For those who can’t think of any reason not to have a theocracy, try this on for size:
On Nov. 11, the Supreme State Security Prosecution investigated two Christians — Ayman Rida Hanna and Mounir Masaad Hanna — and referred them to criminal court on the grounds of mocking Islam and insulting religion.
Amr al-Qadi, one of a team of attorneys for the two defendants, told Al-Monitor about the case. He said, “The security forces arrested them in June 2019 after they appeared in a video discussing prayer in Islam.”
He added, “The two men remained in pre-trial detention until the prosecution [charged them] despite our repeated calls to release them.”
In another incident, a Christian teacher and a Muslim girl were arrested Nov. 11 in the coastal Ismailia governorate over comments on Facebook posts that security forces described as “insult and contempt of religion.”
The next day, Nov. 12, the public prosecution ordered the arrest of the teacher, identified as Youssef Hani, and the girl, who goes by the name Sandosa on Facebook, on charges of blasphemy.
In a Nov. 14 statement to Al-Monitor, Makarios Lahzy, director of the Minority and Religious Groups department of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, said, “The lawyers appealed the detention order and their appeal was accepted. A decision to release them on bail was issued, and investigation in the case will continue until their trial.” [AL-Monitor]
All because someone expresses views diverging from the governmental-directed norm. Now spice it up with corruption, or extreme intolerance & rigidity with reference to theology – aka magical thinking – and imagine being stuck in that morass. And if you can’t imagine ever being on the wrong side, then go read about Henry VIII (invented his own version of Christianity, Episcopal), his daughter Queen Mary (Catholic), his other daughter Queen Elizabeth (Episcopal), etc etc – all of whom found ways to kill their political-religious adversaries, usually at the stake.
And if you still think a theocracy would be fabulous, please just jump in a lake and don’t paddle about.
