A Place of Quiet in Noisier than Usual Cairo

Church: It may have seemed daring during all of the regional turmoil (which keeps spreading); but I got up on Friday to go to church. Church is on Friday since that's the first day of the weekend here. The city was quieter than normal at 9:00 AM today, since most Cairenes were at home and not out driving. One observation I do find interesting, however. The taxi driver who took me to church said we had to make a big detour over bridges on the Nile into Doqqi, since Tahrir Square and the American Embasy were blocked off. I didn't disagree; taxi fares aren't that expensive. He also said that if anyone asked I should say I was from London. On the return trip though, a different taxi driver made no effort to avoid the square, cruising right along it. I saw no unusual activity. It was about the hour of the noon prayer (11:35 AM) and demonstrations by the Muslim Brotherhood weren't expected to begin until after that. So this time my fare was half the price of the first trip. The driver was basically unconcerned as to who I was. Quite a difference, I noticed.

St. Andrew's Itself: St. Andrew's Church is supported by the ELCA. Seven congregations use the building, holding services in Dinka, Nuer, Amharic, Arabic, and English. I'm standing by the sign listing the services with the refugee director, Erin. Her husband is from Singapore; they met in Cairo. The church teaches English to 100 refugee children, 600 adults, and offers legal and social services for them. The refugees are from Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea, Iraq, and Syria. About 30 people showed up for the service: Americans, Canadians, Egyptians, Nigerians. The English service had all the features usually expected of a Christian service: hymns, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, sharing of the peace, offering, benediction. All went off as planned, a steady ritual over the din of Cairo traffic (even on Friday) and the whirring of the air conditioner. A Nigerian pastor gave the sermon. Worship was followed by a coffee hour in Guild Hall. Forum was not held so people could get home before the end of Friday prayers, when marches were expected to begin–although only in Tahrir in Cairo, not in the whole country as originally called for.

The World Outside: The protests keep spreading to cities around the Middle East. A fast food restaurant is burned down in Tripoli, Lebanon, while all sects work to welcome the pope in Beirut. The United States helped the Arab Spring countries bring down dictators; but they don't get freedom of dissent. Freedom is not only about majority rule, but guaranteeing that women, religious minorities and intellectual dissenters are able to prosper without fear. It's a complex topic; even some Americans don't really get it. Yet, I agree with The Economist. People in the area (or at least those who are protesting) may not know it; but the most dangerous region of the world still needs the United States. "It will take many years, but these democracies promise eventually to embrace a style of government that is more like Turkey’s moderate, democratic Islamism than Iran’s harsh theocracy. At that point America would be spared its outsized role: Turkey and Egypt could emerge as effective regional powers and the Arabs could take more “ownership” of their problems. But until then, America will remain essential to progress ("Murder in Libya," The Economist, Sep 15, 2012)." A danger is now looming from Cairo to Benghazi to the rest of the Arab and Muslim world—for militant Salafis or Wahhabis to abuse an ignoramus film to derail a world historic succession of revolutions, points out Hamid Dabashi, Al Jazeera, 9/14/12. Setting Sun: The sun is setting in a great golden ball of fire over Cairo and the Nile, which I can see every evening from my 14th floor apartment on the Corniche el-Nil. If I didn't have CNN and the BBC, I wouldn't even know about those people spending their time outside my embassy or in Tahrir. Such is the world's incongruity.