While I was processing the violence in Tuscon this weekend, I got a link to a story from Egypt about a response to violence there.
For those who missed it, on New Year's Eve, a Coptic church in Alexandria was bombed. For anyone who is rightly horrified by the frequent close connection between religion and violence, this incident is simply one more mark in the ledger.
However, the response to the violence was an act of true solidarity: Droves of Muslims showed up to protect Coptic churches on Christmas Eve, offering themselves as human shields. A bit more on the flip...
From the link:
Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside.
From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as "human shields" for last night’s mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.
The only name I recognized from the article was Amr Khaled, an immensely popular Muslim television preacher.
For the record, at least one Egyptian columnist sees the demonstration of good will as a basically symbolic and irrelevant gesture that doesn't address the underlying problems. Perhaps so, but better to start somewhere than to do nothing. We can never know in advance how successful or transformative our actions will be.
In any case, the story offered a shred of inspiration and hope over a difficult weekend.
Update: The Chicago Tribune also covered the story.