In Egypt, it is one or the other. You are either Muslim or Christian. Judaism--not acceptable. Atheism--not allowable. HInduism--okay to visit but don't expect to stay. The driver's licenses in Egypt make this clear. Check out this photo below. It's a picture of the back of an Egyptian license (no personal information). It's in Arabic and the second line from the bottom consists of three words. Reading from right to left, the first word is "male." The last word is "married." The word in the middle is "Christian."
There are about 80 million people in Egypt. Rough estimates suggest that 65 million are "Muslim" and 15 million are "Christian." The vast majority of those labeled Christian are Christian in name only. A much smaller percentage are true believers.
Licenses which require someone to indicate whether he is a Muslim or a Christian is one way discrimination and even persecution against Christians takes place. It may be as small as being denied a promotion. It could be much worse if a Muslim convert to Christianity tried to change their id status from "Muslim" to "Christian" -- which is why most don't.
As Americans, it is hard to imagine what it would be like to live in a culture like this. It strikes me as akin to racism. On January 25, 2011 a revolution started in Egypt which led to the resignation of President Mubarak. In the long run, this may be bad news for true believers if the new regime is even less tolerant to Christians. In the meantime, there is some degree of optimism. The pictures exemplify the hunger for more freedom in Egypt. The first was taken in Alexandria, the second in Cairo:
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