09/05/2020 Egypt (International Christian Concern) – Ragai Attia, the president of Egypt’s Bar Association, published an op-ed discussing Islamic views about the Bible. He claimed that it is a distorted book. The problem with this publication is that he represents an association whose membership includes Christian lawyers, who are now unsure what this means for religious diversity within the association. It also raises questions for how the association under his leadership will handle judicial cases involving a Christian.
Following pushback, Ragai published a clarification regarding the article saying that he did not disdain Christianity and that he respected Jesus. It was hoped that he would share that as a public figure of the Bar Association, he is committed to respecting and defending all of the association’s members, regardless of religion. He also has not clarified whether he will continue writing in such a way.
Egypt has the largest Christian community in the Middle East, but Christians are frequently treated as second class citizens. It is hard for Christians to claim their civil rights, making the existence of Christian lawyers important. These lawyers are also already operating within a civil society that is constricting human rights from every side.
