, 2010 @ 8:42 am
Hey!
Comment by DannyK —
June 8, 2010 @ 11:19 am
Chris Y wins the thread. There hasn’t been nearly enough intrachristian conflict this century.
Comment by dhex —
June 8, 2010 @ 8:21 pm
Is irrational the new codeword for racist?
well, the baseline is pretty irrational to begin with, so perhaps they were looking for a synonym for “really kooky ooky”?
this particular episode is totally bugfuck, but so is everything about the site, so perhaps it’s just par for the course.
Comment by mds —
June 8, 2010 @ 9:51 pm
Oh, come on. Even assuming they’re Coptic Orthodox rather than Coptic Catholic, they’re Miaphysites, which makes them technically in accord with the Council of Chalcedon. It’s not their fault if Chalcedonians have a hard time understanding the distinction. But don’t fret if you were hoping to use heresy as an excuse to bomb Syria; there are still Nestorians there.
Why the blanket presumption of violent intent? I’m sure many of the more lecherous members of the mob were simply trying to feel a Copt.
Comment by ian —
June 9, 2010 @ 6:45 am
Same problem when the Crusaders reached Jerusalem. Couldn’t tell the Christians from the Muslim hordes. Solution: kill everyone. Make it God’s problem.
Comment by Uncle Kvetch —
June 9, 2010 @ 10:41 am
I’m sure many of the more lecherous members of the mob were simply trying to feel a Copt.
If nobody else is going to show mds some luv for this, I will. That was a thing of beauty.
Comment by joe from Lowell —
June 9, 2010 @ 5:53 pm
Ooooooh, burn!
Comment by drkrick —
June 10, 2010 @ 11:57 am
Is irrational the new codeword for racist?
Isn’t racist a subset of irrational?
Comment by pet caskets —
June 13, 2010 @ 8:15 pm
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