Mr. Light follow-up

Just a brief follow-up to my last post regarding the political situation in Egypt.

Ayman Nour was found guilty yesterday, December 24th, by an Egyptian judge for falsifying signatures to register his "Ghad" party in this past presidential election. He was given a 5 year jail sentence.

The US has demanded his release.

US White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in a statement:

"The conviction of Mr. Nour, the runner-up in Egypt's 2005 presidential elections, calls into question Egypt's commitment to democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. The United States calls upon the Egyptian government to act under the laws of Egypt in the spirit of its professed desire for increased political openness and dialogue within Egyptian society, and out of humanitarian concern, to release Mr. Nour from detention."

We'll see what happens in the upcoming days.

M.P.

Mr. Light and Tomorrow

Thus far I have chosen to stay away from political posts, but the political situation in Egypt has been producing some rather interesting stories for the past 18 months or so. As many of you are aware, the most recent presidential election in Egypt was the first one in which multi-candidate elections happened. As positive as this may sound, the reality of it was not a democratic (or at least not a Western/American understanding of democratic) election. The candidates had to have a certain number of signatures from the parliament to even run for election. For those who attained the required amount of signatures, they were then seeking to run against a President who controls the state run media, most newspapers, etc.

Campaigning was a bit of a problem (and a joke) for those who sought to oust the President.

Then came the actual elections which saw the police forcibly keeping many people from voting, opposition supporters being rounded up and hauled off to jail on the days leading up to the elections, and the National Democratic Party (the NDP is President Mubarak's party which controls almost all of parliament) not allowing outside monitors to monitor the election.

President Hosni Mubarak won re-election and is currently serving his fifth consecutive 6 year term.

Over the past month parliamentary elections happened and more then 5,000 (many of whom were write-ins) candidates vied for 444 seats in parliament. The outcome was the NDP (President Mubarak's party) re-claiming a comfortable majority. The Muslim Brotherhood, which fields candidates as independents, did win 88 seats. This is actually somewhat historic, and could potentially have an impact in the years to come.

However the main topic of interest currently is the imprisonment of the Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour (Nour means "light" in Arabic). Ayman Nour took second place in the presidential elections held this past September in Egypt, and has been imprisoned for forging signature petitions which enabled his Ghad (ghad means "tomorrow" in Arabic) Party to register with the authorities last year in order for him to run for election. All indications show that this is a politically motivated false charge, but whether or not he did actually forge these signatures, the imprisonment is an example of the Egyptian government taking advantage of it's power to keep those who could pose a threat to Mubarak from gaining momentum.

Some figures indicate that over 80% of male prisoners in Egyptian jails are "political prisoners." The mukhabarat, or the state run secret police in Egypt, keep an extremely close watch on anything and anyone who could potentially oust President Mubarak from the presidency.

Ayman Nour is currently in prison waiting for the verdict which will be delivered on Saturday, December 24. If convicted, Mr. Nour could serve 15 years in prison.

I suppose the light at the end of the tunnel could be a long ways off for the leader of the "Tomorrow Party."

So much for coming in 2nd place.

M. Pascal

Broken Words and Broken People

I've been thinking a bit lately about how my (our) actions and words can and do effect others. Our actions and words can effect those around us for the good, but also for the bad. Words spoken in love can bring life, building up and edifying others, but the reverse is also true.

Sarcasm and satire can often times be very humorous, but when it is taken to far it can be destructive and hurtful. The same can be said for prophetic statements and actions. When done in love and fueled by the Spirit of God they can bring life, but when prophetic statements and actions are fueled by wrong motives and are overly critical they often times do more harm then good.

This is true in my life. I have been built up and torn down by other peoples actions and words, just as I have built up and torn down others by my actions and words. I suppose this is yet another way in which living in community with others while intentionally practicing the spiritual disciplines can be such a helpful sharpening tool in our own personal development and growth.

I do believe that there are times and places for mild sarcasm and satire (which can lend itself to a storytelling parable style of teaching), and for black and white prophetic statements and actions, but these must always be done in a spirit of love. Finding this balance however can be much more difficult to put into practice, then to merely write about on a 3 minute blog post.

I am the first to admit that I have a long ways to go in learning how to be not simply a prophetic voice, but a prophetic voice that speaks with divine love that can only come from a life lived in communion with the Divine Maker and Creator of all.

Peace,

Matthew Pascal