Egypt Election: Officially Unsatisfactory to Many

As soon as the election results were confirmed, a couple hundred protestors were in Tahrir Square.  Within hours, a few hundred became nearly a thousand and half the group split off to go to the nearby campaign office of Ahmed Shafiq (one of the runoff candidates) and began to ransack the office, throwing out files and computers in the streets, before setting the garage of the building on fire.  While authorities put out the blaze before too much damage was done, many protestors continued to watch and chant against the candidacy of the former Mubarak era Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, protestors continued to grow in Tahrir Square--not just against Shafiq, but also against the other candidate.  The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party saw their "spare tire" also advance to the runoff election.  American educated Dr. Mohamed Morsy was not the party's first choice, but their well-mobilized support base gave enough votes to help the candidate not only advance, but also to lead all candidates in the May 22-23 election.

Now its time for the runoff between Shafiq and Morsy on June 16 and 17.

Now its time to make a choice between two candidates that few are happy about.

Welcome to democracy.

Shafiq: why not and why?

Shafiq represents the old Mubarak regime; his appointment to Prime Minister was one of Mubarak's last official acts of power during the revolution last year.  As an Air Force officer, he also has strong ties to the military that have not been as favorably viewed during this long interim government led by the military known as SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces).  So, to have a revolution more than a year ago and end up with one of the former government leaders as a choice for the new President is appalling--some even saying blasphemous to the blood of the revolution's martyrs.  Shafiq has been obstinately opposed throughout this new democratic process.

Yet, here he is, a candidate for the Presidency--why?  Well, the love of the military in Egypt is still strong; those supporting the military feel that they are not government puppets (they are not allowed to vote), and they are the only ones who can really protect the country.  Shafiq was the big winner in areas where security is a concern--even if they mostly conservative Muslim provinces.  Also, much to the dismay of the young revolutionaries, there are a number of older and educated Egyptians that do not feel that the revolution has led to any good.  In fact, there are many that even though  they participated or who were pro-revolution a year and half ago, are now wondering whether or not the country is any better.  The economy is way down, unemployment is way up, tourism is nearly nonexistent, international relations are deteriorating, etc. -- for those that have been worrying about this, perhaps someone who represents what was may be the best choice.

Morsy: why not and why?

The big why not is simply in his representation of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party.  This party dominates the recently elected Parliament, and many feel that the Parliament has not accomplished anything in their first few months of power; to be fair, who could?  There is no President, no constitution, and the leadership of the country is really under the temporary rule of the military.  The Muslim Brotherhood, by virtue of their overwhelming presence in the Parliament, were also the dominant presence on the Constituent Committee charged with drafting the new Constitution--that committee had to be disbanded due to infighting and so many resigning with accusations that the Brotherhood was dominating the discussions and decisions.  Also working against Morsy is the reversal of the Brotherhood's initial statements that they would not field a candidate for President--when they changed their mind, many Egyptians cried "foul".  It was even suggested during the initial returns of election results that Morsy and the Brotherhood should honor this commitment not to run for the Presidency and therefore withdraw before the results became official so that Shafiq would have to run against the leading Revolutionary candidate Hamdeeen Sabahi.  Of course, with the smell of potential victory and power, the Freedom and Justice Party scoffed at this idea.

The Brotherhood have had a strong, well-organized political arm for years, so they seemed to have the tools necessary to mobilize voters to get their candidate into this round.  The Brotherhood knows that if they were running against one of the Revolutionary candidates, they would be facing an uphill battle; but, the failure of the revolutionary candidates to come together split the vote so that Morsy could be in this position.  The Brotherhood recognizes their polarizing affect, and have been proactively attempting to build bridges and offer appointments in a new government to former political rivals in an effort to garner enough support to get Morsy elected to the Presidency; however, they have not found any former candidate or group willing to join their concession efforts.

Their biggest ally has now come out of the former embittered rival, the Salafi Nour Party.  The Nour Party bumpy history;  the Nour Party has reached out to the Brotherhood repeatedly, only to be rejected and treated as "second-rate".  When both the Nour Party and the Brotherhood had their initial candidates disqualified, the Nour Party attempted to work with the Brotherhood so not to split the Islamic vote; however, they were rejected by the Brotherhood and had to find their own candidate to back.  But now, the Nour Party has officially said, "it's a matter of religion, not politics", and so, they will be backing Morsy and the "Islam is the Answer" platform that the Brotherhood have been promoting all along.


On the outside of these political decisions, it's been interesting to observe.  The revolutionaries have cried out for democracy, but within a democracy all opinions are heard and the majority rules--yet, the majority has chosen candidates that they do not want to accept.  Some have said, as in the video, let Parliament make a law banning former regime officials and their ideals so they can't be permitted.  Such outcries are no longer cries for democracy, but censorship.  You don't have to agree with the Brotherhood, but you have to admire what they've done--in a new democracy, they understood majority rules and the need to build bridges--they built just enough to get through the first round, and they're hoping to do so again and get into the Presidency.  The strong support for Shafiq across Egypt further indicates that there is quite a diversity of opinion when it comes to what's best for Egypt's future.

As protestors continue to gather in Tahrir yet again, the present is uncertain.  The gathering mobs are angry and confused.  Only 46% of Egypt's population voted in the first election; now with a difficult choice, not as many are expected to vote in the final election in just over 3 weeks.  If such a minority participate and elect one of these polarizing figures to be Egypt's next President--what will the unhappy majority do?

Continue to pray for Egypt...

In Other News: Part 3 of 3, Ashton Kutcher in Space

The drama and official results of Egypt’s first democratic election are still ongoing, and we’ll return with more specifics as announcements are made later this week regarding potential candidates for a runoff, appeals, and challenges.  

While we were busy being the Egyptian Election “situation room”, there were other noteworthy things happening in the world.  Here’s a bit of other news that we’re interested in...

Finally, beyond 3W and this world...

The world’s rate of technological change is almost impossible to measure or keep up with -- and, yet this is the world that we are called to navigate as we share the Good News.  We’ve spoken on the blog previously about the unique tension that exists between trying to not be worldly and yet being relevant to the world.  But last week, we gained a new complication; we now have to begin to think “otherworld-ly”.  

Our kids just participated in an 80’s theme party.  We remember the 80’s well since we spent most of our school years in that decade -- so we went overboard in helping them to get ready (Grace got ‘best-dressed’).  In the process, we gave Titus a Walkman-style tape player and ear phones, and he asked, “What’s this!?!”  As it fell repeatedly while we walked, I told him how each year someone offered a newer “shock-resistant” model because of that.  Discussions on cassette tapes turned to computer memory (punch cards, to big magnetic tapes, to smaller cassette tapes, to floppy disks, to smaller disks, to CDs, to USB); think about that progression alone.  Watch “War Games” and see how slow, bulky, and clumsy “super computers” once worked -- they would have a hard time keeping up with a smart phone these days.  We put men on the moon with less processing power than was in the first Furby.

Well, governments put men on the moon--50+ years ago.  Today, we’re on the verge of anyone going to space.

We as a planet have officially crossed into the realm of commercial space travel.  Yes, the stuff of comic books and sci-fi movies is becoming a reality as SpaceX sent its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station last week.  This was not just a commercial delivery of necessary supplies, this also included passengers who paid for the trip--well, actually, the remains of would-be passengers.  That’s right, Celestis, Inc. subcontracted under  SpaceX to send the partial remains of 320 people at $2,995 per gram of remains.  These remains included those of actor James Doohan (who played Mr. Scott on the original “Star Trek” series).  These remains are set in a particular orbit around the Earth for a time before they will drift back into and burn up upon reentry of the atmosphere.

If this sounds too bizarre, it gets even more sci-fi as the eventual transport of actual live tourists to space is not too far in the future.  In this interview with billionaire tycoon Richard Branson (founder of Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Airways, and now Virgin Galactic), you hear first hand as they are preparing for such a booming industry.  If you’re wondering who could afford such a trip, wonder no further than Ashton Kutcher and Stephen Hawking!--seriously--but they are just 2 among the 550 people who have already paid $200,000 to be among the first.  Branson states “in the first year, we are planning to send more people into space than the combined total of the US and Russia” space exploration history.  

Branson, with the vision and foresight of someone insanely successful, states that the prices will surely come down as this new industry breeds competition--yes, as the interviewer states, “a new space race”.  And, Branson is likely to be right--the first trips are likely to be orbits around Earth, then there will be trips to the Space Station (you know US, Russia, and the other countries are already planning how to spend the entrance fees on improvements).  And if you think these guys are only thinking about getting people to space and back, then your vision is only reaching the horizon while there’s is squarely on Mars.  Years and years ago I read that McDonald’s had secured the rights to be the first restaurant on the moon.  And I’m sure with the soon to be booming trips to space, there’s going to be an international-galactic Hilton Resort complete with space-walks, romantic constellation-themed dinners, galactic golf, and Milky-Way pools.  

So, here’s the question--who will be the first pastor and church into space or the moon? (please don't tell me Osteen!)  While churches sometimes seem paralyzed to reach across the street, across town, or across a border -- are we preparing to reach the inhabitants on the other side of the atmosphere?

Not too far in the distant past, when it used to take months for a missionary family to reach a foreign field, a Methodist minister preached about the possibility of air travel and how that would pave the way for more consistent and expedient means of sharing the Gospel abroad.  He was chastised and labeled a blasphemer by Bishop Wright--but the seeds were planted in Bishops Wright’s sons.  You and I know them as Orville and Wilbur.  

We believe that Jesus will be returning soon--but what if His imminent return isn’t before we start space travel and moon colonization?  What if Branson and McDonald’s are right and we’re on the verge of doing things we used to only dream about?  Will the Church be paralyzed because of failure to dream and failure to take that leap beyond the reach of gravity? 

While we were pastoring the 6th Avenue Church of God and leading them to fully grasp and fulfill their vision to "Touch the World for Christ," Ben was one of the young men like Zach who were catching the vision and taking Mission trips.  In one conversation, in typical Ben style, he said, "What about beyond the Earth?  I mean, you've got us on this track to make Touching the World possible--are we ready to take this thing galactic?!?  Sign me up for Mars!"  

Ben, I didn't give you enough credit--you're right.  Sign me up, too.

In Other News: Part 2, Three-Worlds

The drama and official results of Egypt's first democratic election are still ongoing, and we'll return with more specifics as announcements are made later this week regarding potential candidates for a runoff, appeals, and challenges.  


While we were busy being the Egyptian Election "situation room", there were other noteworthy things happening in the world.  Here's a bit of other news that we're interested in...


New Teammates: In less serious, but also related to 3W news, we have new teammates coming on board!  Daniel and Christy Kihm of Anderson, Indiana will be serving (along with their soon to be born 1st child) in Holland doing some pretty cool collaboration with churches there and along the German border.  We are just getting to know the Kihm’s and we’re sure they’re gonna be great friends--but we already are quite familiar with our friends who will be officially working alongside of us in the United Kingdom: Zach and Audrey Langford.  Yep, our friends from Decatur, Alabama have been recruited and approved by Church of God Ministries to fulfill a similar and expanded role in Liverpool and in the region.  We officiated their wedding a couple years ago before they went through the partnership of our previous church (6th Avenue Church of God) to serve our friends in the Birkenhead Church of God (U.K.).  Zach had been on several mission trips with us, and Audrey grew up here in Maadi so she actually helped Jamie Nachtigall lead our sight visit last September.  Now they’re officially on the team--we’re looking forward to building a strong relationship with the Kihm’s as well.

Daniel and Christy

Zach and Audrey