The World is not All Bad: Muslims Protect Christians

If you follow the news media you are bombarded by bad news and tend to lose perspective. There are good things happening, but the media finds good doesn't sell like bad.

But here is a good story. From BoingBoing:

On New Year's Eve, a Christian church in Alexandria, Egypt was attacked by suicide bombers. For those Coptic Christians, the bombing came with a lot of added tension. Their Christmas, like that of several other Christian sects outside the Western Catholic/Protestant divide, falls after the New Year. Many expected further bombings on that holiday. Here's what happened, instead ...

Egypt's majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside.

From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as "human shields" for last night's mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.

"We either live together, or we die together," was the sloganeering genius of Mohamed El-Sawy, a Muslim arts tycoon whose cultural centre distributed flyers at churches in Cairo Thursday night, and who has been credited with first floating the "human shield" idea.

"This is not about us and them," said Dalia Mustafa, a student who attended mass at Virgin Mary Church on Maraashly. "We are one. This was an attack on Egypt as a whole, and I am standing with the Copts because the only way things will change in this country is if we come together."

How's that for "wonderful things"?

Ahram Online: Egypt's Muslims Attend Coptic Christmas Mass, Serving as "Human Shields"

It is always wonderful to hear of ordinary people stepping forward to help other ordinary people. So much of "news" is on "personalities" or "rich people". So little focuses on ordinary lives, but that is the level at which our qualities as people are truly rooted. If a society is not civil and show concern for all citizens, then it is a sick society headed for a bad future. But when people stand up for each other and protect each other, you are building a stronger society with a better future.

Given all the recent news about Al Qaeda and Muslim religious crazies, it is nice to hear that ordinary Muslims are leading ordinary lives of care for their fellow citizens. This is an antidote to religious bigotry. It is too easy to hate "the other". It is good to meditate on stories like this to bridge the chasm and understand others across a cultural divide. In the end, we are all humans and we live on a "blue marble" planet that we have to share. If we can't all get along, then our future is bleak. But so long as we show generosity of spirit such as the Muslims who showed up as "human shields" for their fellow Christians, we have hope for our future.