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Coptic Life in america??
im just Curious, cause i still have trouble picturing it, wats it like being Coptic in america?
r we like a well known religion over there?
do u guys have church on sundays?
is there any descrimination?
do u all have american accents, or some wierd kinda mix gypo-american accent?
do u guys have heaps of churchs?
in australia we have copts but were not really well knownas a religion, as in most ppl have neva heard of us hear, although i think thatll change soon...
tell me wats it like???
r we like a well known religion over there?
do u guys have church on sundays?
is there any descrimination?
do u all have american accents, or some wierd kinda mix gypo-american accent?
do u guys have heaps of churchs?
in australia we have copts but were not really well knownas a religion, as in most ppl have neva heard of us hear, although i think thatll change soon...
tell me wats it like???
Comments
Person: Oh cool you’re from Egypt! So are you Muslim?
Me: No, I’m orthodox Christian.
Person: Oh interesting, but you’re Muslim right?
Me: No….. I’m Coptic
Person: ohhhh, Coptic, so u celebrate Ramadan?
Me: NO, I’m Christian, NOT Muslim.
Person: it must be hard having to pray 5 times a day…
Me: I wouldn’t know; I’m not Muslim! I’m Coptic orthodox Christian!
Person: Oh right, Christian…, well I’ll see you later Mohammed
Me: My name is mark
Person: yeah that’s what I meant Mustafa, bye
Ugh…. Maybe a little over dramatized, but the American society is just as dense. Or maybe it’s just the people in Brooklyn…
-Mark
i know exactly how u feel, thats soo funny cause its soooo realistic...
Good stuff mark ;) ;) ;) ;)
;)
Defender!
lets make it anywhere in the world except australia!
open it up a bit...
This is an excellent topic!
Being from 'down-under' (Australia) as well... it would be nice to know how the Coptic Orthodox Church is going - around the world!
Mark, I've got to say, you have quite a sense of humour... but I was pretty shocked to hear that the Orthodox Church is hardly known...!!! I mean "Coptic" might be too specific for most Americans.... but surely Orthodoxy is widely known??!!
Oh... and Defender.... Are there many differences between America and Canada?
God Bless You all...
Sorry to add to George's Questions... but I know america has at least 2 dioceses (LA & Southern US)...but are there more? And Canada?
I am the youngest among my brothers: and a youth in the house of my father: I was a shepherded over the flock of my father: My hands made an organ: and my fingers fashioned a psaltery: Alleluia,
- Chris
It's just like Mark's convo except remove all muslim and put catholic!!!
Pray 4 me
Defender!
during science class, i sat next to a greek orthodox girl and during xmas time we talked about the different dates of xmas (12/25 and 1/7).
after sept. 11, she and another girl came up to me and asked
"r u muslim" i flipped out.
i was like"____(her name) dont u rem when we discussed xmas."
she said" so ur not muslim"
i said "NOOOOOOOO"
i can really relate to what mark said.
Defender!
When Ramadan comes around and she sees me eating a sandwich, “ooo mark!!! I caught you cheating!!” what I want to say: “oooo Mrs. Parn! I caught you being retarded again! You should have your teaching license taken away.” Alas, I dish out another explanation, which has clearly proven to be useless to most of our dim witted American society.
To maintain some hope, she’s just the worst of the people I’ve encountered. SOME people can be convinced, but it’s no easy task. It’s like trying to convince a child that there really is no such thing as ‘Santa clause’ when they’ve been lied to for the past 8 years of their life, very very difficult; yet possible...
Anyway to come back to my original point about the cross, you can’t blame them for thinking the cross is just any old pendant. When people like Madonna and Elton John wear crosses, then go and kiss other women on TV, stand for and support abominable acts, curse, and do vulgar things; they rob the cross of any significance it once had…
-Mark
Maybe not to the same extent as you guys are describing... but here as well...Egyptian means Muslim!
They might not know what Coptic Orthodox means but...luckily though, after explaining to people that I'm CHRISTIAN they understand! (I hope!)
Actually, about the "Catholic's don't think they're Christian" we have that here too (but it's not as strong as you described it). I once had to explain to a Catholic Person the DEFINITION OF CHRISTIANITY for 20 minutes before i convinced them that they were Christian too!!!!!... (or maybe they just gave up and got sick of me???)
But i'm getting the feeling that living a Christian life in America is a little difficult?? Or maybe it's just that people don't know what Christianity means??
Anyway, please tell us more... Do you have hundreds of CHURCHES? and Congregations? or what?
God Bless
Defender!
anywayz, im from NJ, USA
and we have 2 Arch Diocese's, one in Cedar Grove, NJ and one somewhere in the Southern states where HG Anba Youssef is the head of it
we also have a monastary in California, where His Late, Grace Anba Karas was the head of it
there are several churches here on the east coast... i can say one or more in every county just about, possibly every other county if they dont have many families in that area
only reason of y its so hard to be a Coptic American here is because of everything thats going on around us...
i wear a cross or my name plate every day... but i'm often seen in school wearing my cross, so this one kid comes up to u (his last name just happens to be Pope) and says, are u muslim? now, u have to understand, this kid is one of those wise guys that if i said yes, he would have taunted me till the day i died... but i'm not, so i said 'no, i only wear a cross because i need something around my neck (sarcasm)' and he goes 'o, i thought u were muslim, me and my friends wanted to search ur book bag to make sure u didnt have explosives in there... if ur not muslim, then where are u from?' i said egypt... he says no, like where are u from? i say egypt, then the name of my town... then he says again... where are u from? i say, what do u mean?!
in the end, he meant what religon are u... but anywayz
i have one more story... everybody in my spanish class knows i'm egyptian, and christian because i alwayz brag about my church in jersey city and how cool our priests and bishops are, etc, etc... so this one chinese kid is talking to one of the guys in my class... and somehow they get into this convo about me, and this kid, john, mentions to the chinese dude that i'm egy... the chinese kid goes in a louddd voice... YO, THOSE PEOPLE ARE STILL ALIVE!!! I THOUGHT THEY DIED A LONG TIME AGO!!!
the whole class started cracking up
its just difficult because of the ignorance of other ppl... but we tooare at times ignorant, and as the Lord enlightens us, we must enlighten them...
I always get the statements:
"Oh ofcourse coz ur egyptian...", "does ur dad go to work riding on a camel....", "did you used to live in a pyramid..?" and what really bothers me sometimes is that they call H.H. the Pope a Pharoah.....
defender
go figure! lol
Youth in my church call them "white ppl" coz usually we get comments like that from whites, I get pissed sometimes coz I have white skin even though my dad has dark skin, and every1 at Church has dark skin!!!
LOL, that's not the topic here though, but does anyone face the "black and white" thing when reffering to Egyptians and Foreigners??
Defender
But as usuall, protestants ask me very RACIST AND DUMB questions, even my principal discriminates Eastern Orthodox ppl and Catholic ppl, >:( What a jerk??
He said pretty mean stuff about our Church in front of everybody and he was addresing me and my friend, that day I went to Church in the afternoon and couldn't hold it anymore and started crying, even remembering what happened is very painful!
But my joy is always remembering that my sufferings are sweet compared to the ones I had to suffer, that Christ suffered for me!
Defender!
but then the word coptic acctually means egyptian, so if coptic = egyptian and egyptian = muslim, then are u tryin to tell me that coptic = muslim?????
tats definitely wat i call overanalyzing and reading into something that wasnt meant like that. She was making a generalization, how Coptic is a minority in Egypt and most Egyptians are muslim.
- Chris
:o i get a headache from just thinking about that! lol :P
battata, i get the same thing... i dont think i look spanish or indian, but thats what i get... one guy actually thought my mom was italian and came up to her preaching the bible in italian at the airport... it was funny
and yes, i've been to cali A LOT in my life because i have some family there, and i love the Monastary there... its amazing...
as for u Defender!... i'm sorry about ur incident there... here in america, if someone told that to us even if we went to some school in a mosque (which i dont think ANY exist here) we have the right to sue that person for alotta stuff because its like offending our rights... sorry but i dont know the law in canada...
also, arent we similar to the Ukranian Orthodox's?
as for whites and blacks... i think we are all a little bit ignorant when we call them that, because i do that too... i'll stereotype them by telling a friend that she sounds white or that he looks like a black person wearing certain kinds of clothes...
it's a long journey home... hang in there people
Defender
lol... i didnt mean that our motives should be to sue him... but ask ur preist what can u do?
maybe talking to ur principal one on one would help?
tell him u dont appreciate the discrimination that u face in the school...? ???
My mom did go to the principal though and she yelled at his face for a long time!!
And now, he knows that if he even says a word, I would contact pastor fontane and get him fired!
Defender
u say that egyptian means muslim, minrew
but then the word coptic acctually means egyptian, so if coptic = egyptian and egyptian = muslim, then are u tryin to tell me that coptic = muslim?????
Actually George... it may sound funny but if you read my comment again... THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT i MEANT!!! i apologise, i should have made it clearer!
I think 'SMS' understood exactly what i meant!!
I meant that Here (in AUSTRALIA) when you tell people that you are Egyptian (or COPTIC - IF YOU LIKE)... they automatically assume that you are MUSLIM until you EXPLAIN IT VERY CAREFULLY TO THEM...
As 'Banoub' said... Coptic Orthodoxy is a 'religious minority' in Egypt so most people in Western or other societies who are not familiar with Egypt ASSUME that Egyptians are Muslim!!
I was only commenting to our American brothers and sisters, that we are experiencing similar misunderstandings and frustrations as them (BUT DEFINITELY NOT TO THE SAME EXTENT :o)
Hope i have explained myself...
God Bless
Please pray for my weakness.
plz forgive me man, i know i must of offended u in some way, and i should be shot, but can we, just this once, let this slide...
What are you talking about??? It's perfectly cool!! ;)
You didn't offend me at all!!!!... it's my fault for not being clear... please forgive ME. :-[
Thankyou for being sincere though! :)
God Bless You!
Pray for me