In the year 2011, we have seen once again another year of oppression, violence, and terrorist murder against Egyptian Coptic Christians, with the latest terrorist bombing on January 1, attacking the Church of St. Mark and St. Peter in Alexandria, killing 21 and wounding 79.  But less than a week later, Al-Masry-Al-Youm reports that “scores of Christians on Thursday attended Coptic Christmas mass at Alexandria’s Church.”

Their Coptic Christians’ courage and resiliency should be an inspiration to all who believe in human freedom and human dignity, but it should be an inspiration most of all to those who defend our human rights, including our human rights of freedom of religion and worship for all.  No one would blame the Copts for avoiding such services or finding more private ways to hold services.  But their example today shows that there is no enemy powerful enough to destroy human freedom and human rights for all people, no matter how determined their mission of hate.

A year earlier, we saw another terrorist bombing on the Coptic Christmas Eve on the night January 6, 2010, where Coptic Christians were gunned down outside the Mar Yohana church in the town of Naga Hammadi.  Last January, Copts in Egypt, in the United States, and around the world rallied to ask the world governments to call for Egypt to act on this.  Human rights activists, including myself, held press conferences asking for Egypt and Egyptian Muslims to choose a path of mutual respect in regards to Egyptian Copts, an Undiscovered Country of human rights shared by all of us.

On Friday, January 7, 2011, the Coptic Christmas Day, there will be those who have called for rallies in Egypt to defend Copts freedom of religion.  Those individuals who have spoken out and offered human fellowship not just despite, but also because of our diversity, deserve commendation.  In addition, we must also congratulate those such as Al-Ahram newspaper’s editor Hani Shukrallah who has openly and fearlessly challenged those that promote religious bigotry against the Coptic Christians and called for change.

But today, Coptic Christmas Day, I have a message to people of all faiths and all beliefs.

While we rightly defend the human rights of Copts and of all people, I urge people of all faiths to find the pluralism and respect for other human beings’ faith in God to respect their eternal rights with their God.  It does not matter if you share those beliefs or not.  But if you are a person of religious faith, and your life is shaped or even driven by that faith, then you know that no one and nothing can take your faith, your religious beliefs from you.

So it will be with the Copts.  We must recognize and defend their human rights as human beings.  In conflicts between people of religious identities, we often speak of human rights, but perhaps we also need to speak of eternal rights that people of faith have with their God.

To people of faith, I ask you on the Copts Christmas Day, to respect their eternal rights with their God, their savior, as rights that no one can or will ever take from them as well, just as no one could take your faith from you.  Those eternal rights – the bond between you and your God – the bond between you and your Messiah – are just as inviolable, universal, and deserving of respect and honor as our universal human rights.

So today on Coptic Christmas Day, I ask you to think and respect the Eternal Rights of the Copts and of all people of faith around the world.

And to the brave Christian Copts, I wish you a Merry Christmas. No one and nothing can ever take Christmas away from you.