Moving from Egypt to the U.S. as a Coptic Christian (Mariam Wahba)

Dru interviews Mariam Wahba, a Coptic Christian born in Egypt who immigrated to the U.S. as a child. They discuss the multiple facets of her identity and experience, including how being a Coptic Christian shaped everything from her interactions with Muslim Egyptians to how she now celebrates holidays in the U.S. She also describes some of the distinctives of Coptic Christianity, in contrast with Western Christianity, and explores the tension between cultural assimilation and retaining one's native identity as an immigrant. Mariam Wahba is the Associate Directory of Advocacy at the Philos Project. A graduate from Fordham University, she works in the areas of Middle Eastern foreign policy, religious freedom, and Israeli-Arab relations. She co-hosts the podcast Americanish. Show notes: 0:00 Moving to the United States 3:11 Egyptian and Coptic identity 7:50 Growing up in Islamic Egypt 11:00 Ethnic and religious identity 12:20 Moving to the west 16:30 Cultural assimilation and retaining identity 18:56 Coptic Christianity 23:47 Confession, intercession, and priesthood 25:51 The Coptic church calendar 30:04 Persecuted Christianity versus cultural Christianity 34:19 The most important part of being Egyptian Show notes by Micah Long