Supreme court judge Mawlavizada on March 19 holds a Bible that belongs to Abdul Rahman, who converted from Islam to Christianity. (REUTERS)
Posted on 03/19/2006 9:44:45 AM PST by cgk
This story deserves much more attention than it's getting. Via VOA News (hat tip: Doug at Below the Beltway):
An Afghan man who recently admitted he converted to Christianity faces the death penalty under the country's strict Islamic legal system. The trial is a critical test of Afghanistan's new constitution and democratic government.
The case is attracting widespread attention in Afghanistan, where local media are closely monitoring the landmark proceedings.
Abdul Rahman, 40, was arrested last month, accused of converting to Christianity. Under Afghanistan's new constitution, minority religious rights are protected but Muslims are still subject to strict Islamic laws. And so, officially, Muslim-born Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam and not for practicing Christianity.
Appearing in court earlier this week Rahman insisted he should not be considered an infidel, but admitted he is a Christian. He says he still believes in the almighty Allah, but cannot say for sure who God really is. "I am," he says, "a Christian and I believe in Jesus Christ."
Rahman reportedly converted more than 16 years ago after spending time working in Germany. Officials say his family, who remain observant Muslims, turned him over to the authorities. On Thursday the prosecution told the court Rahman has rejected numerous offers to embrace Islam. Prosecuting attorney Abdul Wasi told the judge that the punishment should fit the crime.
He says Rahman is a traitor to Islam and is like a cancer inside Afghanistan. Under Islamic law and under the Afghan constitution, he says, the defendant should be executed. The court has ordered a delay in the proceedings to give Rahman time to hire an attorney. Under Afghan law, once a verdict is given, the case can be appealed twice to higher courts.
This is the first case in which the defendant has admitted to converting and is refusing to back down, even while facing the death penalty.
Here, via the Middle East Times, is the "evidence" against Rahman that may lead to his execution:
Supreme court judge Mawlavizada on March 19 holds a Bible that belongs to Abdul Rahman, who converted from Islam to Christianity. (REUTERS)
What do Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Bush have to say about the monstrous possibility that Rahman may be executed for professing faith in Jesus Christ and possessing a Bible?
So far, nothing.
No, iluvlucy seems to have a valid point. We always seem to end up holding the poopoo hand of the mooselimb leaders we embrace. It would not hurt to seek mercy for this man and many others like him. It would be a good step towards showing democracy working. Good for them, good for us - not to mention Abdul Rahman.
"Islam is not just a mistaken religion but a heretical religion, built upon the Bible but fundamentally twisted."
Islam is not built upon the Bible. It uses the Koran.
absolutely there is a problem, but it is not a problem worth blowing up the whole mission over...I dont a an absolutist approach to the problem as some here do.
What happened to the supposed "freedoms" that we supposedly ushered in to Afghanistan? This sounds like Taliban rule to me...
Malkin did not create the circumstances, she is reacting to them. According to you, no matter how serious the problem is it is better to be "cool", and "with it", rather than stand up and sound the alarm that a real problem exists and must be dealt with by people with honor, and values, and sincerity.
Is that your goal in life...to avoid ever becoming 'schrill"? If this situation doesn't demand becoming shrill then what does??
Some things are worth fighting for, and dying for if need be. This situation demands that we, all of us who have moral standards, not just become "shrill" but become outraged and demand action.
We live in the modern age of the hippie where fighting is "never an answer". It is an age of the emasculated male, the wimp, the precursor to becoming a cowardly, willing slave. utter BS.
Wars are necessary, only because people will always exist that supress and enslave others weaker than them. Either you fight or become a slave.
Even Jesus Christ, the ultimate man of peace, knew that disciples must carry swords to defend not only themselves but their brothers and sisters.
Jesus Christ also knew that Christians would be persecuted for their faith and that conflict would occur because of it. he asked that we engage in the conflict no matter how sever the persecution. We must stand up for ourselves and our brothers and our faith.
"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
"For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;
and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.
"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. "
"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." -- Matthew 10:34-38
IMO, one reason Christianity and Judaism are true religions, as Islam is not, is that they both urge their members to strive to understand God's will, to grow both intellectually and emotionally, to develop into the highest beings of which they're capable. Both religions set high standards for us, and and teach us to value life.
Islam only requires its members to submit to God's will as dictated by imams. No growth, no becoming a better person, no attempt to understand what God actually wants us to do, no value for life. No wonder they can only convert through fear and force.
It was a nation full of fundamentalist camel-humpers. You can shuffle them around a bit, but you aren't going to change the fact that it is still mostly fundamentalist camel-humpers. Would it be nice if there was freedom and prosperity in Afghanistan? Yeah. Is this an outrage that a Christian is being persecuted - threatened with death even - in a nation we helped? Yes, and Afghanistan's actions here should not be without consequences.
But don't let the revisionists make you forget about the real reason we went there. It wasn't to bring them Starbucks, HBO, or Jesus. It was risk management to shut down terrorist training camps run by OBL, among tending to other threats. And payback.
Also, take a look at a map of the middle east. Look at Iran. Look to its left and its right. What do you see? Iran is just itching to nuke Israel, and they are getting close to being able to. If they had the ability, they'd nuke America as well. Irrational fundamentalists are not held back by classical deterence. A different model needs to be employed.
This has always been about keeping America safe. It has never been about making Iraq or Afganistan a wunderbar paradise. It is done to reduce the risks of another 9/11, or worse.
Yet another example of what a pussy "war on terror" we are conducting. If MacArthur had been supreme commander of this thing, Sharia law and headscarves would have been banned in both Afghanistan and Iraq. They would be lucky if they even got to practice Islam after he got through with them. What the hell did we spend so many lives and treasure for over there anyway, if this kind of shit is still a problem? And our lack of will to CRUSH the enemy in Iraq is so frustrating. It is pathetic how feminized our culture has become.
Welcome to FR
Bump
Bush is a pussy who took his shoes off in a mosque after 9/11 to proclaim Islam a "religion of peace". Can anyone imagine FDR taking his shoes off in a Shinto temple after Pearl Harbor? And now Sharia Law is just peachy with us. Our current "leadership" is so damned unworthy of our brave fighting men it just makes me sick.
Absolutely, most Mohammedans reject the Bible.
Such is the case here, where Mohammedans are trying to execute a Christian for reading the Gospel.
Muslims are anything BUT tolerant and peaceful people. This entry by Ms. Malkin enforces my point.
my point is this:
and yes MIchelle Malkin is usually shrill. Note her respense to the nonissue of a racist 7 year old or the Dubai POrts issue
No one here has come up with a rational response that the US govt should take. Some here have suggested that the Karzi govt is no better than the Taliban, totally forgetting 911, which if true would invalidate everything the US has done there since Oct 2001. I refuse to accept such absolutism as it would be destructive to US foreign policy.
I have yet to hear any solution from you or anyone like you. Aside from cutting and running..
also the Matthew quotes do nothing to enhance your argument
I write song parodies & post them on FR occasionally. With your permission, I'm going to steal this and see what I can come up with. I'll ping you if I produce anything presentable!
you post visual hyperbole and you call me the drama queen??
you are incredibly mouthy and combative for being here for only one week.......and the sheer volume of your posts since registering ALONE speaks volumes about you.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/user-posts?id=240539
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.