Secular Egypt

Introduction

Egypt (a Wikipedia link) is a country in north Africa with a population of over 107 million. It is the most populous country in the Arab world. It is bordered to the north by the Mediterranean Sea, to the east by Israel and Palestine and the Red Sea, to the south by Sudan, and to the west by Libya. The capital and largest city is Cairo.

The country has a president, prime minister, and two houses of parliament: the senate (upper house) and the house of representatives (lower house). The president is only supposed to have a six year term, however amendments have meant that the current president has been in power for over twice that amount.

Egypt is now considered to be governed by an “authoritarian regime”.

History

Major historical eras of ancient Egypt

Early Dynastic period (c. 3100-2686 BCE): King Narmer united Upper and Lower Egypt, thus establishing the first royal dynasty. Hieroglyphic writing systems emerged.
Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2181 BCE): Known as the “Age of the Pyramids,” the era featured the construction of the Step Pyramid of Djoser and the Great Pyramids at Giza.
First Intermediate period (c. 2181-2055 BCE): Saw a time of political fragmentation. Regional drought and famine occurred following the collapse of centralized rule.
Middle Kingdom (c. 2055-1650 BCE): Saw a period of united power, advancing literature, fine arts and territorial expansion.
Second Intermediate period (c. 1650-1550 BCE): Foreign rulers (the Hyksos) gained control of Lower Egypt.
New Kingdom (c. 1550-1069 BCE): Saw Egypt’s imperial peak and featured famous pharaohs (e.g. Ramesses II, Tutankhamun, and Hatshepsut). There occurred expansive temple building at Karnak.
Third Intermediate & Late periods (c. 1069-332 BCE): Experienced an era of decline, civil unrest, and invasions by Nubians, Assyrians and Persians.
Greco-Roman period (332-30 BCE): Began with the conquest by Alexander the Great followed by the Ptolemaic dynasty (ending with Cleopatra VII) and the final annexation by Rome.

Islamic, medieval, and modern Egypt

Islamic & medieval eras (639-1517 CE): Muslim forces conquered Egypt, which later served as the basis for the Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk sultanates. They eventually fell to the Ottoman Empire.
Modern & republican era: Muhammad Ali modernized the country in the 19th century, leading up to British occupation (1882-1922). Egypt gained independence in 1922 and was declared a republic in 1953.
Military takeover (2012 to present): Following widespread protests and the removal of the Mubarak government, the military assumed control. Mohamed Morsi became the new president but was ousted in 2013. El-Sisi was sworn in as president in 2014 and has used the military and changes to the constitution to retain the presidency.

Current day

Religion in Egypt (a Wikipedia link) is as follows (as of 2006):

Islam (Sunni): 85-95%
Christian (Coptic Orthodox): 5-15%

The Egyptian government officially recognizes only three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Following the 2006 census, religion has been excluded from censuses and thus available statistics are estimates made by religious and non-governmental agencies. The belief is that the government omits statistics to do with religion to avoid sectarian friction.

It is estimated that there are fewer than 20 Jews living in Egypt, so exactly why the government bothers with the religious category is open to speculation.

The Constitution of Egypt (a Wikipedia link) guarantees equality between the sexes and an absolute freedom of belief, but Islam is the state religion. Under the constitution and law, political parties may not be based on “religion, race, gender or geography”, however the law is not enforced.

Issues

Residents cannot nominate themselves to be anything other than the three officially recognized religions. That means that people cannot identify as being an atheist.

The current government in Egypt is an authoritarian regime. It came to power via a military intervention in 2013 and changed the rules so that it could stay in power. Elections are “managed” so that opposition candidates are sidelined or disqualified.

Civil liberties such as: freedom of the press, public assembly, and public speech are extremely restricted. Journalists and critics face arrest, prolonged detention and censorship. The military now plays a centralized role throughout the state-controlled economy.

Blasphemy and “contempt of religion” are criminalized in Egypt. That means that non-religious groups are heavily suppressed. There has been a “war on atheism” in the country, including a targeting of non-believers.

Egypt ranks 135th in the world in terms of GDP per capita. It ranks 84th globally in overall education, however it ranks 42nd out of 43 countries in grade-4 reading skills. This is largely due to the underfunding of educational infrastructure and resources.

Women and girls suffer continuing legal inequalities, domestic abuse, and high rates of female genital mutilation. Women posting content on social media that is considered to be against “family values” are often prosecuted.

Same-sex activity is criminalized and the security forces routinely use digital entrapment tactics.

There is a refugee crisis in the country due to the unlawful deportation and forced return of asylum seekers.

The Egyptian economy has become a basket case, with the annual inflation rate running at about 15% and one Egyptian pound being worth just under two US cents. Despite that, Egypt is frequently bailed out because it is considered “too big to fail”. You’d think that the tens of billions of dollars that are used for loans and investments to keep the Egyptian economy solvent would buy some human rights concessions, but you’d be wrong.

Egypt has become a tragedy. The really sad aspect of the situation is that there isn’t greater condemnation towards the country by the rest of the world. That is largely because the country is seen as some sort of regional stabilizer and mediator – which says a lot about the region. There is also the fact that Egypt controls the Suez canal, on which about 12% of global maritime trade relies.

The country is not a good place to be if you wish to lead a free life away from the horrors that religion imposes.

Secular and atheist groups

In Egypt, it is illegal to register a humanist, atheist or secularist non-government organization. The following are some groups that are attempting to advocate for equality and human rights (with links to the groups’ websites unless stated otherwise):