Out of Egypt

مصر: أم الدنيا العربية - شارع العرب - تاريخ العرب

These last few weeks have been interesting. I've finally been getting my act together, and have been going to daily mass. I've started to get all my ducks in a row.. I've resolved to finally and simply lay it all down, which means that .. well, I don't know what, yet. We will see. I can only say now that it means something.

Something, relatively soon. The things that I have been obsessing over these last eight to ten years, the things that drove me to join the army, that drove me crazy for a while, are now mostly at resolved, irrelevant, or tools I'm going to use to humble my mind and heart as I go forward.

I'm making my stand with the Church Ladies, is what I'm saying. We'll see where that takes me. It should be amusing, and engaging stuff..

Keep me in your prayers.

One of the things that has happened slowly, and the last week has become a new focus is the situation in Egypt. For those of you who do not know, I went to DLI when I was in the Army and graduated from the Arabic Basic Course. I was actually in Monterrey on 9/11, and spent the day in class watching everything happen on al-Jezeera. Later, I went and lived in Cairo for a year and studied Arab and Islamic history and culture at American University, there.

I've been mulling over those experiences this last week, and began writing an abortive blog post about how the winds of war which the neo-cons were saying back in 2003 would lead to a revolution in Democracy have finally started to shake the fruit free..

And just as I said then, the irony is that the consequences of democratic praxis in the Middle East will not be to the liking of the hypocrites in Washington who sent us to war.

I am enjoying this, seeing my predictions come to pass. The people I so very very hate - the Likudniks and the "neo-cons", the warmongers - are now eating their asinine lies. Burn. Burn. You liars. You fools.

The people in Cairo - one of the great Islamic capitals after Damascus, Baghdad, Mecca, Medina - are revolting against the Pharaoh. The tyrant, who suppressed his people and tortured for us, taking our lucre, is overthrown. Whatever happens now will be very interesting, but very likely will displease our thuggish rulers in Washington, and the cretins ordering the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank in Jerusalem. That, to me, is justice.

I only pray that the poor and oppressed in Egypt continue to react non-violently, that the long suffering Coptic Christians (the true ancient Egyptians) continue to be embraced as a vital part of this process, and that the old order fade gently, and that a new order in Egypt arise that will husband the country forward mercifully, in peace and toward prosperity for all.

We should all pray for this. Hope for the best for the Egyptian people, who welcomed me with such generosity when I lived amongst them.

It is time for our foreign policy to fall into line with our ideals, even if our economic interests suffer.

It is also time for us to stop supporting the Israeli Right. True friends of Israel need to speak up. Just as true American patriots opposed the war, true friends of the Israeli people will insist that we cease enabling the Likud to pursue policies that can only end in disaster for everyone, but most especially the Israelis themselves.

There. I've said my peace on this.


In other news, I've begun to read in Arabic again. I have huge latent knowledge that I've let atrophy, even when I was in Egypt. In Monterrey I was taught Modern Standard, and the Egyptian spoken dialect is not the same. Ever since I left, my Arabic has faded away. These last two weeks I've begun to get it back.


There are a multitude of small pleasures in Arabic. One of them is that the word sharia - شرعة - law, not merely Islamic law - and street, as in "the Arab Street" -
شارع العرب - are both from the same root, meaning in the first measure to go, begin, commence, to untie, unbind, to introduce, depending on what preposition you use with it. I think that's beautiful.

Just like Arabic and the Arabs.

I wish the Egyptian people well, as all true democrats - and need I say it? - Christians should.


ارحل يا مبارك اليوم قبل الغد! سالام علع الشاب المصري


Har har. Just shooting my gob off in Arabic.. I think I jacked it up? Like any of you can tell..



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