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To: jpsb
For what it's worth and to add some context to this debate, the following passage is taken from The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu who was a near contemporary of the Arab conquest of Egypt in the 630s AD:

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CHAPTER CXXI. 1. And Abba Benjamin, the patriarch of the Egyptians, returned to the city of Alexandria in the thirteenth year after his flight from the Romans, and he went to the Churches, and inspected all of them. 2. And every one said : 'This expulsion (of the Romans) and victory of the Moslem is due to the wickedness of the emperor Heraclius and his persecution of the Orthodox through the patriarch Cyrus. This was the cause of the ruin of the Romans and the subjugation of Egypt by the Moslem.

3. And 'Amr became stronger every day in every field of his activity. And he exacted the taxes which had been determined upon, but he took none of the property of the Churches, and he committed no act of spoliation or plunder, and he preserved them throughout all his days. And when he seized the city of Alexandria, he had the canal drained in accordance with the instructions given by the apostate Theodore. 4. And he increased the taxes to the extent of twenty-two batr of gold till all the people hid themselves owing to the greatness of the tribulation, and could not find the wherewithal to pay. And in the second year of the lunar cycle came John of the city of Damietta.

5. He had been appointed by the governor Theodore, and had lent his aid to the Moslem in order to prevent their destruction of the city. Now he had been appointed prefect of the city of Alexandria when 'Amr entered it, And this John had compassion on the poor, and gave generously to them out of his possessions. And seeing their affliction he had mercy upon them, and wept over their lot. 6. 'Amr deposed Menas and appointed John in his stead. |201 Now this Menas had increased the taxes of the city, which 'Amr had fixed at 22,000 gold dinars, and the sum which the apostate Menas got together was 32,057 gold dinars—he appointed for the Moslem.308 7. And none could recount the mourning and lamentation which took place in that city: they even gave their children in exchange for the great sums which they had to pay monthly. And they had none to help them, and God destroyed their hopes, and delivered the Christians into the hands of their enemies. 8. But the strong beneficence of God will put to shame those who grieve us, and He will make His love for man to triumph over our sins, and bring to naught the evil purposes of those who afflict us, who would not that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords should reign over them, (even) Jesus Christ our true God. 9. As for those wicked slaves, He will destroy them in evil fashion: as saith the holy Gospel: 'As for Mine enemies who would not that I should reign over them, bring them unto Me.' 10. And now many of the Egyptians who had been false Christians denied the holy orthodox faith and lifegiving baptism, and embraced the religion of the Moslem, the enemies of God, and accepted the detestable doctrine of the beast, this is, Mohammed, and they erred together with those idolaters, and took arms in their hands and fought against the Christians. 11. And one of them, named John, the Chalcedonian of the Convent of Sinai, embraced the faith of Islam, and quitting his monk's habit he took up the sword, and persecuted the Christians who were faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Despite the propaganda, the Arabs were not benign conquerors. There's a reason why Egypt is now 99% Muslim. And it's not because the Arabs used "logic and reason" to persuade...
206 posted on 02/22/2007 9:43:39 PM PST by Antoninus ("For some, the conservative constituency is an inconvenience. For me, it's my hope." -Duncan Hunter)
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To: Antoninus

90% The Copts holding out in their ancient homeland are still 9% of the population, with other Christians (mostly Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria) constituting another 1%.

Don't overstate the success of the minions of the false prophet Mohammed.


209 posted on 02/22/2007 9:50:44 PM PST by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know. . .)
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