Sunday, March 26, 2006

Chron.com | Afghan Convert Sent to Notorious Prison

Chron.com | Afghan Convert Sent to Notorious Prison: "POLICHARKI, Afghanistan
— An Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity has been moved to a notorious maximum-security prison outside Kabul that is also home to hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida militants, officials said Sunday."

Yes indeed. The crime of being a Christian has never properly been punished and thanks to the United States of America, Afghanistan is free to use the religion of hate to put a person whose only crime is being Christian into a maximum security prison with Taliban and other crazy violent people. The government of the United States would have hoped that this story went away but it hasn't. I read how Germany and Australia and other countries have 'expressed concern' over this but I still see Abdul Rahman in jail and still facing the death penalty. I can see how effective these protests have been and I can see how the men and women who died in Afghanistan and in Iraq have had their sacrifices for freedom rewarded. Abdul Rahman has begged that he be given a Bible and of course, in freedom loving Afghanistan where Christians must die, his religion and his religious beliefs are not respected and in fact he'll lose his life for those beliefs. Looks like we stopped bombing in Afghanistan too soon and at the very least if we cannot assure freedom of religion in Afghanistan then what the hell are we doing there paying for these people to kill Christians? This is another example of the incompetance of the Bush administration.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World

Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World: "Diplomats say the Afghan government is searching for a way to drop the case, and on Wednesday authorities said Rahman is suspected of being mentally ill and would undergo psychological examinations to see whether he is fit to stand trial."

When I first saw this story on the wires and commented on it earlier I wondered if the whole thing would be swept under the rug. And in a way there is that attempt going on. The Bush administration has been extremely muted in their response to this travesty of everything we are supposed to believe in. The 'solution' in Afghanistan seems to be in an attempt to say that the man is 'mentally ill' and so shouldn't be killed for the heinious crime of being a Christian. You know, Americans didn't die and Americans are not dying in Afghanistan so that a bunch of neanderthal Imans following a primative, barbaric religion could go around killing people for converting to Christianity. Conversion by the sword and killing of unbelievers went out with the Middle Ages. And if the United States government can't stand up for this basic principle of freedom, a basic principle of freedom that we ask American soldiers to die for, then we too are morally bankrupt and undeserving of the moral high ground.

Indeed, if the Ancient South American civilizations suddenly reappeared and continued with their massive human sacrifices as part and parcel of their religious belief structure the modern western world reaction would be similar. We would be personally against it but you know, it's their culture and we must 'respect' the differences of our cultures. Stupid stupid words and thoughts. We all don't live in little bubbles where we don't interact and principles and morality are not so mutable and changable as to allow that sort of horror. It's no different here, there is no need or place in our government or our policies for allowing in any respect this sort of barbaric behavior. The man who converted to Christianity years ago is not mentally ill for having done so any more than opponents of the Soviet Union or of the Chinese Communist government are mentally ill for having chosen to speak out against those systems. The government of Afghanistan must stop this and it must put an end to any reference to 'Shariaa law' completely. It has no place, we have no place in proping up or supporting any government that allows or supports this sort of lunacy. In fact, the United States should have a policy that seeks to contain and isolate any government that resorts to such religious based government systems where the lives and liberties of it's people are subject to the vagaries of lunatic Imans or other religious figures.

It saddens me to see the political dance around this story and the fate of this man. It's clear cut, it's not hard to figure out. Right and wrong, but then we put our faith in politicians who have a congenital inability to distinguish between right and wrong in the first place so I really on some level can't be surprised by the slow and inadequate responses to this and other horrors from our 'friends' let alone our enemies.

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Middle East Times - Christian Convert Faces Execution in Afghanistan

Middle East Times

Yes indeed. We've liberated Afghanistan which under their new constitution states that "No law can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam" and under Islamic Sharia law it says that any Muslim who converts to another religion gets capital punishment. Well, a fellow in Afghanistan, a muslim man, has converted to Christianity. This alarmed and distressed his family so much that they turned him in. They have proof against this miscreant, his Bible, the article shows a picture of that Bible. He's under trial right now and under the peaceful religious rules of Islam this man could be the first one sentenced to death for this since the Taliban days.

I wonder what those people who say we should have respect for this religion have to say about a religion that has no respect for other religions. Respect goes two ways or no ways. And finally, finally the public opinion in the United States has turned to a majority who now believe, who now finally understand, that Islam is not a peaceful religion but rather a religion stuck in the mindset from the Middle Ages.